Podcast appearances and mentions of meta ads

“I don't think our ads are any better.” Why are Meta click-through rates rising while conversion rates keep falling? Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge), Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty), and Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad) unpack why Meta ad performance has quietly shifted across ecommerce accounts. They break down Ridge's new chains launch and the merchandising lessons behind it, and debate whether TikTok Shop's affiliate program matters more than its storefront. Meta CPMs and click-through rates keep climbing across DTC accounts, even as conversion rates fall. The hosts respond with the exclusion settings and bid multipliers they are testing to fight back. From there, the conversation turns to Ridge's chains launch and the pricing lessons behind it. Powered By Motion Creative Benchmarks 2026 https://9ops.co/motionapp-creativebenchmarks2026 Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel-mops Aftersell https://9ops.co/aftersell-mops Haus https://www.haus.io/operators NeonPixel https://9ops.co/neonpixel Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/ 

https://www.gethookd.ai/mcp/Meta Ads AI Connectors let marketers manage Facebook and Instagram campaigns using natural language commands in Claude or ChatGPT. Learn how the Model Context Protocol works, what you can automate, and the risks of over-trusting AI with live ad accounts. GetHookd LLC City: Miami Address: 40 SW 13th street Website: https://www.gethookd.ai/

❤️ Pomogłam? 1️⃣ Sprawdź moje e-booki i kursy o Facebook Ads: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://charzynska.pl/pd-produkty⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠W formacie 3 Minuty z Reklamami odpowiadam na najczęstsze problemy i pytania członków mojej grupy na Facebooku! Krótkie, maksymalnie trzyminutowe PROtipy, które pozwolą Ci robić jeszcze lepsze reklamy Meta Ads!----

En este episodio conversé con Rafael Horna, especialista en Meta Ads con 17 años comprando tráfico digital y más de 5 millones de dólares invertidos en pauta. Es el creador del sistema MAPA, una metodología enfocada exclusivamente en conseguir reuniones de venta calificadas para negocios de servicio. Si vendés por reuniones y tu agenda está vacía, este episodio es para vos.El problema de la mayoría de los negocios que intentan Meta Ads es simple: configuran sus campañas como si vendieran zapatillas. La lógica del e-commerce no aplica cuando tu venta ocurre en una reunión.Rafael explicó paso a paso el sistema MAPA: por qué la landing page es el destino correcto para el tráfico, cómo construir anuncios que detengan el scroll de la persona adecuada, qué estructura de campaña usar con presupuesto limitado, cuántos anuncios necesitás mínimo para que el algoritmo trabaje bien y cómo pensar en ángulos y niveles de conciencia para no hablarle a todos igual. También hablamos del presupuesto mínimo para que Meta te tome en serio, del formato de video que más está funcionando en 2026 y de cómo construir una landing page que convierte visitas en reuniones.Si vendés servicios y querés tener más agendas calificadas sin depender de referidos, este episodio te da el mapa completo.

❤️ Pomogłam? 1️⃣ Sprawdź moje e-booki i kursy o Facebook Ads: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://charzynska.pl/pd-produkty⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠W formacie 3 Minuty z Reklamami odpowiadam na najczęstsze problemy i pytania członków mojej grupy na Facebooku! Krótkie, maksymalnie trzyminutowe PROtipy, które pozwolą Ci robić jeszcze lepsze reklamy Meta Ads!----

Join our community of App Founders: https://appfounders.co/Everyone is focused on growing installs inside the App Store, but the biggest opportunity for app developers in 2026 may actually start on the web.In this video, Steve P. Young breaks down why Web2App campaigns have become one of the fastest-growing acquisition and monetization strategies for mobile apps. From avoiding App Store fees to improving attribution, increasing cash flow, and unlocking more flexible pricing strategies, you'll learn why top app companies are investing heavily in web funnels.Steve also analyzes successful web2app funnels from companies like Coursiv, shares real conversion optimization examples, and explains the checkout strategies that are driving higher revenue today.If you're building a subscription app, AI app, SaaS product, or consumer mobile app, this is the web2app tutorial you can't afford to ignore.You'll learn:✅ Why Web-to-App is one of the fastest-growing acquisition channels✅ The best-performing Web2App landing page strategies✅ Why long-form paywalls outperform short ones on the web✅ Tripwire offers, upsells, and downsells that increase revenue✅ How to optimize Meta Ads and Google Ads for Web-to-App campaigns✅ Real examples from successful multi-million dollar app businessesWhether you're launching a new app or scaling an existing one, these strategies can help you grow downloads, improve monetization, and build a more sustainable app business.Check out: https://www.paddle.com/Want to work with us to grow your apps faster & efficiently?http://www.appmasters.com/You can also watch this video here: https://youtu.be/m5xmwkV4HgM*********************************************SPONSORSThe app growth playbook is changing fast.AppsFlyer's State of eCommerce App Marketing Report 2026 breaks down the latest trends, benchmarks, fraud insights, and market-by-market data every app marketer should know before planning Q4.Download it free from the link below: https://bit.ly/4uvoHGM*********************************************Tired of handing 30% of every in-game sale to iOS and Android billing systems? Appcharge is the DTC monetization platform trusted by King, Huuuge, Tripledot, and SciPlay – giving studios a direct line to their players, and up to 95% of every transaction. Web stores, payment links, and a full Merchant of Record service covering taxes, compliance, and global payments – all in one platform. Visit appcharge.com to learn more*********************************************Follow us:YouTube: ⁠AppMasters.com/YouTube⁠Instagram: ⁠@App MastersTwitter: ⁠@App MastersTikTok: ⁠@stevepyoung⁠Facebook: ⁠App Masters⁠*********************************************

Think ads are only for big businesses with big budgets? Think again, seamstresses! I am sitting down with Whitney and Daniela, the duo behind Wedding Industry Ads, who turned a shared wedding venue client into an agency serving wedding pros. With Whitney's 12 years in the wedding industry behind them, they break down how paid ads actually work for local, one-to-one service providers like bridal seamstresses — no viral reels, giant email lists, or midnight tears in the Meta Ads Manager required.In this episode:- Google Ads vs. Meta Ads — high-intent searches vs. relationship building, and which fits YOUR business- Why your ads might be reaching brides three states away ("expand my audience" is not your friend)- The truth about vanity metrics — likes don't pay for thread, bookings do- What happens AFTER the click: dedicated landing pages and follow-up systems that turn leads into fittings- Why ads + SEO give you independence beyond bridal shop referrals- Real results: one client saw ~60 leads and 10 booked weddings in 90 days from Google Ads- Budget talk: what $500/month gets you — and what just a couple dollars a day can do during busy seasonGrab their free Ads Investment Guide: https://weddingindustryads.com Follow them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weddingindustryadsConnect with Nadine:Check out the exclusive private podcast series, Fitting Packages 101: https://enchanting-sun-77080.myflodesk.com/privatepodcastBecome a member: https://secretsofabridalseamstresspodcast.com/membershipInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsofabridalseamstress/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nadinebozemanYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@secretsofabridalseamstress/

Get my FREE 2026 Facebook Ads Masterclass here

❤️ Pomogłam? 1️⃣ Sprawdź moje e-booki i kursy o Facebook Ads: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://charzynska.pl/pd-produkty⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠W formacie 3 Minuty z Reklamami odpowiadam na najczęstsze problemy i pytania członków mojej grupy na Facebooku! Krótkie, maksymalnie trzyminutowe PROtipy, które pozwolą Ci robić jeszcze lepsze reklamy Meta Ads!----

Send us Fan MailSudah menjalankan Meta Ads, Google Ads, atau TikTok Ads, tetapi hasilnya belum sesuai harapan?

❤️ Pomogłam? 1️⃣ Sprawdź moje e-booki i kursy o Facebook Ads: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://charzynska.pl/pd-produkty⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠W formacie 3 Minuty z Reklamami odpowiadam na najczęstsze problemy i pytania członków mojej grupy na Facebooku! Krótkie, maksymalnie trzyminutowe PROtipy, które pozwolą Ci robić jeszcze lepsze reklamy Meta Ads!----

Patrick Coddou is my business partner and COO at AJF Growth. Follow and connect with him on X at https://x.com/soundslikecanoe.FOLLOW UP WITH ANDREWX: https://x.com/andrewjfarisEmail: podcast@ajfgrowth.comWork With AJF Growth: https://ajfgrowth.comMORE STAFFINGRecruit, onboard, and train incredible virtual professionals in the Philippines with my friends at More Staffing by visiting https://morestaffing.co/af.BEHIND THE SCENES STUDIOWork with the same Meta Ads creative production team that Andrew does with Behind The Scenes Studio, a More Staffing sister company: https://www.btsstudio.co/.

Want our guidance to build and run your own marketing engine? Book a call with our team: https://call.contractordynamics.com/yt?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=Description&utm_campaign=7.09.26Get our FREE marketing course for contractors here: https://course.contractordynamics.com?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=Description&utm_campaign=7.09.26If you've run Meta ads before (on your own or through an agency) and just can't get them to work anymore, this video is for you.Joseph Hughes opens up the actual Contractor Dynamics Meta Ads Manager, live, to show you what's really happening behind the scenes of a working campaign. This isn't theory. It's a real, live look at real ads, real spend, and real results.You'll learn why Meta's 2024 "Andromeda" algorithm update changed everything about how ads get tested and scaled, why creative diversity is now the single biggest factor in whether your ads work, and why judging an ad's performance too early can lead you to kill campaigns that just needed more of a chance.Key Takeaways for Contractors✔️ Why Meta ads that used to work easily don't work the same way anymore✔️ What the Andromeda algorithm update actually changed for advertisers✔️ Why creative diversity (not budget alone) is the key to winning with Meta today✔️ How to read cost-per-lead data without jumping to the wrong conclusion✔️ Why quality of leads matters more than quantity✔️ How to know when to scale a winning ad instead of guessingKey Timestamps0:00 Why Meta ads stopped working the way they used to2:07 The Andromeda update and what actually changed4:42 Live look inside the Contractor Dynamics Ads Manager7:44 Why one in 500 roofing companies have this figured out9:34 Reading cost per lead the right way13:48 Why underfunded ads look like they're failing (but aren't)17:00 How to scale once you know what's workingIf you want to learn how Contractor Dynamics helps roofing companies build tracking systems that connect marketing activity to revenue, watch this free video that walks through our entire system:https://www.contractordynamics.com/training/?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=Description&utm_campaign=7.09.26Ready to build a real Meta Ads machine for your company?Schedule a Marketing Demo with our team and we'll show you exactly what it takes, whether you want us to train your in-house team or run it all for you.

