Podcast appearances and mentions of susan baier

Welcome to a timely episode of Build a Better Agency! This week, host Drew McLellan is joined by research partner Susan Baier from Audience Audit to unveil the results of the 2025 Agency Edge Research, fresh from its debut at the Build a Better Agency Summit. Together, they dig deep into how agency clients really feel about artificial intelligence—where they're embracing it, where they're hesitant, and what they truly want from their agency partners as AI becomes an ever-more central part of the marketing landscape. Susan and Drew break down the study's findings, revealing surprising good news for agencies: most clients are not only comfortable with agencies using AI, they actually want their agencies to be transparent and step up as guides and educators in the new AI-driven world. The episode introduces the three client mindsets the research uncovered—AI Embracers, AI Skeptics, and AI Opportunists—exploring what each group wants, fears, and expects when it comes to agency use of AI. Along the way, Susan shares eye-opening data that challenges common agency fears, like the myth that all clients want to replace agencies with tech or are solely focused on cost savings. . Drew and Susan discuss practical, actionable opportunities for agency leaders to build trust, grow their strategic value, and tap into new revenue streams by leading client conversations about AI. They emphasize key client desires: greater transparency around AI use, expert guidance on tools and applications, and clear communication about regulations and risk. You'll also hear why clients view agency guidance on AI as an entry point not just for marketing, but for broader organizational needs—a potential seat at the coveted strategy table.  Don't miss this episode if you want to stay a step ahead in the evolving AI landscape. You'll come away with not only a clear understanding of what your clients are thinking, but with actionable ways to strengthen your agency's position, open new doors, and create deeper, more trusted partnerships in the age of AI.  A big thank you to our podcast's presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They're an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: Exploring client attitudes toward agency use of AI   The critical roles of transparency and trust in agency-client relationships Breaking down three client mindsets: AI embracers, skeptics, and opportunists The growing expectation for agencies to be AI guides, not just service providers Why most clients value better results—not just lower fees—from AI adoption Addressing client concerns and opportunities through open AI conversations Action steps for agencies to become indispensable AI partners

Welcome to a compelling new episode of Build a Better Agency! This week, host Drew McLellan is joined by familiar faces Susan Baier from Audience Audit and Brian Gerstner from White Label IQ to discuss the findings of the 2025 Agency Core research study. Together, Susan and Brian have launched Agency Core, a nonprofit initiative dedicated to providing agency owners with powerful, unbiased data about what's really going on in the agency world—and the latest results are as sobering as they are enlightening. Drew, Susan, and Brian unpack the study's in-depth findings, based on responses from over 700 agency leaders. They explore the five distinct agency segments identified, analyzing which mindsets and practices set high-performing agencies apart from their peers. The discussion covers the recurring challenges hurting agency profitability and optimism, including the ongoing struggle with building a strong pipeline, the reality of staffing issues, and a noticeable decline in overall optimism among agency owners compared to previous years. The trio digs into what's driving these trends and why, despite all the talk around new technologies like AI, the most pressing problems for agencies remain much more fundamental. You'll also hear their perspectives on the importance of specialized positioning, the power of thought leadership, formal client retention strategies, and maintaining a proactive approach to agency marketing—plus, the critical role of community and peer support in navigating tough times.  If you're looking for actionable insights and a candid, data-driven roadmap to greater agency success, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in for practical strategies and encouragement on how to move from feeling stuck to thriving, even in a changing industry landscape. By the end, you'll be equipped to make meaningful changes and inspired to take the next steps toward building a stronger, more resilient agency.  A big thank you to our podcast's presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They're an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: The power of niche positioning and thought leadership for agency resilience   Why so many agency owners are struggling and the importance of moving from tactical to strategic work Pipeline challenges as the top threat facing agencies today—far surpassing concerns about AI How formal client retention systems and proactive strategic thinking fuel growth The critical role of reputation: it's what others say about you, not what you say about yourself Team loyalty initiatives and their connection to agency performance and staff retention Choosing your path: the necessity of specialization versus the struggles of being a generalist

I am super excited about this very special episode of Sell with Authority — because we've got something extra special for you. We invited Susan Baier — the Founder and CEO of Audience Audit and our brilliant research partner here at Predictive ROI — back for a rock-solid encore interview. When we go into the field to uncover the golden nuggets of insight that we turn around and share with you, it's Susan and her incredible team — alongside our very own Hannah Roth, Predictive's Director of Strategy and resident Mad Scientist — who are doing all of the digging and heavy lifting to make that happen. Susan joins Hannah and I today to peel back the layers on a timely topic — the growing demand for agencies to provide specific metrics and results to their clients. At Predictive, we firmly believe — just like Susan does — that everything is measurable. But — sometimes, you and your team need to think outside the box to uncover the story behind the data. And that's exactly what we explore in today's conversation. Susan shares recommendations for some unique and creative ways agencies can measure the metrics that matter. A big dose of gratitude to our presenting sponsor for the podcast, Conduit Digital. By using their expertise in streamlining, upgrading & scaling your clients…they promise to reduce your risk so you can become the best digital agency in your market in 30 days. You can find Conduit and all their helpful insights and smarts here. What you will learn in this episode: How the increasing client demand for visible data over the last decade has affected agencies The challenges in providing the metrics that matter and how to overcome them Why strategic partners can offer the guidance you need in measuring the most meaningful data points Why asking the right questions is the Golden Ticket How to leverage AI in making data analysis more efficient and cost-effective Resources: Website: https://audienceaudit.com/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanbaieraz/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/audience-audit-inc./ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AudienceAudit/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/susanbaier

#139 Susan Baier runs the show at Audience Audit, Inc. – a marketing firm helping small to mid-size advertising agencies stand out.    Earlier this year Audience Audit and the Agency Management Institute conducted and presented findings from The Agency Edge research series. This is the 10th year they have been running this study.    This custom research is designed to help marketing agencies better understand their clients, their prospects, and even their employees.   In this podcast, we go deep into the research findings.    If you're in the ad game you need to have a listen.    Connect with Susan: Fun With Research, or on LinkedIn, or at Audience Audit.    Want to take a look at the years of research go here: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/agency-tools/agency-edge-research-series/   Connect with Pat at: pmcgovern@ascedia.com  If you like this pod, please take a minute and leave a review.  Your reviews are the green energy that powers this supertanker!  Thanks, for doing it – you're the best!  

It's no secret that new business for agencies was brutal in 2023. And for some in 2024, it's been equally difficult. So, for 2025, we want to challenge you to get unstuck from those difficult sales cycles and lay the groundwork for some new energy as we come to the end of this year. This week, Susan Baier joined me again to help us look at the agency sales cycle a little differently. Next year, it's all going to be about using research studies to build your thought leadership portfolio, create cobblestone content, and attract right-fit clients with little to no prospecting on your end. If you haven't done research studies before, it's time to start. Get some data, find your unique perspective, and share it openly and with authority. In 2025, it's going to be all about teaching and educating your audience to build trust so that by the time they pick up the phone to call you, they've already bought into your expertise. If you're looking to get out of the funk of 2 slow sales years, you'll want to stop what you're doing right now so you can take some notes on this episode. A big thank you to our podcast's presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They're an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: How does doing research make agency employees and the agency better? Why agencies need to constantly be adapting and learning new things Using new knowledge and research to make your team smarter How agencies can use their research to innovate and be better The surprising effects of new research and thought leadership on client budgets Using research to shorten the sales cycle, build trust, and promote thought leadership 3 big things that happen when agencies conduct their own research Innovative and creative ways to present new research to clients and prospects It's not just about data — it's about your unique perspective on the data Building cobblestone content out of larger research studies

In this episode of Cocktails with Friends, host Bob Cutler sits down with Susan Baier, founder and CEO of Audience Audit, to discuss the art of thought leadership and how to share your expertise in a way that truly makes an impact. Susan shares insights from her research and experience, offering practical advice on how to authentically position yourself as a thought leader, no matter your industry. Whether you're a bartender, chef, or business owner, Susan's advice will help you turn your passion into influence. Main Topics: What it means to be a thought leader How to identify and connect with your audience The importance of authenticity and providing value upfront Key Insights: Thought leadership is about teaching – It's not just about being an expert; it's about sharing new, helpful insights that others can implement. Authenticity matters – People are drawn to leaders who are approachable, relatable, and genuine, rather than overly polished or self-promotional. Provide value before asking for anything – Being relentlessly helpful and sharing your knowledge freely builds trust and leads to long-term opportunities. About the Guest: Susan Baier is the founder and CEO of Audience Audit, a firm specializing in custom attitudinal segmentation research. She helps organizations better understand their audiences to improve engagement and grow their impact. Susan is a speaker and thought leader who brings a wealth of knowledge on how to teach, inspire, and connect with your target audience. Episode Index [00:00:00] – Introduction and catching up with Susan Baier [00:02:30] – What is thought leadership? Defining the term [00:03:50] – The importance of being authentic as a thought leader [00:05:00] – Key traits of effective thought leaders: new, helpful, and relatable [00:07:30] – The role of passion and personal point of view in building influence [00:10:00] – How to connect with a specific audience and focus your message [00:12:40] – Ways to get your message out: social media, speaking, and content creation [00:16:00] – Building your personal brand as a chef or bartender [00:19:00] – Turning rants and frustrations into thought leadership content [00:21:30] – Providing value before monetization: trust-building strategies [00:24:00] – The balance between polish and authenticity in content creation [00:27:00] – Takeaways: Be authentic, be helpful, and share your expertise

In this conversation, Susan Baier shares a formative moment in her adult life when she consulted with her father, who was a world renowned plastic surgeon, about liposuction. In this discussion he suggested she get other work done instead to improve her appearance. This experience emphasized her deep-seated insecurities about her appearance and her father's lack of belief in her being good enough. It fed into to a life-long struggle with self-worth and a realization that she needed to question the voices in her head that were not her own. Over time, she has learned to recognize and challenge those voices, and to value her own perspective and the opinions of those who truly know and support her. In this conversation, Susan Baier shares her journey of healing from childhood wounds and finding self-acceptance. She discusses the importance of setting boundaries, valuing oneself, and accepting others as they are. Susan emphasizes the power of having a witness and the impact of personal connections in overcoming differences. She also highlights the need to be mindful of the media and social media's influence on our thoughts and emotions. Overall, Susan's story reminds us of the importance of boundaries, empathy, and understanding in our healing journeys.Susan Baier is a marketing master, founder of Audience Audit, and sought after public speaker.Learn more about Susan on her websiteLearn more about HopeGuide and Ryan Pink Join us on YouTube to watch full episodes Help us amplify the message!Please subscribe on your favorite podcast app!Please Rate and Review the podcast on Apple and Spotify!

Every year, we go out into the field to understand the biggest pain points and priorities for both agencies and clients. This year, we took data from the 2024, 2019, and 2014 Agency Edge Research studies to compare how client expectations have changed over the years. This year, the burning issue was client-agency trust — what clients look for in an agency, how an agency can retain clients, and what causes a client to look elsewhere for another agency. To help make sense of all the changes, Susan Baier from Audience Audit joins us to discuss what agencies can do and are already doing to impress clients. We'll break down the three distinct client segments that emerged, their unique attitudes towards agencies, and what factors drive their decision to hire or fire an agency partner. We also discuss how to position your agency for better alignment with client priorities. If you're looking to learn how to better position yourself to win and retain more clients in 2024 and beyond, don't miss our deep dive into the data to gain a competitive edge in your agency. A big thank you to our podcast's presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They're an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: What clients think agencies do really well Changes in client-agency expectations over the years Agency advocates, begrudging buyers, and exacting experts How attitudes have changed toward having a trusted agency partner Why agencies are having more in-house staff than before What agency management fatigue has done to change client-agency relationships What does agency trust look like to clients? Do clients want an agency with a niche, or generalists? What makes an agency a poor fit for a client How client-agency trust can push a client to look for a new agency

How can you leverage thought leadership to gain new followers, win new clients, keep them longer and increase referrals for your agency?Susan Baier, Founder of Audience Audit, where they help agencies create thought leadership content based on quantitative research that builds trust with potential clients, has seen thought leadership done well (with great results) and has seen it done poorly (with wasted time and money).Based on her team's on research into the topic, in today's conversation you'll hear from Susan:The 3 specific elements you have to have to execute great thought leadershipWhat potential clients want (and don't want) to see from your content effortsHow to discover your agency's point-of-view (the foundation to your thought leadership efforts) through a process Susan calls “The Rant”Resources Mentioned in This Episode:An Agency's Guide to Measuring And Improving Billable Utilization (Ebook)Connect with Susan on LinkedIn Achieving Managed Growth for Your Agency w/ Joe Sullivan 3 Steps to Owning Your Niche in 90 Days w/ Nick BennettA Simple Formula for Setting Your Growth Goals w/ Drew McLellan (Webinar)The Client (a film by Umault)Want to watch the video version of the podcast on YouTube?Check it out here: Agency Life Podcast on YouTube Have a question about today's topic? Text it to us here!Want to get more content to support your agency life? Subscribe to the Agency Life newsletter, check out past episodes & find more content at teamwork.com/agencylife. This podcast is brought to you by Teamwork.com.

Susan Baier is the Founder of Audience Audit Inc., which helps marketing agencies and thought leaders build ROI and reputation with research. She has been a marketing strategist for nearly 40 years. In her spare time (ha ha) she goes camping, knits, and enjoys a good bourbon. In this episode, Susan discussed findings from two recent research studies her firm conducted. The first, called the Agency Edge study, surveyed agency clients to understand their attitudes and preferences when working with agencies. The second, the Agency Audit study, surveyed agency leaders themselves to identify the key challenges and success factors they are experiencing. From the Agency Audit study, Susan shared that they identified five distinct mindsets or segments among agencies. The two most successful segments were the “Thought Leaders” who prioritize building an authentic thought leadership reputation and focus on a differentiated niche, and the “Loyalty Builders” who have implemented specific programs to drive exceptional client loyalty and retention. Susan shares advice for agencies aiming to become thought leaders, emphasizing the need for new, genuinely helpful content delivered consistently, focusing that content on a specific audience niche, and utilizing tactics like proprietary research studies to establish expertise. She highlighted the significant business benefits thought leadership can unlock. Tune in to this week's episode to learn more about how authenticity and thought leadership for agency owners can be a key component to driving client loyalty and attracting new business with ease. What you will learn in this episode: More about agency owners and agency clients from the Agency Edge and Agency Audit research studies What the Agency Audit research showed makes successful agencies unbeatable The 5 types of agency mindsets Why thought leaders are thriving in their niches How having a reputation for client loyalty can supersede a niche Thought leadership and niching go hand in hand Thought leadership sells itself to clients Where to start to become a thought leadership focused agency Resources: Website: https://audienceaudit.com/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanbaieraz/

In this interview, you'll learn about why emphasizing the importance of understanding audience problems and being relentlessly helpful is so important to success. Susan Baier is a marketing expert that focuses on helping business owners with research. One of my favorite parts of this interview is why it's so important to be relentlessly helpful. Highlights from the Interview Thought leadership and building trust with audiences Susan explained how research shows audiences want thought leaders addressing new, helpful perspectives from those they trust, advising focusing on problems audiences face rather than self-promotion. Developing a clear niche and problem-solving focus Susan stressed starting with the problems a niche solves before defining characteristics, advising focusing communication on problems while expanding offerings to problems on clients' journeys.  Focusing on the problem that they are struggling with. They will listen to you because they want to learn more. Being relentlessly helpful through consistent generosity Susan defined being relentlessly helpful as constantly asking "how else can I help?" within business parameters, advising generosity builds trust and differentiation for leaders, employees, and clients. Establishing organizational vision, values, and goals Susan shared that regularly revisiting goals with teams keep leaders accountable to stakeholders, advising transparency of motivations builds employee commitment to shared missions over profits. She explains that this isn't easy to do, but very important to keep everyone inspired to do great work. Showing gratitude for those who help us grow Susan thanked past leader Jay Baer for energizing their work through humor and fearlessness, advising gratitude routines remind people of leaders' positive influences and build connections. Favorite Book Check out Die Empty: Unleash your best work everyday (Amazon link). You can learn more about Susan over at Audience Audit. You can also connect with her on LinkedIn. As always, if you have any questions or want to submit a guest for the podcast that you think would be amazing, just reach out to me on the Dig to Fly website, and I'll do my best to get them on. If you enjoy the interview, please take 30 seconds to rate the Dig to Fly podcast on your favorite platform. Thanks!

Over 500 agencies surveyed.  Agencies from around the world with different specialities: marketing, creative, web development & PR agnecies included.Agencies of all sizes, from those with less than 10 to those with more than 500 employees.The team here at Teamwork.com recently partnered with Audience Audit, a research agency who focuses on this sort of analysis for agencies themselves, to take on an extensive analysis of the state of agency operations.In The State of Agency Operations Report, you'll find insights into how you as an agency leader (and your company) benchmark against your peers in key areas:client churntime-tracking effectivenessbillable utilization ratesover-servicing clients, andyour approach to new AI toolsThis week, we brought 3 panelists onto the Agency Life monthly livestream to discuss some of the key findings in a roundtable discussion & this week you'll get a chance to listen in if you didn't get a chance to join the discussion live.Connect with each of the panelists here:Susan Baier, Founder of Audience AuditGray MacKenzie, Co-Founder of ZenPilotNicole Pereira, Founder of  CULTURISHDownload your copy of the report here:The State of Agency Operations ReportWant to get more content to support your agency life? Subscribe to the Agency Life newsletter, check out past episodes & find more content at teamwork.com/agencylife. This podcast is brought to you by Teamwork.com.

“What else can I do to help?” For Susan Baier, the founder and president of Audience Audit, this question changed the trajectory of her career when she received generous assistance as a recent college graduate. She now gives back through her work with Audience Audit, where she helps businesses grow their ROI through transformational thought leadership reputations and stronger marketing. In this episode, Susan joins me to share her story and insights about how leadership can shift their mindset and find ways to be “relentlessly helpful” in their organizations and lives. 2:08 – To be relentlessly helpful, ask other what else you can do to help them and think about what you can do to help the others around you or in your organization 3:44 – Shift your mindset to think about the ways you can have an impact on others 3:54 – We all know things that someone else doesn't know 8:15 – The people with the greatest experiences and the most unique perspectives are often not sharing their information 8:40 – Being generous reaps huge rewards and builds goodwill 10:37 – Being relentlessly helpful can also be a way to break out of your own routine and make yourself feel better about your own role 12:36 – Some days may have more opportunities to be helpful than others, but there are always small gestures you can make or questions you can ask to support others 14:34 – Both overconfidence and a lack of confidence can impact the ability to be relentlessly helpful 14:54 – Organizations, not just individuals, can embrace a culture of relentless helpfulness 18:39 – Learning on the job is a critical component of advancement 19:45 – To understand what is helpful for others, you need to listen and communicate 20:33 – As you shift your mindset, you'll grow your listening skills and find more way to be helpful 22:18 – We often dismiss our own knowledge and forget to think about how our knowledge can be important to someone else, even in a small way 23:34 – Just being open and available for conversation can help others Connect with Susan Baier Audience Audit website Contact Susan      

It's that time of year again — we're evaluating the 2023 Agency Edge Research study, where we polled people who hire agencies about what they expect from agencies and what gets them to open their wallets for us. Despite a challenging year of having to find creative ways to get existing clients to spend more money with us, a lot of good news came out of this study. Overall, existing clients with larger budgets are much more willing to stick with an agency and spend more money if we present them with a compelling reason to do so. What do we do with that information? We've been preparing you for months leading up to this study, covering many of the topics we'll see today. So, if you missed any of those episodes, be sure to go back so you can be on top of your game going into 2024. A big thank you to our podcast's presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They're an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: The three main client archetypes How the three archetypes spend their money How clients use agencies to fill their different needs The revenue and budget breakdowns of each existing client group What makes a current client want to spend more money with us, and when The biggest motivation existing clients have for increasing their spend What clients believe makes the best agency The increased importance of client love and getting to know their teams Why we should be pitching new ideas to our clients and asking them to experiment with us