We asked 28 marketers what single change in their ad account made the biggest difference — and nobody put creative at the top. What came back instead was account structure, cost caps, better data, and one answer that stopped us cold: doing nothing at all. This episode breaks down the nine cognitive biases quietly running the average media buyer's decisions, from action bias to the expert's curse. We get into why excluding past purchasers dropped one brand's new customer CPA by 40% overnight, why "data-driven" has become a red flag on a resume, and why the last 20% of Meta optimization is worth less than the first 20% of your landing page. If you manage ad accounts, hire people who do, or spend your Sundays reorganizing campaigns you shouldn't be touching, this one's for you. ⚡ IN THIS EPISODE → Why excluding past purchasers dropped NCPA by 40% instantly → The two years an account crushed because nobody touched it → Why 85% optimized and understandable beats 100% optimized and muddy → "Data aware, human obsessed" — the hiring filter that should replace "data-driven" → Why measuring by product collection, not by ad, makes diagnosis ten times faster → The case for ignoring your weaknesses entirely and doubling down on strengths ⏱ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 The no-phone morning walk that fixed our brains 01:20 The Twitter question that broke everyone's assumptions 02:30 A 40% drop in new customer CPA from one mechanical exclusion 03:45 What 28 marketers actually said — and why creative never made the list 05:50 Action bias: why you can't stop touching the account 06:45 "I haven't touched it in three weeks. Why would I?" 08:45 Illusion of control, and whether we should just let Meta cook 11:15 Complexity bias: one CBO campaign, one ad set, two record years 14:30 Metric fixation and the streetlight effect 18:20 Why "data-driven marketer" is a red flag on a resume 21:20 Managing by collection instead of by ad 23:00 The ad account is now a glorified folder system 24:30 Expert's curse: why 70 failed video ads should have been a signal 28:35 There's 100% more to gain outside the ad account than inside it 30:50 The self-serving spotlight — nobody wins an account alone 33:20 "Greed will kill your business faster than anything"

Pour les annonceurs, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ça se passe ici⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Notre Newsletter gratuite ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠est ici⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Notre écosystème de formation ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠juste ici

Stop guessing what's working! Grab your Marketing Performance Indicators™ checklist now: https://perpetualtraffic.com/mpi Are you making six-figure ad spend decisions with incomplete data? If you can't confidently explain which marketing channels are actually driving revenue, you're probably wasting budget without realizing it.In today's episode, I'm reviewing a real case study from one of our discovery calls: a nine-year-old, $13 million premium home wellness brand selling $10,000 to $20,000 systems. Their nCAC had climbed to $2,800 in the US, nearly double what they're paying in Canada, and most of their calls happen on the phone.I'm breaking down exactly what's driving that number up. I'll also walk through what we'll fix first, how we'll shift budget without tanking revenue, and why 30 creatives a month is the new baseline. If you want this kind of thing done for your business, head over to tiereleven.com/applyWhat you'll learn:- How rising nCAC signals a scaling problem in Meta Ads and Google Ads- Why high-ticket products require creative diversification to convert- How offline conversion tracking improves attribution accuracy- Why relying on Google demand capture eventually limits business growth- The importance of matching landing pages with ad creative- Why low-fi video ads often outperform polished brand commercials- How to structure top, middle, and bottom-of-funnel creative strategy- Why importing CRM and phone sales data strengthens ad optimization- How dedicated landing pages improve high-consideration conversion rates- The strategy for gradually shifting the budget from GoogleMentioned in the Episode:Previous Episode with Scott Desgrosseilliers from Wicked Reports: https://perpetualtraffic.com/podcast/episode-791-5-missed-forecasts-then-one-budget-shift-then-4-straight-hits/Examples of Facebook ads:https://bit.ly/PTFBAds1https://bit.ly/PTFBAds2Tier 11's Data Suite: https://www.tiereleven.com/what-we-do/data-suite Partner With Tier 11's Marketing Team: https://www.tiereleven.com/applyListen to Previous Perpetual Traffic Episodes: https://perpetualtraffic.com/ Wicked Reports Attribution Tool: https://www.wickedreports.com/ Listen to This Episode on Your Favorite Podcast Channel:Follow and listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/perpetual-traffic/id1022441491 Follow and listen on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/59lhtIWHw1XXsRmT5HBAuK Subscribe and watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@perpetual_traffic?sub_confirmation=1We Appreciate Your Support!Visit our website: https://perpetualtraffic.com/ Connect with Ralph Burns: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralphburns Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ralphhburns/ Hire Tier11 - https://www.tiereleven.com/applyMentioned in this episode:https://perpetualtraffic.com/advertise-with-us/https://perpetualtraffic.com/advertise-with-us/

Get my FREE 2026 Facebook Ads Masterclass here

If you've been telling yourself you'll start running Facebook and Instagram ads once your website is perfect, your product range is bigger, your content is stronger or your budget feels more comfortable, this episode is for you. Because while waiting can feel safe, it can also quietly cost your business sales, traffic, data and momentum. In this episode, I'm unpacking why delaying your Meta Ads journey can keep your e-commerce brand stuck for longer than necessary, and why starting small, learning the numbers and building confidence now can put you in a much stronger position later. This isn't about throwing money at ads before you're ready. It's about understanding that Meta Ads are a skill, a traffic source and a growth lever. And the sooner you begin learning how they work in your business, the sooner you can make smarter decisions about what to test, improve and scale. What we cover in this episode: Why waiting until everything feels “ready” can hold your business back The hidden cost of missing out on traffic, sales and customer data Why Meta Ads become easier to improve once you have real numbers to work with How starting small helps you build confidence without overspending Why ads are not just about instant sales, but also learning what your customers respond to The danger of relying only on organic marketing while your competitors are investing in paid traffic Why your first ads don't need to be perfect, they just need to give you useful data How learning Meta Ads now can help you make better decisions as your business grows The biggest takeaway? You don't need to wait until you have a huge budget or the perfect campaign. You need a clear strategy, a willingness to test and the confidence to understand what your numbers are telling you. If you're ready to stop putting it off and finally learn how to run Meta Ads with support, eComm Ads Academy is now open for enrolment. When you enrol, you'll get instant access to the curriculum so you can start learning and implementing straight away. The live coaching round begins on 27 July, with weekly group calls, live ad account reviews and small-group support to help you build, manage and improve your ads with confidence. Learn more and enrol here: https://www.jodieminto.com/eaa

AI is changing dentistry faster than ever, but when it comes to marketing, not everything should be automated. In this episode of the Raving Patients Podcast, Dr. Len Tau sits down with Michael Myers, CEO of DelMain, to discuss how dental practices can use AI to attract more patients without losing the authenticity that builds trust. From AI-powered search engines and Google's evolving algorithms to reviews, SEO, paid ads, and website strategy, Michael shares practical insights every dentist should understand before making their next marketing decision. If you've been wondering how AI will impact patient acquisition and what your practice should prioritize today, this conversation offers a clear roadmap for staying ahead. What You'll Learn How AI is changing the way patients search for dentists Why authentic content beats AI-generated content every time The biggest AI marketing myths dentists should ignore How reviews influence both Google and AI search recommendations Why custom websites outperform generic templates The future of Google Ads, Meta Ads, and AI-powered search Practical ways to use AI without sacrificing the patient experience What makes a dental practice become the obvious choice online Key Takeaways 02:00 How AI Is Reshaping Dental Practice Growth 03:38 What DelMain Does for Dental Practices 04:45 How AI Is Changing Dental Marketing 07:05 Where AI Fits Into the Patient Experience 12:20 The Biggest AI Marketing Myths 16:48 Google Ads vs. Meta Ads 18:35 AI Search vs. Google Search 23:08 Why Reviews Matter More Than Ever 27:26 How Practices Can Stand Out Online 29:55 Human-Led, AI-Supported Marketing 32:33 Lightning Round with Michael Myers 36:59 Final Thoughts and Special Offer — Connect with Michael

Want to see how we help gyms get to $100K a month? Here's the plan the best gym owners are following right now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMPx7b3_LOA Your ads aren't failing because of your audience. They're failing because of nine fixable mistakes most gym owners don't even know they're making. And the agencies running those ads may not be telling you. You are probably paying your agency to do things that should never be their job. Strategy. Budget. Offer. Reporting. At $800 to $1,500 a month, they're a vendor built for execution, not decisions. The gyms spending the same money on ads but getting far better results have figured out where the line is. Mike sold his own ad agency two years ago after working with over 4,000 gyms worldwide. What he saw from the inside is exactly what most gym owners are still getting wrong on the outside. In this episode you'll learn: - Why hiring your agency for strategy, offer, and budget decisions is the first mistake that costs you the most - What "target ignorant" means and how to set a customer acquisition cost target that's actually tied to your numbers - How to track per-ad performance across leads, booked appointments, shows, and closed sales instead of total campaign results - Why the ad with the most leads is often not the ad you should be scaling - How to structure pre-meeting agendas and post-meeting summaries so your agency calls take 15 minutes instead of an hour - What a weak funnel surroundings setup costs you and how A/B testing landing pages and thank you pages changes outcomes - How to use AI chatbots and retargeting with 10 to 15 testimonial videos to keep warm leads moving forward - Why running one ad per ad set beats the popular single ad set model and how to give every ad equal playing time - The content metrics that actually predict ad performance, including skip rate targets between 30 and 40 percent - What a true campaign looks like when every channel, your ads, bio, posts, emails, chatbot, and texts, all point to the same offer - Why a weak offer is the fastest way to guarantee poor ad results and how to stack value around what you already give away - How to use lifetime value math to justify aggressive offers and calculate how much you should actually spend per customer If you've been blaming your agency or your market for results that are actually in your control, this episode is the mirror. Episode chapters: - 0:00 The cost of getting ads wrong - 1:57 Mistake 1 - Hiring your agency for the wrong job - 5:24 What to actually hire an agency for - 5:57 Mistake 2 - Being target ignorant - 6:45 How to set a real customer acquisition cost target - 8:58 Mistake 3 - Poor tracking - 9:47 How to track per ad across leads, books, shows, and closes - 12:57 Mistake 4 - Bad communication - 14:28 How to run agency meetings in 15 minutes - 17:35 Mistake 5 - Poor funnel surroundings - 18:30 A/B testing landing pages and thank you pages - 19:57 AI chatbots and retargeting with testimonials - 22:02 Mistake 6 - Poor ad structure - 22:52 One ad per ad set explained - 25:35 Mistake 7 - No content or weak content - 26:50 The metrics that actually matter in organic content - 29:45 Mistake 8 - No true campaign - 30:09 What it looks like when everything points to one offer - 32:44 Mistake 9 - Weak offer - 33:14 How to stack value and make your offer impossible to ignore - 34:43 Lifetime value math and what you can afford to spend ———————————————————————— The gyms growing past $100K a month aren't guessing on ads. They know their customer acquisition cost, they track per ad, they run a true campaign, and they make offers that scare them a little. That's the standard. Watch the plan behind it here. Watch the 100K Plan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMPx7b3_LOA Your agency probably isn't the problem. You might just be asking them to do the wrong job.