A marketing strategist for over 30 years, Susan Baier founded Audience Audit in 2009 to help organizations understand their best audiences based on attitudes and needs rather than just demographics or purchase behavior. She develops custom segmentation research for marketers and agencies around the world, supporting their efforts to create marketing initiatives that are more relevant, more efficient, and more impactful. On this episode of Destination on the Left, I talk with Susan Baier, my research partner in our latest research study on my favorite subject of collaboration. We share the insights uncovered about how to operationalize collaboration and why we were keen to understand all the ways that tourism, hospitality businesses, and DMOs are creating successful partnerships. What You Will Learn in this Episode: The three different types of collaborators that were identified in the study Why the study focused on understanding how organizations are operationalizing collaboration and integrating it into their daily and strategic business practices The importance of collaboration as a business strategy Key attitudes towards collaboration uncovered in the survey Factors that contribute to a collaborative mindset, such as communication, open-mindedness, and active listening How collaboration can support diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in organizations Collaboration as a Strategy Destination marketers understand the importance of collaboration as a strategy to achieve their goals. In our recent survey on attitudes towards building collaboration into internal systems, three distinct segments emerged. The first group, prudent planners, believe in a formalized collaboration process that includes clearly defined goals, financial objectives, and communication channels. They emphasize the need for a contingency plan to address unforeseen circumstances and advocate for a designated person to manage collaborations. For prudent planners, collaboration is a process-oriented activity that requires a well-structured framework. The second group of destination marketers is called enterprisers, and they are characterized by their love for collaboration. They are open-minded about the collaboration process and believe in allowing adjustments to happen organically. Enterprisers view collaborations as a competitive advantage and do not limit themselves to collaborating within the travel and tourism industry only but also with organizations outside the industry. The third group, the selective spectators, are less proactive when it comes to collaborations. They only collaborate with organizations they have some connection with, and they take a reactive approach, waiting for others to offer collaboration opportunities. Selective spectators are less confident about their collaboration process and do not see the need for collaborators to share the same values. Understanding these distinct segments is crucial for destination marketers to tailor their collaboration strategies for the best results. Traits of a Collaborative Mindset The survey found that most respondents plan to increase the number of collaborations they're involved in. The study identified communication, open-mindedness, flexibility, active listening, and being a team player as factors that contribute to a collaborative mindset. Our study encourages destination marketers to think more intentionally about collaboration and identify the pieces of their process they follow when collaborating. Resources: Website: https://audienceaudit.com/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanbaieraz/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/audience-audit-inc./ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AudienceAudit/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/susanbaier We value your thoughts and feedback and would love to hear from you. Leave us a review on your favorite streaming platform to let us know what you want to hear more of. Here is a quick tutorial on how to leave us a rating and review on iTunes!: https://breaktheicemedia.com/rating-review/

How to Protect Intellectual Property If you're meeting Sharon Toerek for the first time — she's the founder of Legal and Creative and the host of the rock solid awesome podcast, The Innovative Agency, and an expert in how to protect intellectual property. And in full transparency — she is Predictive's wicked smart intellectual property attorney, and she has brilliantly helped us navigate how to protect our intellectual property and turn that IP into income.  For example — back in May 2015 — my team and I had the idea to launch a daily podcast called Onward Nation. We hoped hosting a daily podcast with amazing and super-smart guests could be a good business development strategy.  But — our first step wasn't to begin recording episodes or building out PredictiveROI.com with helpful content. Nope. Our first step — or, more accurately — my first call — was to Sharon. Why? Because if Onward Nation as a podcast went on to be successful — we knew that having Sharon's expertise involved at the onset would help us maximize any revenue opportunities that spun out of the show and ensure that any IP created — intentionally or accidentally along the way — was protected. The result? Onward Nation attracted listeners in 141 countries and quickly became a top-rated show on Apple Podcasts. I was also approached and offered a contract to write a book about everything we knew about podcasting, which became the bestseller “Profitable Podcasting” and sold more than 10,000 copies worldwide. Okay — full transparency moment here — from a revenue perspective — Onward Nation also drove over $4 million in new revenue into Predictive because it opened the door to new clients as a result of the Trojan Horse of Sales Strategy you may have seen or heard my team and I teach.  But here's the reality — none of these result outcomes would have been possible without Sharon's smarts around protecting intellectual property — and then leveraging it into new revenue streams. Okay — I hope what I just shared gives you 4 million reasons why this episode might provide you with the insights, tips, and recommendations you need to build brand-new revenue streams while learning how to protect intellectual property in the process. Sharon has had a front-row seat to the creativity of many agencies and will share her insights on how the right systems and strategies built around the knowledge and assets you already have can create new revenue streams to help you scale.  I promise you — applying what Sharon maps out during this episode will help you protect your intellectual property — and then — give you some ideas on how to monetize your IP so it turns into a profitable revenue stream.   Okay — here's what you'll learn from this episode about how to protect intellectual property: How to protect intellectual property begins with understanding the IP Triangle Framework of: 1) brand, 2) content, and 3) transactions How you're likely already sitting on intellectual property inside your agency and uncovering it can act as a driver of demand for your main service lines How conducting some old-fashioned market research can help uncover options for generating license fees, productizing some assets into an offering, or other revenue opportunities Why protecting your revenue streams through copyright, trademarks, trade secrets, licensing agreements, or other forms is critically important Why thinking strategically about how to protect intellectual property and how it fits into the overall business strategy is essential for your business's short- and long-term success and potentially opens up options for your personal wealth Resources: Website: legalandcreative.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharontoerek/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SharonToerek The Innovative Agency Podcast Additional Free Resources: Subscribe to our new “Sell with Authority” podcast. Learn how to attract a steady stream of well-prepared prospects into your sales pipeline and convert them into right-fit clients. Everything you need to move further faster is shared in full transparency. Go here for all the episodes. Order your free copy of “Sell with Authority” in paperback or Kindle. Honest — no hoops to jump through. All you need to do is go here and enter your mailing address. No credit card for shipping. Nothing. Join our free “How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline” Facebook Group. Over 1,000 agency owners and strategic consultants just like you are looking to move further faster by sharing best practices and what's working for them. But — as Susan Baier recently said, “It's not about the numbers, it's about the SMARTS contributed to this wonderful, generous community!” Go here for details.

I'm excited for you to meet our special guest expert today — Brian Gerstner. If you're meeting Brian for the first time — Brian is the founder and president of White Label IQ, which provides white-labeled digital services and skill sets in design, development, and paid media for agencies across the country. Brian is also an expert at building, creating, and nurturing strategic partnerships.  You may have already met Brian when he was our guest expert during our open-mic Q&A on February 8th — and our topic was strategic agency partnerships. We focused on how the right agency partnerships can grow your top-line revenue — how the right partners can grow your bottom-line profit — and how to find the right partners. You can find the full recording inside our free Facebook group here.  And holy bananas — the insights Brian shared during the Q&A sparked a bunch of great questions from everyone in the room. So much so — after the Q&A — I asked Brian if he would be game to join me today on the podcast so we could take more time and peel back the layers around how agency partnerships work and why he's so keen on them as the fuel to move further, faster. In my opinion — Brian is uniquely suited for the agency partnership discussion because of his staunch beliefs around abundance — instead of scarcity — and — that success comes not from successfully competing against and beating others but by successfully collaborating for the benefit of the client. That's a true agency partnership.  So today's conversation will be about “how” to build the right agency partnerships that will help you move your agency to that next level. And I will tell you — as you build your authority position and fervently claim the ground you want to own — finding and developing right-fit agency partnerships becomes easier because you have clarity around “WHO” you want your agency to serve. And candidly — who your agency serves best — that clarity becomes evident to your prospective partners just like it does with your prospective clients. Here's the reality — your authority position makes it easier for prospects and partners to say yes to you. So buckle up — you're about to get an in-the-trenches, practical, and tactical master class on agency partnerships.  Brian and I share how to find them, build them, nurture them, and drive your top and bottom-line growth so you and your team can move further faster. Okay — here's what you'll learn from this episode about how agency partnerships can help you win: What is an agency partnership, and how might the right one help you move further faster How can the right partnership help you do what you do better Why the best partnerships are built on a foundation of both clarity and trust How you can take Brian's agency partnership model — flip the script — and use it as part of your business development strategy Why agency partnerships must always create a win/win scenario and never lose/win or win/lose Free Resources: How agency partnerships can drive your top and bottom line (Recording from open-mic Q&A). Download our WHO Framework and replace your dry sales pipeline by attracting a steady stream of well-prepared right-fit clients who want to work with you and are eager to pay a premium price. Order your free “Sell with Authority” copy in paperback or Kindle. Honest — no hoops to jump through. No credit card for shipping. Nothing. Join our free How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Facebook Group. Over 1,000 agency owners, business coaches, and strategic consultants just like you have joined us inside the free group. And — as Susan Baier recently said, “It's not about the numbers, it's about the SMARTS contributed to this wonderful, generous community!” So if you're looking for a great place to ask questions, access all of our Q&A recordings, and play full out alongside other amazing, awesome, and generous people — join us.

“80% of the women owners that we surveyed said it's extremely important to hire and develop other women in their industry,” shares host Kiley Peters, CEO and founder of RAYNE IX. With the help of friend Susan Baier and her team at Audience Audit, Kiley conducted original research on women small business owners and how they defined success for themselves.When surveying several hundred female small business owners, the data began to show three distinct segments. These segments are the believers, support seekers, and parody perceivers. Depending on which segment they fall into, some women business owners may not actually fall into the same target audience due to mindset differences. The data showed that age and income were not really a factor and that it truly all came down to mindset. The majority of women defined success as owning their own time or schedule and reported that it is very important to them to support other women in their industries. The data from this new research study is compelling and shows the differences in how women and men approach business ownership. Women start businesses because they want flexibility, autonomy, and ownership. It's not that they don't care about profit, but it typically is not their number one priority. Quotes“You really need to understand the mindset and the psychological composition of your audience, because it's those things that are really going to matter.” (9:15-9:23 | Kiley)“This is all about flexibility, autonomy, and ownership. That's why women are starting their own businesses.” (10:36-10:43 | Kiley)“70% of respondents believe that there are inherent differences between the way men and women run businesses.” (13:07-13:15 | Kiley)“Small business specifically needs to be personal.” (15:15-15:19 | Kiley)“The number one way that women defined success for themselves was owning their own time or schedule.” (17:58-18:03 | Kiley)“80% of the women owners that we surveyed said it's extremely important or very important to hire and develop other women in their industry.” (19:54-20:03 | Kiley)LinksConnect with Welcome to ElomaInstagram: @welcometoelomaWebsite: WelcometoEloma.comWeekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail Connect with KileyWorkshops: https://rayneix.com/workshops/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rayneix/Social: @kileypeters + Linkedin.com/in/kileypetersWebsites: RAYNEIX.com , BrainchildStudios.com, KileyPeters.comWeekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmailEmail: info@rayneix.com

This week is a special episode of The Home Builder Digital Marketing Podcast where we share a recorded webinar Greg did with Susan Baier of Audience Audit. In this webinar, they discuss the proprietary attitudinal research study that Blue Tangerine conducted to understand better how home buyers interact with home builders online.  https://www.buildermarketingpodcast.com/episodes/153-online-buying-behavior-research-study-blue-tangerine

A marketing strategist for over 30 years, Susan Baier founded Audience Audit in 2009 to help organizations understand their best audiences based on attitudes and needs rather than just demographics or purchase behavior. She develops custom segmentation research for marketers and agencies around the world, supporting their efforts to create marketing initiatives that are more relevant, more efficient, and more impactful. Susan and her Audience Audit team have been conducting “The Agency Edge”, an annual segmentation study of agency clients, alongside Drew McLellan, CEO of Agency Management Institute since 2014. Susan and team are also our research partners here at Predictive ROI when we step into the field to conduct our annual research. What you will learn about in this episode: How the attitudinal segments of Audience Audit's research are defined The 3 goals Susan and her team had in mind when they decided to conduct their latest research study What Susan and Audience Audit's research results show about how agencies are prioritizing their marketing efforts How an agency's reputation and thought leadership play a role in business development The importance of defining a clear niche What differentiates an agency from its competitors in the eyes of a right-fit client Resources: Website: https://audienceaudit.com/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanbaieraz/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/audience-audit-inc./ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AudienceAudit/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/susanbaier Additional Resources: Visit our newly expanded “Resource Library“ Join us in our free “How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline” Facebook Group LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/

What makes an employee want to stick around at your agency? Every year since 2014, we've been doing the research and compiling it into our Agency Edge Research to help agency owners get to the bottom of how to maintain employee satisfaction. We expected certain things like financial compensation and work-from-home flexibility to be most important this year. Still, we were surprised to find many other desires shining through that have nothing to do with money. This year, Susan Baier returns to help me break down our findings. In our analysis, we'll highlight three categories that most agency employees fall into and how their needs, wants, and levels of loyalty differ across the board. Each group has their own unique way of viewing their role in the agency, how they want to be cared for, and what's missing that would make them want to stay. We'll talk in-depth about each group and how we can best address their concerns to boost employee satisfaction. A big thank you to our podcast's presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They're an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: What is the Agency Edge Research Series, and what agency-specific issues does it address? What questions do we ask agency employees when compiling the research? The three categories that most agency employees fall into when looking at employee satisfaction The most important things that employees feel are lacking in the agency culture Where millennials stood out more than other age groups in certain categories What are the driving reasons behind an employee choosing to leave an agency? How to build loyalty in your agency and take care of employees How to identify employees who might be at risk of leaving your agency or agency life altogether

In entrepreneurship you might find yourself balancing a lot of things to make your business successful. But to be most effective, you need to know your audience. Susan Baier shares different perspectives or ways to help your prospects with what they're struggling with. Discover the key elements that can guide you to opportunities that will be the most beneficial for you and your audience. Your greatest asset is your relationship with your customers, and understanding how your services and products could be of help to them.  Highlights  05:53 About 70 percent of our work now - 70 to 80 percent - is research to help agencies build their own reputations.  06:42 Research and the value that it brings, not only just understanding people but understanding in certain cases, like landscapes, some marketplaces, competitors, etc. But all it is truly to understand the person you're trying to connect with.  09:28 I think, honestly, that's the biggest problem. It's people that aren't thinking about their audience. They're thinking only about themselves and being lazy.  10:29 The fundamental thing for defining an audience is who has the problems that I'm really good at solving that I'd like to serve. That's really what it is, and that's a different way of thinking about audience target.  20:27 You can't ask them what they need, you have to talk to them about what they're struggling with.  Listen  Apple Podcasts - Spotify - Google Podcasts - YouTube Connect with Susan Website: https://audienceaudit.com/ (https://audienceaudit.com/) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susanbaier (Facebook.com/susanbaier)   + https://www.facebook.com/AudienceAudit (Facebook.com/AudienceAudit ) LinkedIn: Lhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/susanbaieraz (inkedin.com/in/susanbaieraz) Connect with Welcome to Eloma Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/welcometoeloma ( @welcometoeloma) Website:http://welcometoeloma.com/ ( WelcometoEloma.com) Weekly Email Newsletter:https://rayneix.us19.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=ef5b203d3a56f90cbd51c7a54&id=9db6f8746e ( bit.ly/RIXEmail ) Connect with Kiley Social:https://www.instagram.com/kileypeters/ ( @kileypeters) +https://www.linkedin.com/in/kileypeters ( Linkedin.com/in/kileypeters) Websites:https://rayneix.com/ ( RAYNEIX.com) ,https://brainchildstudios.com/ ( BrainchildStudios.com),https://kileypeters.com/ ( KileyPeters.com) Weekly Email Newsletter:https://rayneix.us19.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=ef5b203d3a56f90cbd51c7a54&id=9db6f8746e ( bit.ly/RIXEmail)  Email: info@rayneix.com  Susan Baier's Bio Susan Baier is sought after by marketing agencies and their clients for her attitudinal segmentation research supporting thought leadership development and marketing initiatives. Susan has provided original custom attitudinal audience segmentation studies for hundreds of agencies and their clients including Gap, Kona Grill, Infusionsoft, Tufts University, AT&T, Pella Windows, Jayco, Jay Baer, and more. In her spare time (ha ha) she goes camping, knits, and enjoys a good bourbon.

This week on the Progressive Agency podcast, I welcome Susan Baier to the show. She's been a marketing strategist for thirty years and began her company, Audience Audit, in 2009. Susan helps marketing organizations understand their best audiences based on attitudes and needs, rather than just demographics or purchase behavior. Susan shares how research can build your credibility as a thought leader, and give you a year's worth of valuable content for your audience. Hear insights about: What is attitudinal research and how can you do it with qualitative research tactics How attitudinal research helps marketing agencies and their clients get better results What types of advice do consumers want from their thought leaders Why research helps thought leaders with both strategic and tactical advice How research adds credibility to thought leadership Relevant and Impactful Attitudinal research can make your marketing initiatives more relevant, efficient, and impactful. My guest this week on the Progressive Agency Podcast, Susan Baier, knows that firsthand. She has been a marketing strategist for 30 years and began her company, Audience Audit, in 2009. Today, Susan helps marketing organizations understand their best audiences based on attitudes and needs rather than just demographics or purchase behavior. She shares how research can make thought leaders more credible and offer more valuable content ideas for marketers and agencies. Proving Them Wrong Many people think that attitudinal research can only be conducted through quantitative measures, like surveys. However, Susan Baier proves them wrong with her company Audience Audit. She uses qualitative research tactics, like focus groups, to understand the reasoning behind a buyer's decision. During our conversation, Susan explains how marketing agencies can benefit from understanding the intent of their unique audiences. Aiding the Buyer's Decision In today's world, buyers conduct so much of their own research before making a purchase. Typically a buyer has already decided to work with you before you have the opportunity to sell to them. This means that your content and credibility as a thought leader are doing most of the work for you. Susan explains how conducting attitudinal research helps you create relevant content for your audience while increasing your credibility in your industry. Listen to the episode to learn more: How to Connect with Susan Baier: Websites: https://audienceaudit.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AudienceAudit/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanbaieraz/ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/susanbaier About Susan Baier: A marketing strategist for over 30 years, Susan Baier founded Audience Audit in 2009 to help organizations understand their best audiences based on attitudes and needs rather than just demographics or purchase behavior. She develops custom segmentation research for marketers and agencies around the world, supporting their efforts to create marketing initiatives that are more relevant, more efficient, and more impactful.