Alex Cooper is the CEO and Co-Founder of Parker and AdCrate. Follow and connect with him on X at https://x.com/alexgoughcooper.FOLLOW UP WITH ANDREWX: https://x.com/andrewjfarisEmail: podcast@ajfgrowth.comWork With AJF Growth: https://ajfgrowth.comBEHIND THE SCENES STUDIOWork with the same Meta Ads creative production team that Andrew does with Behind The Scenes Studio, a More Staffing sister company: https://www.btsstudio.co/.INTELLIGEMSIntelligems brings A/B testing to business decisions beyond copy and design. Test your pricing, shipping charges, free shipping thresholds, offers, SaaS tools, and more by clicking here: https://bit.ly/42DcmFl. Get 20% off the first 3 months with code FARIS20.

Y'all, this one is going to light a fire under you.Brittney Roberts spent over a decade as a jack-of-all-trades freelancer, strictly hourly, wearing every hat, and after childcare she was making almost nothing. One year she looked at her taxes and saw $18,000. That was the wake-up call.In this student spotlight, Brittney shares the exact pivot that took her from $18K a year to over six figures as a freelance ad manager, all while moving across the country, homeschooling three energetic boys, and living in temporary housing. This is proof of what's possible when you stop doing everything for everyone and go all in on the right thing.In this episode, you'll learn:Why being a jack of all trades is quietly keeping you stuck at low incomeThe exact moment Brittney decided to go all in on Meta ads (and why she waited too long to fully pivot)How to reach back out to past clients when you change your servicesThe strategist trifecta: three package types that grow your revenue without more retainer clientsHow Brittney structures her VIP days into two simple sessionsThe two-or-three-needle-movers daily habit that protects her timeWhy working nights and weekends is not the problem (and when it actually is)The Voxer stat that shocked Brandi: members who vox weekly all doubled their business or moreMentioned in this episode:Strategist Society: https://thestrategistsociety.comConversions for Clients (for early-stage freelancers): https://conversionsforclients.comDM Brandi the word SCALE on Instagram: https://instagram.com/brandimowlesBook mentioned: "Trust Me, I'm Lying" by Ryan HolidayReady to scale past $10K months?If you're ready to be in the room with women like Brittney, with real community and one-on-one Voxer support behind you, head to thestrategistsociety.com and apply. We'll jump on a call and see if it's a fit.Loved this episode?Share it with one friend who needs to hear it, and tag @brandimowles so I can see it.Now go do the dang thing.Follow the Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/serve-scale-soar/id1477998650Follow Brandi on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandimowlesFollow Brandi on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Brandiandcompany

Most app founders think growth is limited by creatives, ASO, or ad performance.But there's another problem that quietly kills scale: cash flow.In this video, I break down the biggest bottleneck many indie app developers face when scaling with Apple Search Ads, Meta Ads, or any paid acquisition channel, and why waiting 45+ days for Apple and Google payouts can prevent you from growing faster.You'll Learn:✅ Why profitable apps still run out of cash✅ A real example from our own app portfolio✅ How spending $9,000 generated over $10,800 in proceeds✅ Why many large apps operate with thin margins✅ How to reinvest revenue faster instead of waiting for monthly payouts✅ How Adapt Finance helps subscription apps unlock cash flow weekly✅ A case study of a developer scaling from $5K to $80K in revenueIf you're building a subscription app and trying to scale with paid acquisition, understanding cash flow may be even more important than finding the next winning ad creative.

Ross Beyeler is the VP of Business Intelligence at Zaelab, a B2B digital consultancy that helps manufacturers and enterprise organizations modernize the customer experience. In his role, Ross leads data, analytics, and business intelligence strategy, helping organizations translate complex operational and financial data into actionable insights that improve profitability and decision-making. With experience in e-commerce, agency operations, and data-driven growth, he also founded and led multiple companies.  In this episode… Most companies assume growth is just a matter of getting more customers, but the real story is often buried inside their numbers. Revenue can look strong while profitability quietly erodes through hidden costs, misaligned incentives, and decisions that don't show up on a surface-level dashboard. If your business is growing but margins aren't improving, what are you missing? According to profitability expert Ross Beyeler, the key is learning to read a business through its contribution margin rather than top-line revenue alone. He emphasizes separating new customer acquisition from retention-driven growth, since each carries very different cost structures and long-term impact. Ross also advises leaders to scrutinize return rates, software spend, and fixed-versus-variable cost decisions, because these often determine whether scaling improves profit. Leaders should remain close to the organization through skip-level conversations and direct visibility into teams, so they don't lose touch with operations. The companies that win are the ones that understand what drives profit, not just what drives activity. In this episode of the Up Arrow Podcast, William Harris chats with Ross Beyeler, VP of Business Intelligence at Zaelab, about how to uncover hidden profit drivers in growing businesses. Ross discusses P&L analysis beyond revenue, customer acquisition versus retention economics, and why over-optimization can distort decision-making. He also breaks down post-acquisition integration challenges and how founders can stay connected to the operations.

“It's not a test. It's diversity for the Meta algorithm.” Can running more landing pages hurt your ability to make decisions? Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) and Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty) dig into landing page optimization strategy, conversion rate optimization for Meta ads, and when structured testing is the wrong tool entirely. They cover what Jones Road learned from overdeveloping pages and what a disastrous A/B test on a new offer taught Ridge about how Meta allocates spend. They examine the operational cost of landing page sprawl, how to structure a site-wide theme A/B test without introducing too many variables, and whether DTC brands at scale should slow down product launches or double down on them. AG1's move into creatine opens a broader conversation about the limits of single-SKU subscription businesses along with where product expansion makes sense. Powered By Motion Creative Benchmarks 2026 https://motionapp.com/thumbstop-pulse/creative-benchmarks-2026?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-benchmarks-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast Aftersell https://9ops.co/aftersell-mops Haus https://www.haus.io/operators Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/

Handing your Meta Ads over to an agency, freelancer or VA can sound like the dream. Someone else takes care of the strategy, writes the copy, builds the campaigns, manages the spend and magically sends you sales. Except, for many e-commerce founders, that's not how it plays out. In this episode, I'm unpacking why outsourcing your ads too early can cost you far more than the monthly management fee, especially if you don't yet understand your own ad strategy, numbers or customer messaging. This isn't about saying you should never outsource. It's about knowing when outsourcing makes sense, and why learning to manage or at least understand your ads first can put you in a much stronger position as the CEO of your brand. What we cover in this episode: Why outsourcing ads too early can create a false sense of security What often happens when your account is handed to a junior agency team member Why paying agency fees can leave you with less budget to actually spend on ads The risks of handing Meta Ads to a VA or team member before you understand them yourself How outsourcing can slow down campaign launches, testing and decision-making Why delays in turning poor-performing ads off can quietly waste your budget Why Meta Ads are too important to completely hand over without understanding the strategy How learning your numbers helps you make better decisions, even if you outsource later The biggest shift? You don't need to become a full-time ads manager. But if Meta Ads are driving a large percentage of your monthly sales, you do need to understand how they work, how to read the numbers, and how to make confident decisions about what to test, scale, pause or change. If you're ready to take back control of your ads and stop relying on someone else to tell you what's working, eComm Ads Academy is now open for early enrolment. When you enrol early, you'll get instant access to the curriculum, plus the live coaching round begins on 27 July. Inside, you'll learn how to build, manage, read and improve your own Meta Ads with expert support, weekly coaching calls, live ad account reviews and a small-group community. Learn more and enrol here: https://www.jodieminto.com/eaa

La verdad sobre Meta Ads: no necesitas más presupuesto, necesitas un sistemaMuchos emprendedores creen que el problema de sus campañas es el presupuesto.Pero la realidad suele ser muy diferente.Porque Meta Ads no genera ventas por arte de magia.Meta Ads amplifica lo que ya existe.Si tienes una oferta fuerte, un buen proceso comercial y una estrategia clara, los anuncios pueden acelerar tu crecimiento.Pero si tu sistema está roto, solo perderás dinero más rápido.En este episodio descubrirás:✅ Los 4 niveles de conciencia del cliente✅ Cómo funciona realmente una campaña rentable✅ Qué errores hacen perder dinero a la mayoría de los anunciantes✅ Cómo convertir leads en clientes reales✅ Cómo construir un ecosistema que vendaPorque el problema casi nunca está en el anuncio.Está en todo lo que ocurre después del clic.

Most artists know they should run ads to promote their music, but Meta Ads Manager can turn into a very expensive guessing game fast. So we brought Andrew Southworth back for part two to walk through a real Meta ads setup for musicians and show what to click, what to avoid, what to test, and how to know if your campaign is actually working.Andrew has managed over $5 million in ad spend for artists, and this episode gets into boosted posts vs conversion campaigns, landing pages, pixels, Advantage Plus audiences, targeting, placements, ad creative, cost per conversion, Spotify listener data, save rates, and how to decide when to keep spending, make new creatives, or kill the campaign.VISIT OUR SITE:https://onemoretime.fmJOIN OUR DISCORD:https://discord.gg/rTAYsPcyEYWANNA WORK WITH US? Make us an OFFER! https://forms.gle/tVdon5vyoGAqPjx6AGET 30% OFF DISTROKID:http://distrokid.com/vip/onemoretimeFOLLOW Andrew:https://www.instagram.com/andrew.southworthFOLLOW One More Time:https://www.instagram.com/onemoretime.fmhttps://www.tiktok.com/@onemoretime.fm0:00 Intro1:47 Andrew Southworth Returns3:14 Why Artists Need More Ad Creatives6:14 Why Some Songs Flop in Ads8:31 Why Good Songs Can Still Fail13:05 What Artists Need Before Running Ads15:50 Landing Pages, Budgets & First Campaign Expectations19:02 Building a Meta Ads Campaign20:43 Boosted Posts vs Ads Manager22:12 What a Conversion Campaign Actually Tracks25:17 Landing Pages, Pixels & ViewContent Events34:34 Choosing the Right Campaign Objective35:24 Manual Setup vs Meta Automation41:30 Advantage Plus Audience Trap44:55 Targeting Countries, Ages, Genres & Interests53:12 Using Meta Ad Library54:50 $100 Ad Campaign Giveaway57:02 DistroKid Sponsor Break57:58 Instagram vs Facebook Placements59:31 Building the Actual Ads1:04:20 What to Test Across Your Ad Creatives1:08:21 How Much Does Ad Text Matter?1:10:12 Real Campaign Breakdowns1:15:45 Cost Per Conversion vs Spotify Metrics1:21:14 Finding Winners and Spending Smarter1:28:30 Why Artists Should Understand Ads1:29:36 Ads Don't Exist in a Vacuum1:31:09 Rapid Fire Rampage