A marketing strategist for over 30 years, Susan Baier founded Audience Audit in 2009 to help organizations understand their best audiences based on attitudes and needs rather than just demographics or purchase behavior. She develops custom segmentation research for marketers and agencies around the world, supporting their efforts to create marketing initiatives that are more relevant, more efficient, and more impactful. What you will learn about in this episode: How Susan helps agencies and organizations use research to position themselves as thought leaders for their audiences What genuine thought leadership looks like — and how research builds a solid platform for it Why getting results that surprise you or contradict what you previously thought is a GOOD thing, and why it's important to be vulnerable with your followers How thought leaders can be “relentlessly helpful” for their audiences, and what that means for your business Why Susan always says that your research is “like a cupcake, but YOU are the icing” How you can infuse your unique perspectives, insights, and expertise into your research — and why it's so important to do so Ways to turn your research into a helpful, engaging, and sustainable source for content Resources: Website: https://audienceaudit.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AudienceAudit/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanbaieraz/ Twitter: @susanbaier

How can research help generate more revenue for your agency? In this episode of the Innovative Agency podcast, guest Susan Baier discusses three unique ways to utilize research to increase your ROI. Susan is a Marketing Strategist & Researcher at Audience Audit. During our conversation, she shares her thoughts on the benefits of conducting research for your agency - not just your clients. What you will learn in this episode: How agencies can leverage research for revenue generation What are the benefits of conducting research for agencies rather than clients How thought leadership impacts the return on investment (ROI) for agencies What three things thought leaders need to do, and how does research aid these efforts Why research reduces the amount of outbound selling needed How to utilize research to identify your niche and attract ideal clients How to monetize your agency research, and create additional revenue opportunities Why agencies should collaborate with other agencies with the same audience Bio Susan Baier is an Audience and Marketing Strategist and Researcher of Audience Audit (www.audienceaudit.com). Susan is sought after by marketing agencies and their clients for her attitudinal segmentation research supporting thought leadership and marketing. Resources: Website: audienceaudit.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWGXg7e0se0MO4L8bKhCfiw Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AudienceAudit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/audience-audit-inc

With a talent for creating special events that blossomed while working for my dad's car stereo shop, Nicole got her start in marketing at Frontier Field in Rochester and began serving as the executive director of the internationally known Lilac Festival. Later on, she headed the Canandaigua, New York Business Improvement District while also performing projects for the tourism promotion agency Visit Rochester. In 2009, Nicole founded Break the Ice Media, with more than 20 years of experience in tourism marketing. She now hosts “Destination on the Left,” a highly successful tourism marketing podcast. As a business owner, Nicole knows what it takes to be successful. She founded BTI to help businesses tell their brand story through public relations digital and traditional channels. She has the ability to uncover unique marketing opportunities and develop marketing and public relations initiatives that help clients build long-term success. On this episode of Destination on the Left, Nicole Mahoney highlights the importance of collaboration. In this ever-changing world, it's essential to find ways to collaborate in order to survive and thrive. We need to step outside our self-imposed silos and actively seek out opportunities to create partnerships with others that move the whole travel industry forward. What You Will Learn in This Episode: Why the global events mean it's more important than ever to connect positively with others How collaboration can be powerful in the travel and tourism industry The situation that helped Nicole understand the power of collaboration What makes some partnerships successful, while others struggle to get off the ground An overview of the findings from Nicole's 2020 research study on collaboration in the travel, tourism, and hospitality How perceived competitors can use coopetition to accomplish something bigger than themselves The three different types of collaborators and how each one affects and how they come together to form a framework for success A Passion for Collaboration Nicole shares her personal experience of building a community collaboration from the ground up when she was involved in the Rochester Frontier Field project. She describes how her experience of town-wide cooperation led to her subsequent passion for finding ways to build successful partnerships in the travel and tourism industry. Bringing a community together to make something happen is magical — and it's what sets the groundwork for success during challenging times. Nicole and her partner Susan Baier teamed to conduct a study on the effects of coopetition. This term refers to those times when perceived competitors come together to accomplish something more significant than they could achieve alone. Breaking Out of Silos As travel and tourism industry professionals, we need to harness the power of collaboration with other organizations — even with our competitors. Recognizing and understanding the positive impacts of inter-organizational collaborations on business success is key in effectively leveraging our available tools. As Nicole says, collaboration is the exponential multiplier that makes one plus one greater than two. When we commit to working in partnership with others, we can move forward faster and more effectively. A Collaboration Framework There are often challenges on the path to achieving successful collaboration, and Nicole describes why she grouped these challenges under three broad headings. The three C's framework comprises communication, commonality, and commitment; while some specific challenges may be encountered more often than others, Nicole explores why it is clear from her research that overcoming challenges in all three areas is critical for collaborations to be successful. This framework is critical in identifying opportunities in the face of adversity, and professionals and organizations that are able to navigate these three areas can thrive under any circumstances. Resources: Email: nicole@breaktheicemedia.com Website: www.destinationontheleft.com/ Website: https://breaktheicemedia.com/ Twitter: @Break_TheIce Facebook: @BreakTheIceMedia

Guests:Susan Baier is the CEO of Audience Audit and has been a marketing strategist and researcher for more than 30 years. She crafts custom attitudinal segmentation research for agencies and marketers for B2C, B2B, and higher-ed organizations including Gap, AT&T, Jayco, Tufts University, and more.Drew McLellan is the CEO of Agency Management Institute and has been in the advertising industry for more than 30 years. He advises hundreds of small- to mid-sized agencies on how to grow and become more profitable.Topic: Drew and Susan discuss their findings from the eighth annual Agency Edge Research Series, using input from approximately 1,200 clients in the U.S. spanning multiple industries. This study explores how clients feel about their organization's ability to endure the recession, the actions they've already taken, and how likely they are to make changes that could either positively or negatively affect their agencies.Five things you'll learn from this episode:The three segments of agency clients: the committed (25%), the concerned (42%), and the close (33%)How to determine which segment a client falls in to best serve them as an agencyThe challenges and opportunities created by clients with a strong preference for in-person agency relationshipsWhy brands are choosing to work with more than one agencyHow the Great Resignation affected agencies and brandsQuotables“We've seen a consistent trend where folks are working with more than one agency. Drew talks about this a lot where it's really not sort of a one-agency world anymore, and agencies need to work with each other on behalf of a client that they're collaborating with.” — @SusanBaier“When an agency says, "We're a full-service integrated agency," clients scratch their heads and say, "How could you possibly be good at everything?" And so, I think the agencies that have specialized, like you have, Jason, give themselves and their clients both an advantage and a relief that you're not trying to be everything to everybody.” — @DrewMcLellan“It's very difficult to see clearly the label on the outside of a bottle when you're inside the bottle. And so, part of what an agency always brings to their clients is an informed outside perspective.” — @DrewMcLellanGuests' contact info and resources:Susan's Twitter Susan's LinkedInDrew's TwitterDrew's LinkedInAudience AuditAgency Management InstituteAdditional Resources: Agency Edge Research Series Episode recorded: Dec. 1, 2021Sponsored by:On Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America's Best PR Agencies for 2021. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands.On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.About Your Host:Jason Mudd is a trusted adviser and dynamic strategist for some of America's most admired brands and fastest-growing companies.  He founded Axia Public Relations in July 2002. Forbes named Axia as one of America's Best PR Agencies for 2021.Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/OnTopofPR)

Understanding how clients view the agency relationship is key to making the most of that partnership. Every year since 2014, AMI and Audience Audit have brought you The Agency Edge Research Series to hopefully give helpful insights into what clients and prospects are looking for when working with agencies. The 2020 research correctly indicated that 2021 was going to be very robust for agency business. This year's study was built to better understand the thinking behind this growth on the client side, in particular how this explosion in engagement affected how they thought about their agency relationships. The Agency Edge Research Series is a collaboration between AMI, Audience Audit, and Dynata. Where other studies focus on industries or the size of client companies, we were interested in how these clients were feeling about a handful of topics. Audience Audit's Susan Baier is here to give an overview of the 2021 findings. In this episode of Build a Better Agency, Susan and I explain the methodologies used in creating the Agency Edge Research Series. We give an overview of the three client segments that revealed themselves, explain how an agency can diagnose clients and prospects in order to best serve what they are looking for. In the show notes below you will find a link to the 17-page executive summary and we hope this information will help you make the most of your client relationships. A big thank you to our podcast's presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They're an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: The methodologies used in the Agency Edge Research Series The insight that revealed itself for the first time this year The focus of this year's study How the three segments of this study are defined: Committed, Concerned, and Close How agencies can diagnose clients and prospects to know what segment they are in Ways to work best with each segment How agencies can manipulate the data for their own needs

A marketing strategist for over 30 years, Susan Baier founded Audience Audit in 2009 to help organizations understand their best audiences based on attitudes and needs rather than just demographics or purchase behavior. She develops custom segmentation research for marketers and agencies around the world, supporting their efforts to create marketing initiatives that are more relevant, more efficient, and more impactful. What you will learn in this episode: Why it's respectful to “leave some people out” when identifying your ideal customer How having a clear niche impacts the success of your business How Susan was able to discover her ideal target audience The difference between an agency and an organization  What three things you should focus on when determining your target audience Why demographics often don't matter when identifying your ideal customer How to use your content to communicate your niche and attract better referrals  Resources: Website: https://audienceaudit.com (https://audienceaudit.com) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanbaieraz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanbaieraz/) https://www.linkedin.com/company/audience-audit-inc./ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/audience-audit-inc./) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AudienceAudit/ (https://www.facebook.com/AudienceAudit/) Twitter: @susanbaier  https://twitter.com/susanbaier (https://twitter.com/susanbaier) This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

With a talent for creating special events that blossomed while working for her dad's car stereo shop, Nicole Mahoney got her start in marketing at Frontier Field in Rochester and she began serving as the executive director of the internationally known Lilac Festival. Later on, Nicole headed the Canandaigua, New York Business Improvement District while also performing projects for the tourism promotion agency Visit Rochester. In 2009, Nicole founded Break the Ice Media, with more than 20 years of experience in tourism marketing. She now hosts “Destination on the Left”, a highly successful tourism marketing podcast. As a business owner, Nicole knows what it takes to be successful. She founded BTI to help businesses tell their brand story through public relations, digital and traditional channels. She has the ability to uncover unique marketing opportunities and develop marketing and public relations initiatives that help clients build long-term success. What you'll learn about in this episode: How Nicole founded her marketing agency, Break The Ice Media, and how she specializes in the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry Why the industry at large is experiencing a workforce shortage, and how it is impacting businesses during the global pandemic How Nicole built a team that is as passionate about helping businesses in their industry as she is, and why industry collaboration is one of Nicole's main focuses How launching the Destination on the Left podcast helped Nicole clarify her focus and led her to doing a collaboration research study to be helpful to her audience Why Nicole set out to answer the question “what makes collaborations work or fail in the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry?” in her research How Nicole used her team, her podcast, and her network of connections in the industry as the foundation of her three-month collaboration research project What results Nicole and her research partner Susan Baier were able to discover through their research, and what content Nicole was able to develop based on the survey How Nicole determined her two-pronged webinar strategy with separate private client and public-facing webinar offerings How Nicole uses the research results as cornerstone content and then slices and dices it into many different smaller pieces of cobblestone content How planting her flag as the authority on travel, tourism, and hospitality industry collaboration has created new opportunities for Nicole's agency Resources: Email: nicole@breaktheicemedia.com Destination on the Left Podcast: https://breaktheicemedia.com/podcast/ Website: www.destinationontheleft.com/summit Website: https://breaktheicemedia.com/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/nicolemahoney/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/break-the-ice-media/about/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/BreakTheIceMedia/ Twitter: @Break_TheIce Additional Resources: Edelman's 2020 Trust Barometer Special Report “Trust and the Coronavirus”: https://www.edelman.com/research/2020-edelman-trust-barometer-special-report-coronavirus-and-trust Pricing Creativity by Blair Enns: www.winwithoutpitching.com/pricing-creativity/ Listen to episode 999 of the Onward Nation podcast featuring Brett Gilliland: https://predictiveroi.com/podcasts/brett-gilliland-4/ Listen to episode 735 of the Onward Nation podcast featuring Clate Mask: https://predictiveroi.com/podcasts/clate-mask/ Listen to episode 35 of the Elite Entrepreneurs podcast featuring Brett Gilliland and Clate Mask: https://growwithelite.com/podcasts/solocast-8/

The world is very different than it was 18 months ago. That means that our clients are thinking, feeling, and making decisions differently too. So what has changed? To get the scoop, I welcome back Susan Baier, CEO of Audience Audit Inc., to talk about how we can better understand our clients through research into why they do things, rather than what they do or which demographic groups they belong to. We discuss: The importance of knowing the why behind what clients do Gaining insight from research, whether or not your assumptions are correct 3 things agencies should consider around research To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website. Listening on a desktop & can't see the links? Just search for The Innovative Agency in your favorite podcast player.

Age range, gender, income - these are the demographics marketers have built their business on for years. However, those traditional categories ignore the most important part of the buying process: the complexity of human behavior and decision making. In this episode of OUTdrive, Cliff visits with Susan Baier for an in-depth look into using quantitative attitudinal audience segmentation research to serve clients. Susan is the head honcho at Audience Audit, a research company that specializes in thought leadership, audience segmentation and brand equity. She developed her expertise in audience-based marketing research over more than 30 years in marketing strategy, product and brand management, research, and strategic planning. Susan has an MBA in Entrepreneurship and Marketing and has held senior positions at Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 firms, as well as marketing agencies. Tune in to this week's episode of OUTdrive to understand integrated marketing from Susan's perspective. We dive into research based on human complexity, a layer of consumers that your traditional demographics are missing. You don't want to miss it! What you'll learn:  What is quantitative attitudinal audience segmentation research and what can it do for your business Why traditional demographics of age, gender, and income are no longer working Susan's advice on developing a thought leadership plan Utilizing the personas that audience segmentation research can outline for you Pinning down the “why” before starting new research What qualities make a good researcher and how to wield bias as a tool Susan's advice for young professionals and entrepreneurs taking those first steps  Industry insight on the “rural migration,” and how marketing has evolved in the wake of the pandemic

A marketing strategist for over 30 years, Susan Baier founded Audience Audit in 2009 to help organizations understand their best audiences based on attitudes and needs rather than just demographics or purchase behavior. She develops custom segmentation research for marketers and agencies around the world, supporting their efforts to create marketing initiatives that are more relevant, more efficient, and more impactful. Destination on the Left is joined again by Susan Baier to discuss the impact collaboration has on the travel and tourism industry. Susan is the founder of Audience Audit, a research firm that studies the attitudes behind consumer behaviors and beliefs. Susan teamed up with our host Nicole Mahoney to conduct a study about the far-reaching effects of coopetition, where perceived competitors accomplish something bigger than themselves by coming together. What You Will Learn: An overview of the findings from Susan and Nicole’s research study on collaboration The impact collaboration has on the travel and tourism industry How perceived competitors can use coopetition to accomplish something bigger than themselves by coming together How attitudinal research works, and why it is more effective in our industry The industry-wide sentiment toward collaboration in travel and tourism The three different types of collaborators and how each one affects the group dynamic Where tourism professionals are seeking resources on collaboration Collaboration in the Pandemic Susan Baier is back for another episode of Destination on the Left to discuss the impact collaboration has on the travel and tourism industry. She is the founder of Audience Audit, a research firm that studies the attitudes behind consumer behaviors and beliefs. Susan teamed up with host Nicole Mahoney to conduct a study about the far-reaching effects of coopetition, where perceived competitors accomplish something bigger than themselves by coming together. As we transition into a new year during these difficult times, it is important to understand how our organizations can use collaboration to navigate new challenges and measure our success. Data That Aligns With Your Goals There is an overwhelming amount of data available to destination marketers, but it is often the case that only a small portion of it aligns with our goals. So much data is virtually useless to us and as a result, we approach marketing strategy with expensive blind spots. While two individuals in a marketing segment may appear similar on the surface, they likely have two completely different sets of needs and problems that cannot be addressed with one blanket communication tactic. Attitudinal research offers a solution for destination marketers by providing them with targeted research based on needs and attitudes instead of demographics and purchase behaviors. There is a Demand for Collaboration The goal of Nicole and Susan’s study was to understand the industry-wide sentiment toward collaboration in travel and tourism. There were approximately 161 completed responses in the initial survey, providing enough data for the results to be statistically significant while offering a wide spectrum of attitudinal differences to compare with the results. The interesting thing about research is that it doesn’t always prove that you don’t know what you’re talking about—sometimes it has the opposite effect. This study reinforced the willingness to collaborate in all segments of the travel and tourism industry, with 76% of respondents having collaborated with direct competitors. What does this mean for you? It means there are an abundance of new opportunities to overcome challenges of the pandemic if you are willing to seek them out. This is huge for travel professionals from all walks of life. Website: https://audienceaudit.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanbaieraz/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/audience-audit-inc./ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AudienceAudit/ Twitter: @susanbaier We value your thoughts and feedback and would love to hear from you. Leave us a review on your favorite streaming platform to let us know what you want to hear more of. Here is a quick tutorial on how to leave us a rating and review on iTunes!: https://breaktheicemedia.com/rating-review/  

In this episode, Susan Baier, founder and CEO of AudienceAudit shares her thoughts on what is thought leadership and how to become a thought leader with original content. Audience Audit is a market research firm that develops custom attitudinal segmentation research for smart marketing agencies and their clients in a wide range of industries. Insights she shares include: What Is thought leadership?Are business leaders actively looking for thought leadership contentDoes thought leadership need a unique point of view before publishingWhen should you consider a thought leadership approach?What businesses could benefit from thought leadership content marketingWhere should thought leadership come from within a businessWhat are the benefits of thought leadershipThe problem with most B2B thought leadership strategies and why they failHow to create thought leadership contentWhy original research provides a competitive advantageWhy attitudinal research provides far more valuable insightsBest ways to conduct and use attitudinal research with examplesHow to get thought leadership content out of subject matter expertsHow to best leverage the power of your thought leadershipHow to ensure your original research-backed thought leadership content will drive business objectives

Our episode guest is Susan Baier, president of Audience Audit. Susan has been a marketing strategist and researcher for more than 30 years and specializes in analyzing audiences.Five things you’ll learn from this episode:What are the three types of PR agency clients?Why doesn’t hiring an agency based on size or spend guarantee it will meet your needs as a client?When is the best time to initiate the conversation about campaign research?How can research save you money? Why do assumptions not make you dumb?Quotables“Agency clients are really different, and it doesn’t have anything to do with how big they are or how much money they have.” — @susanbaier“I think it’s a fallacy to assume that a big client means more money.” — @susanbaier“Everybody thinks they need to have a PhD in statistics to talk about research, and that’s certainly not true, but you do have to have some comfort around it.” — @susanbaierIf you enjoyed the episode, would you please leave us a review?About Susan BaierA marketing strategist and researcher for more than 30 years, Susan is an audience specialist. She crafts custom attitudinal segmentation research for agencies and marketers for B2C, B2B, and higher ed organizations including Gap, AT&T, Jayco, Tufts University, and more. Contact info and resources:Website: audienceaudit.comLinkedInFacebookTwitter: @susanbaierAgency Edge Research 2020 Additional Resources:ReviewMaxer: http://reviewmaxer.comAxia Public Relations: https://www.axiapr.com/ Presented by: ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.About your host Jason MuddOn Top of PR host, Jason Mudd, is the CEO and managing partner of Axia Public Relations. He is a trusted adviser and dynamic strategist for some of America’s most admired brands. Since 1994, he's worked with American Airlines, Budweiser, Dave & Buster’s, H&R Block, Hilton, HP, Miller Lite, New York Life, Pizza Hut, Southern Comfort, and Verizon. He founded Axia in 2002.ReviewMaxer On Top of PR brought to you by ReviewMaxerSupport the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/OnTopofPR)