There's a lot of noise right now about Facebook ads being broken, too expensive or no longer worth running. But is that actually true? In this episode, I'm unpacking what's really happening with Meta Ads right now, including the recent Andromeda conversation, why your results may look different inside Ads Manager, and why ads still play such a powerful role in driving traffic and sales for e-commerce brands. If you've been wondering whether Facebook and Instagram ads are still worth the investment, this episode will help you look at the bigger picture and understand where your focus needs to be now. What we cover in this episode: Why the “Facebook ads are dead” narrative needs more context How Meta's attribution window changes have impacted the results you see inside Ads Manager Why your ads may look worse on paper, even if your overall sales haven't dropped What Andromeda really means for e-commerce brands Why your ad creative now does more of the targeting than your audience settings The importance of testing hooks, angles, formats and messaging Why better ads and stronger landing pages need to work together The role Meta Ads can still play in driving 60 to 90 percent of monthly sales for many e-commerce brands The bottom line? Facebook ads are not dead. But the way we run them has changed. Instead of spending hours building complicated interest-based audiences, the real work now happens at the ad level, with stronger creative, sharper copy, better messaging and a clearer understanding of your customer. If you're ready to stop guessing and finally feel confident managing your own Meta Ads, eComm Ads Academy is now open for early enrolment. When you enrol before 30 June, you'll get instant access to the curriculum, plus a bonus 60 minute 1:1 coaching call with me, valued at AUD $990. Learn more and enrol here: https://www.jodieminto.com/eaa

AI is about to completely change the way media buyers, marketers, and business owners manage advertising.For years, running successful ads required constant manual analysis, endless campaign adjustments, and the ability to quickly understand what was working, what was wasting money, and what needed to change.But with the rise of AI tools like Claude, MCP integrations, and direct connections into platforms like Meta, we are entering a new era of marketing automation.In this podcast, I break down how the new Meta MCP integration with Claude could transform the way businesses analyze campaigns, optimize ads, understand performance data, and make faster marketing decisions.This is not just about using AI to write copy or generate ideas.This is about giving AI access to real business data, ad accounts, campaign performance, and marketing systems so it can help media buyers make smarter decisions with more speed, clarity, and precision.If you run ads, manage campaigns, own a business, or work in digital marketing, this is something you need to pay attention to.The marketers who understand how to use AI inside their workflows will have a massive advantage over the ones still doing everything manually.In this training, I explain why this shift matters, how AI integrations are changing the future of advertising, and what business owners should understand before this becomes the new standard for media buying.If you want better campaigns, faster decisions, stronger advertising systems, and a clearer understanding of where AI is taking digital marketing, this podcast will help you see what is coming next.#AIMarketing #MetaAds #ClaudeAI #MediaBuying #DigitalMarketing #MarketingStrategy #ArtificialIntelligence #FacebookAds #BusinessGrowth #MarketingAutomation #Advertising #Entrepreneur

Back for another round on the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast is Michelle Barnum Smith, the founder of Social Sellers and one of the most trusted voices in the TikTok Shop space.Michelle Barnum Smith is an award-winning marketing strategist with 25+ years of expertise. A recognized Amazon and TikTok Shop expert, she's launched 100+ brands and trained 1,000+ sellers worldwide. Featured in Forbes, Business Insider, and CNBC, Michelle is a Top Performing TikTok Shop Partner leading the charge in social commerce success.Highlight Bullets> Here's a glimpse of what you would learn…. Challenges and opportunities of selling on TikTok Shop.Statistics on brand success rates and affiliate performance on TikTok Shop.The overwhelming amount of information and support challenges for new sellers.The shift in TikTok Shop's ecosystem and the need for brands to adapt their strategies.Differences between selling on TikTok Shop and Amazon, including content strategy.Importance of creating engaging top-of-funnel content that aligns with TikTok's algorithm.The necessity of understanding TikTok user behavior and motivations for effective marketing.The role of creator relationships and personalized engagement in driving sales.The significance of brand storytelling and emotional connection with the audience.The need for a long-term commitment and investment in brand-building on TikTok Shop.In this episode of the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast, host Josh Hadley speaks with TikTok Shop expert Michelle Barnum Smith about the challenges and opportunities of selling on TikTok Shop. Michelle highlights that only 1 in 30 brands survive the cold start phase, emphasizing that Amazon seller tactics don't translate to TikTok. She stresses the importance of top-of-funnel content creation, genuine creator relationships, and a long-term brand-building mindset. Success requires understanding TikTok as an entertainment platform first, investing in content testing, and committing fully rather than treating it as a casual sales channel.Here are the 3 action items that Josh identified from this episode:Go All-In on Content Testing (Not Creators) Treat TikTok like a performance ad platform—produce and test content at scale. Focus on brand-owned, top-of-funnel videos (entertaining, educational, non-salesy) and iterate based on engagement metrics, not just sales.Build a Multi-Account Content Engine Use multiple TikTok accounts (main + secondary) to test different angles, including bold or experimental content. Leverage authority figures or AI avatars to increase trust and scale content production without risking your core brand.Shift from Demand Capture to Demand Creation Unlike Amazon, success on TikTok requires creating demand from scratch. Invest in storytelling, consistent content, and community-building—expect a long runway (months to a year) before meaningful profitability.Timestamps:00:00:00 The TikTok Affiliate LandscapeOnly 20,000 of over 2 million TikTok Shop affiliates generate more than $5,000 a month in GMV.00:01:04 Introduction to Michelle Barnum SmithHost Josh Hadley introduces guest Michelle Barnum Smith, an award-winning marketing strategist and expert in TikTok Shop.00:01:42 The Ever-Changing World of TikTokMichelle emphasizes that TikTok's rules are constantly moving, requiring continuous adaptation and collaboration to succeed in marketing.00:02:32 The Biggest Challenge for BrandsJosh asks about the primary obstacles brand owners face on TikTok Shop and what separates success from failure.00:03:26 Why Most Brands FailOnly 1 in 30 brands succeed due to overwhelming, unhelpful information and a lack of real expertise from TikTok corporate.00:05:25 The Creator Saturation ProblemWith over 2 million affiliates, top creators are inundated with requests, making the old playbook of creator outreach ineffective.00:07:04 The Future of TikTok ShopJosh asks for Michelle's prediction on the platform's future, considering its new US ownership and changing algorithm priorities.00:07:23 Understanding the Algorithm's MotivationMichelle explains the algorithm is shifting back towards user entertainment and discovery, rather than just pushing shoppable content.00:11:07 Why Sellers Must Be UsersSellers need to use TikTok to understand the platform's culture and algorithm, just as they would on Amazon.00:12:52 Going "All In" on TikTokBrands must be fully committed, treating TikTok as demand generation and being prepared to lose money for a year.00:14:51 Why Amazon Sellers StruggleMichelle argues Amazon sellers are spoiled by high-intent traffic and often lack the mindset for TikTok's demand generation model.00:15:51 The New Playbook for SuccessJosh asks for the new playbook, covering the three types of content: creator, branded, and AI-generated content.00:17:41 It's About Content, Not CreatorsSuccess now depends on a strong content strategy that aligns with the algorithm, similar to running modern Meta ads.00:22:41 Owning Your Top-of-Funnel ContentBrands must create their own top-of-funnel content focused on entertainment, education, and controversy to build brand awareness.00:24:57 A Tactical Breakdown for BrandsJosh asks for tangible tactics on how to create top-of-funnel content without hiring a large team.00:25:29 Where Creators Fit in the FunnelMichelle clarifies that creators are for middle and bottom-of-funnel content, while the brand must own the top.00:30:42 How to Research Content IdeasMichelle demonstrates how to research top-of-funnel content by searching relevant hashtags and analyzing what the algorithm favors.00:34:05 Using Marketing Accounts for TestingBrands can use up to four additional marketing accounts to test different content angles without risking their main brand's image.00:42:26 Top-of-Funnel KPIsThe key metrics for top-of-funnel content are what the algorithm values: view time, completion rate, comments, and shares.00:45:45 Actionable TakeawaysJosh summarizes the episode's three key takeaways: mindset shift, building creator relationships, and defining your brand's story.00:51:28 Lightning Round: Influential BookMichelle recommends "The E-Myth" for its lessons on building systems and working on the business, not just in it.00:52:16 Lightning Round: Favorite AI ToolMichelle recommends Higgsfield for its ability to test and compare different generative AI platforms for content creation.00:53:15 Lightning Round: Who to FollowMichelle advises getting outside e-commerce echo chambers and listening to experts in other areas, like Meta advertising.Resources mentioned in this episode:Josh Hadley on LinkedIneComm Breakthrough ConsultingeComm Breakthrough PodcastEmail Josh Hadley: Josh@eCommBreakthrough.comTools and Websites"TikTok Shop": "00:00:00""Meta Ads": "00:20:56""GMV Max": "00:27:29""

Brad Ploch is the host of the Scalability School podcast and performance marketer and agency leader. Follow and connect with him on X at https://x.com/brad_ploch and visit https://www.scalabilityschool.com/ to find the Scalability School podcast on your platform of choice.FOLLOW UP WITH ANDREWX: https://x.com/andrewjfarisEmail: podcast@ajfgrowth.comWork With AJF Growth: https://ajfgrowth.comREFUNNELTrack every UGC post, secure usage rights, and unlock 1-click whitelisting so you can run partnership ads in seconds at https://refunnel.com/.BEHIND THE SCENES STUDIOWork with the same Meta Ads creative production team that Andrew does with Behind The Scenes Studio, a More Staffing sister company: https://www.btsstudio.co/.