Learn the three ways brands are responding to the current economic climate and why you shouldn’t ditch your marketing efforts during a recession with Susan Baier, president of Audience Audit and Drew McLellan, CEO of Agency Management Institute.Five things you’ll learn from this episode:What three ways brands are responding to the economic climateWhy brands who are actively building attention and being aggressive in their marketing efforts will win out over their competition when the recession is overHow to work with an outside agency during this time of uncertaintyWhy agencies are the best resource to aid their clients during an economic downturnWhy you should never stop telling the story of your brand Quotables“You can't stop running your business and making good decisions just because the economy is not as robust as it was.” — @DrewMcLellan“There's always opportunity if you are wired to look for and take advantage of that opportunity.” — @DrewMcLellan“When a brand goes dark during an economic downturn, they lose market share, they never get back. And a brand who accelerates and amplifies their voice during a downturn gains market share that they never lose.” — @DrewMcLellan“Companies of all sizes want their agencies helping them strategically and they're really looking to them for advice.” — @susanbaier“Agencies have a bird's eye view on what's working not just for you, but for their other clients.” — @DrewMcLellan“I think it's important to remember that agencies and clients are a symbiotic relationship. They work well together, they survive together.” — @susanbaierAbout Susan BaierA marketing strategist and researcher for more than 30 years, Susan is an audience specialist. She crafts custom attitudinal segmentation research for agencies and marketers for B2C, B2B, and higher ed organizations including Gap, AT&T, Jayco, Tufts University, and more. About Drew McLellanFor almost 30+ years, Drew McLellan has been in the advertising industry. He started his career at Y&R, worked in boutique-sized agencies, and then started his own agency in 1995, which he still owns and runs. Additionally, McLellan owns and leads Agency Management Institute, which advises hundreds of small to mid-sized agencies on how to grow their agencies profitability through agency owner peer groups, consulting, coaching, workshops, and more.Contact info and resources:Agency Edge Research 2020Twitter:Susan Drew LinkedIn: SusanDrewWebsite: Audience AuditAgency Management InstituteAbout your host Jason MuddOn Top of PR host, Jason Mudd, is the CEO and managing partner of Axia Public Relations. He is a trusted adviser and dynamic strategist for some of America’s most admired brands. Since 1994, he's worked with American Airlines, Budweiser, Dave & Buster’s, H&R Block, Hilton, HP, Miller Lite, New York Life, PizzaReviewMaxer On Top of PR brought to you by ReviewMaxerSupport the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/OnTopofPR)

How are clients thinking about and reacting to both COVID and the recession it triggered is on every agency owner’s mind. Will our clients go dormant? How are they approaching 2021 budgets and plans? Because we know this is vital intelligence for you, we decided to make that the focus of the 2020 Agency Edge research project. You’re going to find the data insightful and a relief. The Agency Edge research series is a collaboration between AMI, Audience Audit, and Dynata. Audience Audit’s Susan Baier joins me to walk you through the highlights of the research findings and what you should do next, based on what we learned. We believe the insights will help you strengthen your relationship with your current clients, dodge some potential landmines, and navigate your biz dev prospecting with more success. After you listen to the podcast, be sure to grab the 30-page executive summary from the show notes. A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: Findings from the 2020 Agency Edge Research Study How agency owners are feeling as they deal with the impact of COVID and the recession The 3 distinct segments that capture agency owner sentiment in 2020 How the agency relationships of respondents have been impacted by COVID and the recession What clients want out of their agencies during COVID and the recession Why the data from the latest research study paints a more optimistic picture than we’d feared New opportunities for gaining market share in 2020

Thought leadership is one of those buzzwords that has been so overused, it has almost been rendered meaningless. But as Stephen Woessner and I preach to agency owners in our book, Sell with Authority, when done well for the right reasons, being an authority can drive significant revenue for your agency. Stephen’s agency, Predictive ROI, decided they wanted to quantify the value of thought leadership so they engaged Susan Baier (Audience Audit) to do some research to answer the question “is there an ROI to being a thought leader?” Creating unique, relevant content targeting a very narrow niche is time-consuming. Is there a payoff? How does it impact both new sales and retaining clients? Does it influence the sales cycle? How do people define what is and isn’t a true authority? In this episode of Build a Better Agency, Susan and Stephen join us to share the data that came out of the research and the implications that data has for us as agency owners, both as we think about our own biz dev but also how we advise clients about their own thought leadership efforts. A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: How agency owners can use data to measure the value of thought leadership The origins of Susan and Stephen’s research about the ROI of being an authority The research methodology Susan used for the ROI of thought leadership study What Susan and Stephen’s study uncovered about people’s attitudes/beliefs toward experts in their field The distinguishing characteristics that others use to determine if someone truly is an authority How referrals are impacted by someone’s position of authority The big takeaways of the study on the ROI of thought leadership and how to apply them in your agency

A marketing strategist for over 30 years, Susan Baier founded Audience Audit in 2009 to help organizations understand their best audiences based on attitudes and needs rather than just demographics or purchase behavior. She develops custom segmentation research for marketers and agencies around the world, supporting their efforts to create marketing initiatives that are more relevant, more efficient, and more impactful. What you’ll learn about in this episode: How Susan and her team conduct studies and use the organic data they have collected to identify common, shared attitudes between respondents and identify patterns Susan breaks down the four categories of thought leader audience and shares how they came to these identification labels How the information discovered through the study can be used to better identify, reach, and be helpful and relevant to your audience How the results indicated that 62% of people surveyed would be more likely to recommend a business service provider if that provider is also a thought leader What key lessons the results from the survey offer about the importance of thought leadership, marketing, and their impact Why trust is a vital key for connecting with your audience and all four categories of thought leader audiences Why saying that you are a thought leader doesn’t mean you actually are, regardless of your audience or your content, and why trust is the determining factor Why it is important to remember that you can’t be an expert at everything and that you need to focus on your niche Why navigating times of crisis successfully requires a “relentless focus” on your target audience and being helpful How tailoring your message to each of the four distinct groups can help you engage your audience better and can help your message resonate Resources: Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: Trust and the Coronavirus: https://bit.ly/2OJNapv Website: https://audienceaudit.com/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/susanbaieraz/ Additional Resources: Sell With Authority by Drew McLellan and Stephen Woessner: https://amzn.to/39y7x13 Predictive ROI Free Resource Library: https://predictiveroi.com/resources/ Stephen Woessner’s LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/