Ever feel like your Meta ads are technically "working" but somehow still not making sales? You're getting clicks, traffic is coming through, but conversions are nowhere to be seen? I'm talking about why that happens and the hidden leaks that quietly waste your ad spend. Because ads don't work in isolation. Your website, landing pages, emails, and customer journey all need to do their job too. Meta ads are not a magic wand, they're an amplifier. They amplify what already exists in your business. So, if your systems aren't ready for traffic, your ads will simply send more people into a leaky bucket. In this episode, I walk you through step four of my PROFIT framework and explain how to fix those leaks before you spend another dollar on Facebook and Instagram ads. Learn more about working with Lume Marketing The next 8-week mentoring program where you'll learn to run Meta ads like a pro is opening soon. Apply now. Hire us to run your ads Learn how to run your own ads I share how to map your customer journey, identify every touch point, and understand the exact role your Meta ads should play in your marketing strategy. We talk about why your landing page matters just as much as your ad creative, how to improve conversion rates, why customer journeys matter more than funnels, and how to make sure your website is traffic-ready before scaling. I also explain the "three second test" I developed to quickly identify whether your website, landing page, or ad is clearly communicating what you sell.  If you've been wondering why your Meta ads aren't converting, why your Facebook ROAS is low, or how to create high-converting Meta ads that drive profitable growth, this episode will help you stop wasting money on ads that don't work.  This episode is perfect for ecommerce brands, service businesses, founders, and marketers who want a clearer Meta ads strategy. Whether you run your own ads or work with a Facebook ads agency, this conversation will help you think more strategically about what happens after the click.  Because profitable Meta ads aren't just about getting traffic. They're about creating a customer journey that converts.  What's one place in your customer journey where people might be dropping off right now? Come and tell us over on Instagram @lumemarketing and let's chat. Contact details mentioned: Connect with Lume Marketing on Instagram, Facebook of via our website Megan Winter on LinkedIn Resources Should you run your own ads or partner with an agency? Take the quiz here to find out. 10 most common Meta ads red flags, and how to avoid them. Download for free here. Loved the pod?  Leave a review and you may just find yourself getting a shoutout on the pod, just like Ellen Hooper did. Find her on Instagram @ellen.hooper.coach  

https://youtu.be/xkCGHOYkdC0 Grant McKinstrie, CEO of Digital Position, is passionate about helping eCommerce brands grow by combining customer insights, data-driven marketing, and emerging technology. With more than two decades of experience in digital marketing, Grant has built a team that helps brands increase revenue through SEO, paid media, conversion optimization, and customer-focused growth strategies. We explore Grant’s DP Growth System: Ask AI where consumers congregate, Immerse yourself in their communities, Create content they crave, Engage them on Reddit and Quora, Have influencers create videos, and Turn craved content into ads. Grant explains why understanding customer conversations is more valuable than relying on assumptions, how online communities reveal unmet needs and buying signals, and how businesses can transform those insights into content, influencer partnerships, and advertising campaigns that drive measurable growth. He also shares how AI is changing marketing, the challenges of scaling an agency, and why innovation remains one of the most important drivers of long-term business success. — Build Yourself a Growth System with Grant McKinstrie  Good day. Steve Preda here with the Management Blueprint Podcast, and today my guest is Grant McKinstrie, the CEO of Digital Position, a full-stack agency that builds a growth system for e-commerce brands. Grant, welcome to the show.  Thank you so much for having me. Good to be here.  Well, it’s great to have you here. And I’d like to start by asking you: What is your personal ‘Why’, and what are you doing to manifest it at Digital Position?  Well, specifically when we think about the eCommerce space, there’s so much crap being sold out there. And also, in terms of what AI has done to the industry, it has allowed a lot of people to start a lot of different businesses, sell a lot of stuff, do a lot of dropshipping, and all these different things. It’s about trying to find the gems. It’s about finding the good people to work with and the businesses that are worth growing at the end of the day. There’s so much good stuff out there that gets pushed down because either they haven’t worked with a good agency or they just don’t know how to market themselves well enough.  And I think the drive behind trying to find those people who are genuinely nice to work with and brands that are absolutely worth promoting and bringing out into the world is awesome and very rewarding. Being able to do that is incredibly fulfilling. That’s not to say that we’re perfect in every way, shape, or form. And it’s not like every single business we work with is perfect either. We do what we can. But all in all, I want to be able to help market products, people, and businesses that are absolutely worth getting out into the world and getting more people to know about.  Yeah. That’s so interesting that you say that because I had a client in this space where you are, and they were a little conflicted because some of the brands they represented, they were not really proud of. And I think it really impacted their culture in turn. They felt that they were not operating with integrity with all of their clients, and that created internal friction. And it kind of held them back to some degree. So that’s fascinating that you talk about this. And I also noted on your website that your average client tenure is over four years, which I think bears testament to this. Yeah. In a large majority of cases, I mean, we’ve had certain clients for six years and, in some cases, even eight years. So when you have tenures like that, they certainly last a long time. And sometimes it just doesn’t work, and we’re also very willing to openly admit that. I don’t want anyone to think, “Oh, if we sign up with you, it’s four years, and then we’re just constantly paying you for, I don’t know, whatever reason it might be.” But genuinely, we’re here to see how we can legitimately grow the business and actually bring you profit dollars that you weren’t seeing otherwise.  Because so many businesses that we come across are just not able to allocate their marketing spend efficiently. And they’re just… I don’t know. Not to get too much into the nitty-gritty of things, but in a general sense, 95% of the businesses we talk to are essentially burning money. And in most cases, they’re being worked through an agency churn-and-burn system. And it hurts to see. Literally, I had a pitch two hours ago before this call where every single platform they were on was just burning money. They were trying to remarket to people who already knew about the brand and spending money on people who already knew about them and were already going to purchase from them.  And the agency was trying to tell them, “Hey, all of our metrics are great.” But the business is suffering because of it. It happens all the time. It generally results in tough conversations for us because agencies have such a bad reputation. And we’re always trying to pick up the pieces and revitalize that relationship. Which has its highs and lows in many ways. But we’re out here doing the best we can. Okay, so that’s a great segue because this podcast is all about frameworks—how to do something that maybe other entrepreneurs are trying to do, don’t know how to do, but you figured out. So do you have some kind of framework? Maybe it’s about getting an eCommerce company up and running on advertising and advertising profitably. Maybe it’s some other area in your business that is easy to explain in three to five steps. Does anything come to mind?  The biggest thing that we have realized lately is what we have deemed community engagement. One, because of AI, you can scrape information so easily across the internet, and you can get fed so much crap that AI is just going to automatically generate for you. But what really matters at the end of the day is: who is your audience, where the heck do they hang out, and what are they talking about?  So we are constantly looking to inject ourselves into Reddit threads, Facebook threads, YouTube comments, Quora—wherever those people possibly are. Get into the subreddits. Get into those Facebook communities. Get into the comments of influencers or whoever is relevant within that space, and talk to them. See what they’re talking about within those threads. Engage with them. Have a conversation so that you can understand what actually makes this person tick. What do they truly care about? What do they call things? What are they talking about on a daily basis?  So that when you start creating content that resonates with those people, you know exactly how to connect with them. Because, as I mentioned earlier, so many people are creating commoditized products and content because of AI, because it’s making it that much easier to do. Nobody is truly trying to connect with the consumer at the end of the day. And therefore, you’re going to have so many people who become numb to anything being thrown in their face unless they actually feel like they’re being spoken to.  So the biggest thing is to get to know the person on the other side of the screen. Go to where they hang out. Go to where they’re engaging. And listen to them. I think a lot of people forget that and want to go straight into data, metrics, spreadsheets, and all this stuff. When there is a human-to-human interaction happening within marketing every single day. And that is what you need to continue to focus on. Okay, so maybe that’s the beginning of the framework. So get to know the person—or the customer—or both.  Yeah. And it sounds really simple. It’s funny, when you put it that way, it’s just: listen to the person you’re trying to sell to. But it’s incredible how infrequently that actually happens. Because a lot of people will talk about, “My product is the best. My product is so good because it does this cool little thing that nobody else does.” But who really cares unless it’s actually solving a problem that somebody has? And unless they’re able to understand exactly how it’s going to make them feel in that moment when that problem is solved or how it connects to their core persona or whatever it might be. It’s a very simple framework. But it is the most important thing that a lot of people tend to neglect.  No, I love it. I love it. So what does the actual framework look like? I understand you go to Reddit, you go to Quora, and you listen. But what is the process? How do you even know which part of Reddit you should go to, what you should listen to, and who the customers are? Give me the rundown. What do you do when a new customer walks through the door and you want to figure out how to make them successful?  Yeah, of course. So I think Reddit is just the easiest example. I think it’s what a lot of people are familiar with, but it also provides value because it’s related to all the LLMs and what they like to cite as sources as well. Funny enough, one of the best ways to start is if you have a brand, a service, or something that you’re looking to build. Feed that into AI—Claude, ChatGPT, whatever works for you—and have it help you understand: “Hey, what subreddits should I be participating in?” If I want to sell vegetable seeds, for example—and that’s an example from a client we’ve worked with—or if I want to get more into gardening, where should I go?  It will point you to gardening, DIY gardening, seasonal gardening, and all these different places that have communities of people who are very specific when it comes to anything you want to know about gardening. Then you jump in there and see people talking about: “When should I start planting my tomatoes?” Or: “When should I do any transplanting?” Or: “How do I need to handle my watering schedule?” And then you have layers and layers of threads, topics, and information that you can gather from. People are giving it to you for free and telling you exactly how they handle those things.  And that turns into content. That turns into ways for you to engage with those people. It turns into ads because if you’re able to understand what their pain point is, then you can make an ad out of that. At the same time, you can pull a lot of that information using AI. But the biggest impact still comes from truly engaging with those people. So you said that when you figure out what those communities are talking about in their Quora or Reddit communities, then you can engage with them. You can create content, you can create ads, and you can engage. And I’m just wondering, are there other forms of engaging with customers other than through content and ads? Good question. So yeah, that’s the main part. You can directly comment within those Reddit threads, or you can start creating your own content within those Reddit communities. If you start to see a trend of multiple people asking, “How do I start planting my tomato seeds?” Or, “Where do I even start with this?” Then you can create an entire guide on your website. Build a blog post around it. Or you can get together with an influencer who’s able to make a video around it and show the entire process through a visual element as well. So you’re not just doing written content, but video too. And then you can even run ads around that.  Because one of the biggest things, for example, with this brand that I’m kind of alluding to, is that every single ad and every single piece of content they were putting out beforehand was very disconnected from the true gardener at the end of the day, or the true DIY gardener. Because everything they showed was a picture of this beautiful, perfect pepper or tomato that nobody ever experiences unless you’re operating a commercialized system with all of the technology they have access to. But somebody in their backyard is not going to have a perfectly round tomato or a perfectly formed pepper. And therefore, no one knows how to get there. So you have to show them the step-by-step process.  What soil do you need to buy? What seeds should you buy? And then you become part of that system because: “Oh, I need to buy seeds. Okay, I’m going to go to this company and buy seeds from them.” And they also helped me throughout this entire process by becoming the subject matter expert on what to do with tomato seeds. It becomes this kind of system that you naturally inject yourself into as you create content that connects with that person. Because the biggest thing was recognizing that all of the content they were putting out beforehand made people think: “Well, my food is never going to look like that if I plant it in my backyard.” Yeah. “But how can I get there so that I feel a lot less stressed about even starting?” And you’re providing this entire guide for me to follow so that I can become a better DIY gardener.  Yeah. I love it. It’s a great approach to basically figure out where to go, talk to the people, and then communicate with them and create helpful guides for them. And the influencer video—that’s also very clever. So that’s how you help drive growth for your clients. But how do you drive growth in your own business?  Yeah, good question. Funny enough, man, it is so much harder to do it for yourself when you are so focused on other people. Reflecting inward is always tough. But what we have recognized lately is that you have to have a good freaking offer. Because so many agencies in this space say the same stuff. I sat on Instagram for two hours one day and rifled through every single ad from marketing agencies in the space.  And everybody says the same thing: “You’re doing your ads wrong.” Or: “You have no idea what’s happening with your attribution.” Or: “Google Ads is making you lose money.” Or: “Meta Ads sucks.” And all these different things. And everyone is saying: “You should let us do a free audit for you.” Or: “Come talk to us and we’ll help show you what’s wrong.” It’s like, okay, there’s a pretty big gap there. I have to spend all this time talking to you just to figure out whether you’re a legitimate business and whether you’re actually going to solve my problem. And you’re not really offering anything other than: “Hey, let’s sit down and talk about it.” When everybody else is doing the exact same thing. So the offer across the industry is generally weak.  There are a few agencies that have well-built offers. What we personally figured out through A/B testing is that we don’t even try to lead with the marketing conversation. Because in some cases, businesses find it difficult to admit: “Hey, our marketing sucks.” Or: “Marketing is our problem.” But a lot of people can identify whether their website sucks. They can look at it and say it’s old or that it’s not converting well. It’s generally easier for people to make that connection than the marketing connection.  So we’ve built an offer around A/B testing. For just about any eCommerce business doing over $1 million in annual revenue, we’d love to do a free A/B test for them. We will build a landing page of their choosing. It could be their homepage. It could be a product page. It could be whatever. We will create a mock-up ourselves and come to the call with it. We’ll show them our version alongside theirs. They can decide whether it seems better or not. And if they want to move forward, we’ll implement it on their site for free. Then we’ll run an A/B test until we reach statistical significance and can determine whether our page or their page performs better.  Either way, there’s no cost to them. We just want to show that we’re capable of providing value. We want to demonstrate that we can create something better than what they currently have. If it works out, awesome. Let’s continue the conversation. If not, no harm, no foul. We weren’t able to improve it for them, and it doesn’t make sense to continue the conversation.  Yeah. That is impressive. So you’re actually building a competing site, and you show them that you could do a better job than they are, essentially. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And it’s… I don’t know. There’s somebody that I interact with who always says, “There are no sacred cows. There’s no ego in all of this.” It’s just, “We genuinely want to show that we can provide value in any way, shape, or form here.” It has garnered a lot of interest because it’s low friction. It’s, “Hey, at the very least, when we come to the call, we are going to show you something, and hopefully you like it.” And 100% of the time we’ve done this, everybody has loved it.  So it’s been a great source of driving more leads, more conversations, and more at-bats for the business. Simply by having an offer that people want to see value from, as opposed to: “Hey, we’re going to do an audit. There’s going to be a long turnaround time. Then we have to figure out the next steps. Then there’s going to be this big price tag,” or whatever it is. Whereas we’re just going to do something for you for free. If it works, great. If not, you didn’t lose any sleep over it.  Yeah. Love it. That’s pretty cool. And I think what’s really cool about it is that you do it without disrupting their existing business. Exactly. So they don’t feel like, “Okay, maybe it’s at no cost to me. Maybe it’s a marketing thing.” But at the same time, if you’re interfering with my customers, that’s actually a negative. Because it can create damage. That’s my reservation about people who offer to drive business for me. Yeah. But then they want to use my LinkedIn profile, and they can spoil my reputation online. And I’m never going to allow it. Because it interferes with my business. So I love that you found a way around that. That’s pretty cool.  Absolutely. Yeah, and we’re hoping that it just continues to grow. Fortunately, AI has allowed us to move a lot faster with this because I think that historically would have been a major holdup. Mocking up a page is not a very easy task. But because we’re able to understand the business and generate something relatively quickly through our experience and understanding of how a page should be structured, it works out really well. Yeah. Love it. So switching gears here, let me ask you this: What is something that you’re actively trying to figure out in your business?  Ooh, boy. Scale. I think the ability to scale something like this is where I’m trying to figure out what is going to break next. Historically, we’ve struggled to figure out things like: “Oh, we need a really good offer to drive cold outbound leads.” We have historically been a referral-only business. And while that’s worked, it certainly isn’t as sustainable long term as building a proper, predictable cold outbound system.  Now that we have something that is starting to work, and we’re seeing more leads come in, the question becomes: How do we scale this without the business breaking if we suddenly see a significant increase in leads? Because realistically, in the past, it’s been rare that we’ve had so many leads in the pipeline that we didn’t know how to handle them. But we’ve also recognized that the type of service we provide is elevated. We consider ourselves a boutique service. We know we’re not the cheapest in the market. But what we do know is that we can absolutely drive additional profit dollars to your business. Because we’re looking at the full marketing picture.  We’re not just focusing on PPC. We’re not just focusing on SEO. We’re not just focusing on organic social. We’re looking at how all of those things work together. And then we’re looking at the business as a whole and trying to drive an actual P&L impact. Not just say: “Oh, ROAS in Google Ads is good, so everything must be great.” No. That’s not always the case. As I mentioned earlier, that can happen while you’re still burning money because you’re simply retargeting people who already know about your business.  So the goal is understanding that we provide an elevated service and finding the right talent to help deliver it. So that as we continue to scale, we’re able to maintain the level of service that we know we’re capable of providing. And making sure that the people leading those client conversations are able to deliver on that promise every single time as well. Hopefully that answers the question, for the most part.  So if you have the deals coming through, the cold outreach is working, and your offer is working, is it just a question of finding the talent, or are there other things that could break?  Yeah. I think it’s hiring and talent for sure. And then the other piece is continuing to maintain the operational speed behind it as well. Because expectations in the industry are changing dramatically. We went from bi-monthly reporting to weekly reporting, and now people want to know how things are moving every single day. AI has sped things up to the point where people’s expectations are changing at a rate that we need to keep up with. And that is certainly one of the more difficult things to navigate.  Especially when there are 30 to 1,000 new AI tools coming out every single day. Then you need to figure out: “What’s the best one that I’m going to be able to utilize long term, instead of just dumping it and moving to a new one next week?” So yeah, the operational piece has been very interesting over the past couple of years. It went from everybody using ChatGPT, to all of these different AI transcription tools. We moved into Notion. Now we’re using Vector, which is popping off right now. Claude has obviously made a lot of strides as well. And it’s about figuring out how we continue to pivot across all of these different tools. And I’m barely scratching the surface with those examples.  We also have to make sure that the entire team is able to adapt to these changes over time. Because for so long, you could stick with a single tech stack and a handful of tools for years, and not much would change. But now, because of AI, things are adapting, changing, and improving incredibly quickly. And the expectations of the client are moving just as fast. So you need to be able to keep up with that. I’ve always wondered about this thing that Steve Jobs said: The two primary functions of a business are marketing and innovation. And you are doing one of the two primary parts of the business. You could even argue that marketing is innovation as well. So the two things converge. How is it possible for an agency to innovate for multiple clients on a continual basis?  Yeah. That just comes down to trusting the team and having the right people in the right place. And that’s why I think hiring is one of the biggest things that we need to focus on. Because AI has raised the floor for so many people. But it has also really shined a light on the people who are able to work alongside it efficiently, speed up their processes, and use their experience to make decisions really fast. It is more powerful than ever to have a creative mindset and the experience of seeing how things impact multiple different clients. And to understand how you can shift strategy at any point in time. It also requires having that childlike curiosity mindset.  Being willing not to accept everything as fact. Being willing to pivot at any point in time. It’s truly about making sure that the people around you are willing to adapt and accept that they are not going to be right all the time. But they’re willing to keep trying, keep learning, and keep figuring out what the next step is. And not fall into complacency. Because if you do, AI has probably already rocked your world at this point. So the biggest thing is having people around you, a support system, procedures, and training that allow that to happen naturally. And trusting that they will be able to follow that and see the vision—or at least try.  That’s fascinating. If there’s a company trying to figure out what to do, how to make sense of all these different platforms, SEO moving to GEO, AI, Reddit, Quora, rising advertising costs, TikTok, and all these other platforms coming online—and their head is spinning—what do you recommend they do? How do they select an agency? Of course, they should go to you. But how should they select an agency? What criteria should they use to select someone, whether that’s you or somebody else?  Yeah. I mean, really, it just comes down to being growth-minded. And maybe I’m not fully understanding the question, but if you have any passion or drive to grow what you’re doing, you need to surround yourself with people who are constantly looking to push the envelope. Whether that be an agency or an in-house team. And in some cases, it might not make sense for you to have an agency. That really depends on your brand guidelines and how closely you hold them to your chest. Because sometimes bringing in an outside agency can be very difficult.  It takes time to get them up to speed. If you’re looking to develop your own internal style of content because you have a lot of protection around the brand, then building that internally is going to make a heck of a lot more sense. Because they’re constantly going to be able to talk in your language. As opposed to an agency that wants to be an arm of your business, but at the end of the day, it’s difficult for that to always be the case. We try to live and breathe that as much as we can, but we also understand there are limitations. So I would say if you are a brand with extremely tight brand guidelines, then you need to train internally and make sure that is built into the culture and into the marketing team.  Otherwise, everything you put out from that point forward is going to be disjointed from what the brand actually means or is trying to stand for. Therefore, you need to have that in-house and you need more control over it. Otherwise, if you understand that other people have great ideas, and you want to leverage that, and you appreciate that they’re looking at hundreds, if not thousands, of brands and seeing how they succeed in the market, then an agency can be a beautiful way to go. And it’s generally more cost-effective in most cases. You’re going to have an agency with maybe three to five people—sometimes even more—overseeing your account.  And in many cases, that’s for the same cost as a single internal employee. So being able to leverage the minds of five different people with five different viewpoints of the world, and five different pairs of eyes looking at your website, versus just one… In my opinion, you’re going to win every time. Assuming you have the right team behind you. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. So essentially, you’re outsourcing your marketing function to an expert team. This is all they do. And they’re held to a high standard because they work with a lot of companies in a fast-moving environment. It’s similar to having an internal attorney versus using a law firm with high-flying attorneys who operate at the cutting edge. You can never really replicate that cutting-edge environment, which helps nurture those people on the other side. Yeah. Love it. So if you’re listening to this and you want to take your marketing to the next level, and you want an expert team at your service to figure out how to grow your brand across multiple channels—content, advertising, customer engagement, and all that stuff—then reach out to Grant. But where can they find you, Grant?  You can reach out to us through digitalposition.com. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. I’m happy to chat with anybody. I’m more than happy to share anything I’ve learned along the way, whether you’re another agency, a brand, or whatever it might be. I firmly hold the belief that there is a massive sea of people out there to reach. And I’m happy to share any learnings that I’ve had. Because, boy, there’s so much to digest in this world, and I’m happy to share whatever I know. But yeah, digitalposition.com for anyone who would possibly want to work with us or chat. Otherwise, I’m on LinkedIn and happy to connect there as well.  Well, Grant McKinstrie, CEO of Digital Position, a full-stack agency that builds growth systems for eCommerce brands. Thanks for coming and sharing your experience and your view of the world. And if you enjoyed listening, make sure you follow us on YouTube and Apple Podcasts because every week I come with an exciting entrepreneur who is sharing the best of what they know. So thanks for coming, Grant, and thanks for listening.  Thank you so much for having me. Important Links: Grant’s LinkedIn Grant’s website

La mayoría de los emprendedores cree que su problema está en Meta Ads.Piensan que necesitan más presupuesto.Mejores anuncios.Más clics.Más mensajes.Pero la realidad es otra.Porque todos los días veo negocios que reciben decenas de leads y no venden absolutamente nada.Y no es culpa de Meta.No es culpa del algoritmo.Ni siquiera es culpa del anuncio.El problema aparece después.Cuando el cliente escribe por WhatsApp.Cuando llega la llamada.Cuando llega el momento de generar confianza y cerrar la venta.La mayoría responde tarde.No califica.No hace preguntas.No detecta objeciones.No hace seguimiento.Y después dice:“Meta Ads no funciona.”Hoy te voy a mostrar exactamente cómo construir un proceso de cierre que transforme simples conversaciones en ventas reales.Veremos cómo responder un lead, cómo generar confianza, cuándo llamar, cómo presentar una oferta y cómo hacer seguimiento para aumentar drásticamente tu tasa de conversión.Porque una cosa es generar leads.Y otra muy distinta es convertir esos leads en dinero.Y eso es exactamente lo que aprenderás hoy.

In the final installment of the Compounding Clinic series, Doc Danny explains why stability is the ultimate advantage for cash-based physical therapy clinics. Learn how recurring revenue, outcome-based plans of care, and long-term patient relationships create more predictable growth, stronger profitability, and a better quality of life for clinic owners. In This Episode, You'll Learn Why stability beats volume in clinic growth The biggest mistakes Danny would fix if starting over How the volume treadmill traps clinic owners Why recurring revenue changes business economics The importance of outcome-based plans of care Why 40% recurring revenue is a powerful benchmark How recurring revenue increases enterprise value The connection between business stability and personal freedom Why implementation matters more than information Key Takeaway The strongest clinics aren't built on constantly replacing discharged patients. They're built on systems that create stability, recurring revenue, predictable growth, and long-term patient relationships. Technology Spotlight Reduce documentation time and improve patient engagement with Claire AI. Start your free 7-day trial. Upcoming Training Learn how PT Biz uses Meta Ads to build compounding clinics with predictable patient acquisition and recurring revenue systems. Free Resource Join the PT Biz Part-Time to Full-Time Challenge More PT Biz Training Subscribe to PT Biz Training on YouTube Connect Physical Therapy Biz PT Entrepreneur Podcast

Send us Fan MailBefore you spend another dollar on paid ads, listen to this.Facebook and Instagram ads can feel like a mystery. One person swears they're the key to scaling your business. Someone else says they're a waste of money. Meanwhile, Meta keeps suggesting you boost your post, increase your budget and trust the process.  In today's episode, I'm joined by Samantha Fine, Meta Ads and Funnel Strategist, to talk about what's actually working when it comes to paid advertising and why so many business owners end up frustrated, overwhelmed and convinced that ads "don't work."We discuss:How Meta's platform has changed, including the growing role of AI, the Andromeda update and the shift from audience targeting to creative-led advertisingThe role your funnel plays in ad performance and conversionsHow to know if you're actually ready to invest in paid traffic and how oto set an ad budget based on your goalsWhy copying someone else's ad strategy rarely works If you've been wondering whether Meta Ads are worth it, why your results have changed or what needs to be in place before you spend any money on ads, this conversation will save you time, money and a whole lot of frustration.Links & References:Come network with us! CLICK HERE to attend your first PWR Connection Network virtual speed networking event at no cost using the promo code  FIRSTTIMEGet Samantha's free Successful Ads Scorecard here: https://www.samanthafinedigital.com/scorecardBook an Audit Call with Samantha: https://link.autopilotclients.io/widget/bookings/ads-audit-samantha-fine-digitalConnect with Samantha on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthafinedigitalSupport the showConnect with Your Host!Melissa Snow is a Business Relationship Strategist and the founder of Powerful Women Rising - a business growth ecosystem for female entreprenuers who want to create real momentum through real relationships.Inside the PWR Connect Network and the PWR Business Growth Mastermind, Melissa helps women in business get build relationships, increase visibility and get more referrals without pressure, perfection or performative networking.She's on a mission to change the way women grow their businesses - proving that you can be authentic, values-driven and profitable at the same time.Melissa lives in Colorado with two dogs (Peyton and Ally), three cats (Giorgio, Karma and Betty) and any number of foster kittens. She hates winter, seafood and feet.  She loves iced coffee, Taylor Swift, and buying books she'll never read.

Sarah Resnick is the founder and CEO of Gist Yarn and Zollie. FOLLOW UP WITH ANDREWX: https://x.com/andrewjfarisEmail: podcast@ajfgrowth.comWork With AJF Growth: https://ajfgrowth.comBEHIND THE SCENES STUDIOWork with the same Meta Ads creative production team that Andrew does with Behind The Scenes Studio, a More Staffing sister company: https://www.btsstudio.co/.INTELLIGEMSIntelligems brings A/B testing to business decisions beyond copy and design. Test your pricing, shipping charges, free shipping thresholds, offers, SaaS tools, and more by clicking here: https://bit.ly/42DcmFl. Get 20% off the first 3 months with code FARIS20.Column set string to use for your account: &columns=name%2Ccampaign_name%2Cattribution_setting%2Cdelivery%2Cbid%2Cbudget%2Cspend%2Caction_values%3Aomni_purchase%2Cpurchase_roas%3Aomni_purchase%2Cactions%3Aomni_purchase%2Ccost_per_action_type%3Aomni_purchase%2Caverage_purchases_conversion_value%3Aomni_purchase%2Ccpm%2Cactions%3Alink_click%2Ccost_per_action_type%3Alink_click%2Cwebsite_ctr%3Alink_click%2Cimpressions%2Creach%2Cfrequency&attribution_windows=default%2C1d_click_all_conversions%2C28d_click_all_conversions&comparison_date=&insights_comparison_date=

Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE? https://www.agencymastery360.com/training Have you ever written a process that nobody followed? Or built a folder of SOPs that your team politely ignored and you quietly stopped updating? That was a big struggle for today's featured guest, but six weeks before this conversation, he and his team built something that solved a problem most agency owners have tried and failed to fix for years: an AI context engine that makes their operating procedures actually stick. In this episode, he walks through exactly how it works, how they structured shared and personal context layers, how to get your team started without overwhelming them, and why giving AI an outcome rather than a task is the thing most founders are still getting wrong. Andy Janaitis is the founder of PPC Pitbulls, a boutique digital marketing agency focused on Google Ads and Meta Ads for small to medium businesses. His background is in industrial engineering, data science, software engineering, and product management. Throughout these different stages of his career, he always worked at agencies. So naturally, when it came to starting his own business that seemed like the obvious choice. He launched the agency in 2020 alongside a former colleague, the same week his first child was born and COVID hit. PPC Pitbulls' differentiator is measurement: every ad dollar is tracked, client behavior on-site is understood, and optimization follows the data rather than intuition. In this episode, we'll discuss: Andy's solution to the common owner SOP problem Shared context vs. personal context Get next-level results by providing outcomes, not tasks Subscribe Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio Sponsors and Resources This episode is brought to you by Wix Studio: If you're leveling up your team and your client experience, your site builder should keep up too. That's why successful agencies use Wix Studio — built to adapt the way your agency does: AI-powered site mapping, responsive design, flexible workflows, and scalable CMS tools so you spend less on plugins and more on growth. Ready to design faster and smarter? Go to wix.com/studio to get started. The SOP Problem Most Agencies Have Given Up On Every agency owner knows the rhythm. You write the process. You put it in ClickUp or Notion or a shared drive. You announce it to the team. Three months later nobody is using it, and you are back to making every decision yourself because it is faster than watching the system fail in real time. Andy has run this loop and now, just six weeks before the recording, managed to use AI to create a tool that changed everything. It was an AI context engine that pulled from every client touchpoint, including meeting recordings, email, and Slack, and converted that information into living context files the team can query in real time. The key detail is what happens when someone wants to update a shared file. Every central skills file has an owner. Changes get queued for approval rather than overwriting existing rules. What used to be a static document that slowly went stale is now a system that learns, updates, and actually enforces how the agency operates. Shared Context vs. Personal Context: Why the Distinction Matters The context gathered in this way is structured across the team in two tiers: First tier: The central bank holds client context, agency-wide skills files, and general operating rules. That lives in a shared Google Drive folder that auto-syncs to every team member's desktop. Second tier: Personal context, meaning individual rules that only apply to a specific person's workflow, like filtering certain emails that have nothing to do with the agency. The reason this distinction matters is that most teams building shared AI context run into one of two problems: the files are so locked down nobody updates them, or they are so open that updates overwrite each other and nothing is reliable. The queue-and-approve structure Andy built threads that needle. Team members can flag a better way to do something. The file owner reviews it. If it makes sense, it gets merged into the main store. The agency gets smarter without the chaos of everyone editing the same file in real time. Start With One Specific Thing, Not the Whole System Most founders decide to build an AI operating system and then make the mistake of trying to build everything at once, load too much context into a single document, and end up with a system so heavy it cannot function efficiently. Jason describes his own early version as trying to get every person in the company to approve a single letter change. The architecture was right but the structure was wrong. Andy's starting point recommendation is specific enough to actually follow: Pick one workflow. The one that creates the most friction or the most inconsistency. Open Claude desktop, describe what you want, identify the tool or source you want to pull from, and ask it to build a file structure that keeps client context organized and retrievable. The plan it generates is not perfect. That is fine. You approve, adjust, and run it. From that first working piece, everything else becomes an iteration. The common mistake is waiting for a complete vision before starting. The agencies making real progress right now started with something small six weeks ago and have been adding ever since. Give It an Outcome, Not a Task The tactical shift that runs through this entire conversation is the difference between assigning AI a task and giving it an outcome. A task is "write me a sales proposal." An outcome is "we need to win this client, here is everything we know about them, here is our agency's positioning, here is what a strong proposal from us looks like, produce a first draft." The output from the second prompt is not in the same category as the output from the first. This is the same principle that makes or breaks the first few hires at a growing agency. Most founders who have struggled with underperforming team members can trace it back to the same root: they handed someone a task without ever communicating the outcome they were trying to reach. AI amplifies both good and bad briefing habits instantly. Give it strong context and a clear destination, and it operates well above expectations. Give it a vague instruction and ignore the output quality, and the tool looks broken when the real problem is the brief. Building the context engine is how you make that outcome-focused briefing the default rather than the exception. Do You Want to Transform Your Agency from a Liability to an Asset? Looking to dig deeper into your agency's potential? Check out our Agency Blueprint. Designed for agency owners like you, our Agency Blueprint helps you uncover growth opportunities, tackle obstacles, and craft a customized blueprint for your agency's success.

Stewart Alsop sat down with Michael Shackelford to discuss their experiences building applications through vibe coding—the practice of using AI to create software without traditional programming expertise. Stewart, who runs the AI Whispers community in Buenos Aires and hosts the Crazy Wisdom podcast (with over 660 interviews), shared how he went from teaching people prompt engineering to building his own video conferencing software as a Riverside.fm replacement, while Michael opened up about his year-long journey creating Genrupt Inc, an AI-powered content generation tool for e-commerce sellers. The conversation covered everything from the decline in quality of Claude's reasoning capabilities and how Chinese companies used distillation attacks to copy Anthropic's models, to the importance of spaced repetition systems for managing knowledge in the age of LLMs, with both sharing battle-tested prompting strategies like asking AI to "explain it to me in genius terms" and using deep research queries to reverse engineer how competitors build their products.Show Notes:- Dan Martell's book "Buy Back Your Time" was mentioned as one of the best business books for thinking about life and business- Check out John Vervaeke's "Awakening from the Meaning Crisis" for understanding relevance realization and why AI fundamentally cannot determine what's relevant to humans without being toldTimestamps00:00 Michael discusses being exhausted from getting his app ready for launch, working nonstop with AI to prepare landing page for podcast traffic driving beta signups05:00 Stewart explains starting AI Whispers in Buenos Aires after leaving OpenAI vendor company, meeting early adopters like Torin who was building mind-reading EEG technology10:00 Discussion of how corporations resist AI adoption due to political games and job security fears while some companies use AI as excuse for pandemic-era layoffs15:00 Stewart describes teaching workshops on using LLMs as linguistic tools rather than coding tools, noting technical people often lack humanities background needed for prompting20:00 Explaining chatbot wrappers, API calls, and how Anthropic's reasoning quality declined after Chinese distillation attacks copied their secret sauce developed with philosophers25:00 Technical discussion of model training, fine-tuning versus RAG for new information, and different approaches to updating AI knowledge beyond initial training30:00 Stewart describes building podcast recording software to replace expensive Riverside, struggling with syncing audio and video files across different computer clocks35:00 Discussion of critical factors in vibe coding, discovering unknown technical requirements, and how AIs don't automatically reveal missing information40:00 Stewart's reverse engineering process using deep research function to study competitors' hiring and technology stacks, separating planning agents from coding agents45:00 Prompting techniques including "explain like I know everything" and using spaced repetition systems to capture valuable prompts and technical knowledge50:00 Michael explains his Generux app for generating ecommerce content using Amazon review data analysis to inform high-converting listing images and videos55:00 Discussion of founder mentality involving self-delusion about project timelines, Michael working nine-plus hours daily for nine months on app development60:00 Comparing Amazon's expert software to prosumer software approach, discussing distribution challenges and future robotics applications for customized products65:00 Stewart demonstrates spaced repetition app for memory improvement and knowledge retention, explaining relevance realization problem that AI agents cannot solve without embodimentKey Insights1. Stewart Alsop started AI Whisperers in Buenos Aires after leaving his role at Invisible Technologies, which was OpenAI's largest vendor for RLHF work. He noticed that machine learning engineers at tech companies lacked the humanities background needed to properly interact with large language models, which are fundamentally linguistic tools. This led him to create weekly workshops teaching non-technical people how to use AI effectively, running events every Thursday for two years straight. The group attracted intense geeks from the start and eventually led to Stewart speaking right after Vitalik Buterin at DevConnect, marking a significant milestone for the community.2. Large corporations are resistant to AI adoption due to multiple factors including political dynamics within organizations and employees fearing job loss. Many companies that grew during the pandemic are now using AI as an excuse to downsize when the real issue is inefficiency from rapid expansion. Stewart observed that even technical people in machine learning often don't understand how to properly use AI tools because they lack linguistic and humanities training. The fundamental problem is educational, requiring companies to train people how to use these new tools while those same people resist learning them.3. Vibe coding has evolved significantly with Claude Code being a game changer that reduced the technical barrier to entry. Before Claude Code, developers needed substantial technical knowledge to work through constant doom loops and debugging cycles. The success of coding AI tools stems from thirty years of testing infrastructure that provides clear yes or no feedback on whether code works. This infrastructure doesn't exist in the same way for manufacturing, science, and other fields, which is why software became the dominant area for AI assistance initially.4. Claude's quality degradation over recent months resulted from multiple factors including distillation attacks by Chinese companies who reverse engineered Anthropic's reasoning capabilities. Anthropic had hired philosophers, sociologists, and psychologists to develop exceptional reasoning in Claude 4.5, but this was expensive to run. When Chinese models like Kimi copied these capabilities at one tenth the cost, and when mainstream users flooded the platform before Anthropic's planned IPO, the company had to reduce quality to manage computational costs. This represents a significant loss for power users who relied on Claude's superior reasoning abilities.5. Stewart built a podcast recording application to replace Riverside because he needed API access to automate workflows, which Riverside wanted one thousand dollars monthly to provide. The technical challenge involves syncing audio and video from local recordings on multiple computers with different clocks through a server, then merging them so voices match lip movements. This problem requires understanding complex timing issues across different network conditions and file formats. Stewart has been working through AI psychosis for months on this FFMPEG pipeline problem, illustrating how vibe coding still requires building intuition about technical problems even without traditional coding knowledge.6. The transition from expert software to prosumer software represents a major opportunity for AI-enabled tools. Expert software like Photoshop, Blender, and terminal interfaces have extreme complexity that intimidates beginners, but AI is making these capabilities accessible through natural language. The reign of specialists is ending as generalists with broad knowledge and curiosity can now build complete applications by leveraging AI to fill technical gaps. This shift particularly benefits entrepreneurs and founders who specialize in getting into difficult situations and figuring them out, even when they originally thought tasks would be easier than they turned out to be.7. Building applications with AI requires accepting massive time investments beyond initial estimates and developing strategies for overcoming knowledge gaps. Michael estimated his ecommerce content generation app would take months but spent nearly a year working over nine hours daily, while Stewart spent months solving audio-video sync issues. Success requires using tools like deep research to understand how competitors solve problems, maintaining separate planning and coding agents, and learning to ask the right questions. The key insight is that vibe coders can achieve ninety percent of functionality independently, but the final ten percent often requires understanding specific technical concepts that AI cannot intuit without proper context and domain knowledge.

Doc Danny breaks down what changed with Meta ads in 2026 and why cash-based PT clinics need a completely different strategy than they used a few years ago. He explains how Meta's AI-driven targeting works today, why creative matters more than audience targeting, and how ads fit into the larger compounding clinic system. In This Episode, You'll Learn How Meta's Andromeda update changed ad targeting Why creative now matters more than audience setup How smaller clinics can run effective ads with smaller budgets The ad structure currently working best for cash PT clinics Why follow-up and sales systems matter more than lead volume How lifetime value changes ad ROI dramatically Why Meta ads should support a larger clinic ecosystem, not replace it Key Takeaway The clinics winning with Meta ads in 2026 are not relying on ads alone. They are building systems that bring in patients, convert trust, create recurring revenue, and stabilize the business long term. Technology Spotlight Reduce documentation burden and help your clinicians save hours every week. Try Claire free for 7 days. Free Resource Want help growing your cash practice? Join the free 5-Day Challenge. More PT Biz Training Subscribe to PT Biz Training on YouTube Connect Physical Therapy Biz PT Entrepreneur Podcast

If you've ever run an ad campaign on Facebook or Instagram, and walked away feeling like it would have been more productive to just light that money on fire…I have really, really good news for you. You're wrong! This week on the blog and podcast I'm chatting with our social media coach Melissa Davies to talk about all things Meta ads.  Listen in and learn: Why "purchase" ads are wrong for most store owners How to build an audience of the right people on just $5 per day, and then leverage that audience to fuel your ads Why your "failed" campaigns weren't failures at all The "hack" Melissa swears by to acquire customers at a price you can afford You really do not want to miss this one, it completely blows the lid off of how a Meta ads strategy is so essential to your business you can almost think of it like rent.   RELATED LINKS: Get on the Inner Circle waitlist: https://www.thesocialsalesgirls.com/inner-circle-membership Here's When You're Ready To Run Purchase Ads https://www.thesocialsalesgirls.com/blog/heres-when-youre-ready-to-run-purchase-ads-episode-290 The 'Marketing First' Strategy That Grew This Business to 4.6M Views https://www.thesocialsalesgirls.com/blog/the-marketing-first-strategy-that-grew-this-business-to-4-6m-views-episode-257 The Most Powerful Marketing Activity https://www.thesocialsalesgirls.com/blog/the-most-powerful-marketing-activity-episode-285 ----------------------------- Stop wondering if you're "doing it right" and learn how to grow your sales in a consistent, predictable way. Spend 40 minutes with me in this eye opening workshop, and you'll leave with a few simple steps that will grow your sales next month. Find a time that works for you, and register here: https://watch.thesocialsalesgirls.com/s/77wKvQ "Insightful, actionable and engaging! I learn so much every single time I listen. I can't believe this information is free"  - If you feel like this too, I'd love it if you would leave us a review. Reviewing the show will help us reach even more store owners, so we can help the grow their sales. Click here, scroll down, tap to rate with 5 stars and select "Write a review". Let us know what you find most helpful about the podcast!