Good Morning Onward Nation — I’m Stephen Woessner, CEO of Predictive ROI and your host. Thanks very much for taking the time — please know — it’s always an honor to have you here. Today’s episode is going to be a solocast — where it will be just you and me exploring a topic with some real depth. And this episode is Part 2 of the solocast from several weeks ago that I entitled, “How to Market Your Way through the Crisis.” If you missed that episode — click here to listen to Part I. I will start off with a quick refresher of the highlights from Part 1 and then we will take a deep dive into what I wanted to share with you today so that you can continue marketing your way through the crisis — and — to put yourself in the very best position possible to come roaring out the other side. In Part 1 — I shared a number of 3rd-party research sources that showed the importance of not freezing in place as a result of the crisis…how to keep you imaginative skills running at full capacity…and…that the companies who came roaring out of the last 6 recessions where the ones who made progressive decisions and were not prevention-focused. The progressive companies smartly reduced operating expenses in order to boost financial efficiency — and — 75% of the companies did not reduce the workforce because they realized that to do so…would mean cutting into the muscle of the operation and would negatively affect their ability to come roaring out…when the economy was on the rebound. Instead — the progressive companies doubled down by making significant investments in R&D, marketing, equipment, facilities, and a variety of other strategic investments. I shared multiple examples back in Part 1…Episode 933 in case you want to look it up in your listening app…and again…the link is in today’s show notes. We also took a deep dive into the forms of marketing where progressive companies made their investments. Because what they didn’t do was spent loosely on advertising or other sorts of broad promotional tactics. Instead — they focused their efforts around strategies that would help them build trust in their brands…plant their flag of authority even deeper in the niches and industries they served. Which was super smart and synced up perfectly with the recent research study that my Predictive ROI team conducted alongside our research partner, Susan Baier, founder of Audience Audit. There is — without a doubt — a direct financial correlation between your authority position and financial ROI. And much of that is due to the critical importance your prospects and clients place on TRUST. So let’s peel this back a little bit more so we can explore it. We are entering the era of the authority. While you may already be tired of the phrase of “thought leader”, the truth is there aren’t that many of them…and there are even fewer occupying that status in the niches you and your team serve. Thought leaders don’t write content that any other agency, coach, or consultant could claim. Thought leaders don’t write about anything and everything — and thought leaders don’t compete on price. And their time — your time — is now. Why am I saying that so definitely? For the last 20-years — the global PR agency, Edelman has conducted research that examines who and what consumers trust and how that trust influences buying behaviors. I shared some of the results of their special March study during my Market Your Way Through the Crisis webinar several weeks ago… But if you weren’t able to attend — you can find the free replay here and I also included the full slide deck…all 199 slides that I used. No email required — happy to share it with you and your team. Some of the biggest takeaway’s from Edelman’s research is that consumers assign a high level of trust to people they believe are “just like me.” When you think about how ratings, reviews, and influencers affect their audiences — you can see the power of that belief. Now — it’s also important to not get hung up on the fact that the study involved 33,000 CONSUMERS from 27 countries. First off — that’s a huge sampling of people — and second — even if you are selling B2B — which my guess is you are — people are people…so if people put this much emphasis on trust in their personal lives…you better believe they behave the same way while at work making even larger buying decisions. But — here’s what’s interesting. Edelman’s research isn’t about celebrity influencers. Edelman is documenting the rise of the common man and woman influencer. It’s noteworthy because it gives statistical validity to the idea that real people as influencers and the impact they can have on behalf of their business. The research asked participants to rank what attributes made an influencer believable and trustworthy. The relatability of the influencer was nearly twice as important as the influencer’s popularity. In other words…when consumers see themselves in an influencer, they were far more likely to follow and trust that influencer. So — it’s not about having a million followers…it’s about being someone you can relate to and connect with. For this very reason — if you’ve been avoiding putting together a content strategy where you share your depth of expertise in your niche — I recorded this solocast just for you — so that you rethink that decision. Onward Nation — the data is all on your side. Now — let’s continue to peel back the curtain to get a look at some of the attributes of someone who is a true authority. If you were asked to think of an authority on any subject, who would come to mind? What about them designates them as an authority? What’s true about them? And what does someone have to do to earn and keep the title of authority? My co-author of Sell with Authority, Drew McLellan, CEO of Agency Management Institute, and I would argue that there are 10 Truths to someone being seen as an authority. Let’s do a quick review… Truth #1: They have a focus area or subject matter expertise. Truth #2: They don’t just repeat what everyone else is saying. Truth #3: They have a public presence where they share their expertise. Truth #4: They don’t stray from their area of expertise—think specialist versus a generalist. Truth #5: They aren’t equally attractive to everyone. In fact, they probably bore most people to tears. Truth #6: They’re significant—which is different from prolific—in terms of content creation. Truth #7: They don’t create any generic content that someone with far less knowledge or experience could have just as easily written. Truth #8: They’re perceived as an educator in some way. Truth #9: They have a passion for their subject matter. Truth #10: They have a strong point-of-view, which is the foundation of all of their content. A true authority has something specific to teach us, and they want to be helpful or illuminating. They’re eager to share what they know because they have a genuine passion for it, and they don’t fear giving away the recipe to their secret sauce (or so it’s perceived). That confidence and generosity are contagious. Their expertise is something specific groups of people (their sweet-spot prospects) are hungry to access. So Onward Nation — to call them an expert, a thought leader, an authority, a sought-after pundit, advisor, or specialist…doesn’t matter. They’re all words for the same thing — a trusted resource who has earned that trust by demonstrating and generously sharing the depth of their specialized knowledge over and over again. Now — let’s hook this back to the Edelman research for a moment. Want to know what made an influencer even more compelling to the research participants? The one attribute that ranked higher than the trust we have in “people like me” is the trust we have in highly educated experts. The only three groups of people we trust more than people like ourselves are company, industry, and academic experts. Why? Because experts are often afforded the highest level of confidence and trust because they have a depth of knowledge in a specific industry or niche. So why in the world wouldn’t you capitalize on that, Onward Nation? Instead of writing generic content that look like every single one of your competitors, which is what many agencies, coaches, and consultants do because it’s so much easier and they feel compelled to create something and don’t want to invest the time necessary to go deep, deep, deep. Or — they feel that they should be paid to share their smarts and don’t want to just give it away for free. Ouch. My hope is that as we get started in this solocast — my words are serving as a very loud battle cry for you. My hope is you see that now is the time to share your smarts and to double down on being helpful to your niche. Now is the time for you to jump into the trenches alongside your prospects and clients — who are just as concerned as you are about everything going on — and to begin giving away the best of what you’ve got — and when you do that — you will build so much trust that it will be difficult for you to contain it. There’s a huge upside for you and your team to do this now. As I said earlier — there are very few thought leaders (and even fewer in the niches you serve)…which means if you can still be one of the early adopters if you commit and boldly step out into this strategy right now. Okay — now let’s turn our attention toward Part 2…how long will this effort take — and — how do you go about doing it? Drew and I are often asked, “How long does this take?” The answer is yes. Meaning — we can’t give you a precise time frame for you because it’s different for everyone. There are many factors, including: The consistency of your content creation The quality of your content — are you saying something fresh or just repeating old news? The amount of time and effort you spend promoting your content The hunger of your audience. Some are starving and will gobble up everything you share, others will only consume the tastiest of offers But — building your authority position is clearly not a get rich quick scheme. At a minimum, you should count on it taking six months to a year before you reap any significant benefit from your efforts. By year two — you should be dancing a jig at how well it’s working. And by year three — you should be well-established as the authority you are. On occasion — a single podcast episode, video, or book will catapult someone into the spotlight and earn them a huge payout. But that’s the exception, not the rule. Don’t count on being the exception or you risk being super disappointed and it could derail all of your hard work. So — I’m going to make an assumption here…that all of the data I have shared with you during Part 1 of this solocast…as well as the 75-minute webinar that I taught several weeks ago…along with everything shared up to this point in this episode has shown you the very significant upside to you doubling down and building your authority position. If so — awesome — so let’s turn our attention toward some of the key things you will need in order to make that happen. There are three essentials to building your authority position. And they are: 1) narrow niche, 2) a strong point-of-view, and 3) being findable in multiple places. Let’s take a closer look at each. Narrow is Gold The first essential in creating an authority position is recognizing that the narrower your audience, the better. It allows you to be quickly discovered and identified as someone your target audience needs to pay attention to, all because you’re speaking their language. Ultimately, this means you can build an audience much faster. Once you’ve built the audience, and you genuinely know them and what they need, you can provide additional value by creating products and services you can sell. If you choose to keep serving everyone as a generalist, you can still absolutely monetize a more generic position of authority (say you’re a business coach, for example), but if you want to get to this more quickly, you need to be ruthless in terms of focus. I agree — it seems counter-intuitive. Most business owners focus on quantity in terms of audience. Many believe they need a massive audience to hit their sales and financial goals. But — the data shows that this isn’t true. You’re actually in a much better position if you’re in front of the right micro audience where nearly everyone is aligned with your ideal client avatar. Would you rather speak directly to 100 of your right-fit prospects…who are perfectly aligned with your ideal client avatar — or — be on stage in front of 10,000 people where there is zero probability that any of them are your prospects? And yet, when it comes to business development, most business owners toss out a huge net, hoping that the right species of fish will swim in so we don’t go hungry. Intellectually, we get it, yet our choices often suggest we’re still focusing on quantity, not quality. Here’s the reality — you don’t need a million downloads to get your podcast sponsored. You don’t need to speak at 50 conferences to have someone walk up and ask you some questions that lead to a proposal. And you don’t need to be on the bestseller list to use your book as an amazing biz dev tool. You just don’t. Most agencies, coaches, and consultants get this completely backward. They create broad, generic content as opposed to something that captures the interest of their ideal prospects. The content is fluffy and doesn’t invite anyone to ask questions or lean in to learn more. But if you were to hone in on your specific audience and ignore the rest of the world (remember, one of the traits of an authority is that most people could care less about their content), the audience does lean in. They do ask questions, and they will eventually put you on a shortlist of prospective partners to consider. And when you do it exceptionally well, you will be the only one they consider. You Need a Strong Point-of-View Here’s what we know for sure. Your industry (no matter what it is) and the world around us are both experiencing change at an unfathomable rate, and it’s only going to get faster. How you communicate nowadays, at best, is on the fly. But the one thing that will not change is that unique cocktail that defines our authority position. It’s the combination of our area of expertise with the strong point-of-view we apply to that area of expertise. Our point-of-view is what we know to be true, and it’s this truth that defines how we approach the work and how we add value. For example, Predictive ROI’s point-of-view is the most agencies, coaches, and consultants go about sales in the less productive, most painful way possible. They get thwarted by gatekeepers at every turn. As a result — they cannot build long-term relationships with their Dream prospects. When we layer that point-of-view, on top of our knowledge and expertise around how to grow an audience, nurture leads, and increase sales by helping our clients Sell with Authority, it’s easy to see how and where we can be of help. It tells us who to serve and how to best serve them. That’s evergreen. You and your team should have a similar combination. You need to have an opinion about the work you do on behalf of your clients. You need a strong point-of-view about the marketplace, your audience, or your product or service. As you fight for a prospect’s attention, you must differentiate yourself. You’ve got to plant a flag in the ground and claim ownership. You need to stand out against the sea of competitors. That authority position—your area of expertise plus your strong point-of-view—becomes the flag you plant. It’s you laying claim to what is uniquely yours—the ability to serve a specific industry, niche, audience, etc., because of what you know and what you believe. It holds you firmly in place no matter what else changes. It becomes part of your differentiation equation. And you need both halves of the whole. Without the point-of-view, even industry-specific content becomes claimable by others. Granted, it narrows the field, but there are certainly others who work in the same industry or niches that you do. If you can take your content (blog posts, white paper, podcast interviews, etc.) and swap your competitor’s logo for yours without anyone noticing, your content isn’t as unique to you as you’d like. That’s what we mean by claimable. But don’t get too finite about this. I’m not suggesting you’re going to create an authority position no one else can replicate. Odds are, no matter what your authority position, a handful of others could claim it, too. But that’s your goal—a small handful, rather than every competitor out there. Just to be clear, your point-of-view is the truth you overlay onto your niche or industry-specific expertise. It’s an insight that influences the work you do. The ideal scenario for building your authority position is one in which you have the one-two punch of a point-of-view paired with that narrow audience or topic area. That’s a powerful combination. You can carve out a more superficial authority position with just one of the two elements, either a point-of-view or niche expertise, but the consequence is, if you’re going to only include half of the one-two punch, you’re going to share your unique position with more competitors. At some level, you probably already know what you point-of-view is — but you don’t recognize it as such. Odds are, you either take it for granted because you talk about it so often, or you just need to dig a little deeper to find the gold in what you’re already teaching, talking about, and using to build the recommendations you make to clients. You just have to peel the onion back several layers to get to something that’s genuinely different enough that you can own it. You Can’t Be a One-Trick Pony Essential number three is that an authentic authority is not a one-trick pony. Meaning — you can’t create content so narrow it only works on one channel. An expert doesn’t have just one book. Or just a podcast. You can’t place all of your bets on one horse (or pony). The problem is that whatever pony you rode in on is not going to be the popular pony forever, and you can’t rely on all of your prospects consuming that specific channel. You need to be more findable, which means you need to have your authority-positioned content in more than one place. If you’re going to build an authority position — you have to answer the question, “How does my point-of-view come to life across multiple channels?” Your goal is to create the impression that you’re everywhere. The good news is that it doesn’t take that many channels to make that happen. You need a cornerstone channel and some cobblestones. When Drew and I wrote about cornerstone content in our book, Sell with Authority, what we meant was content that’s big and meaty, so it can be sliced and diced into smaller pieces of content—what we call cobblestones. The definition of cornerstone is that it is the first stone placed. If you were constructing a building, you would carefully set that first stone because you know all the other stones will be set in reference to the cornerstone. When you take that cornerstone content and break it up into infographics, quote cards, blog posts, tweets, guest appearances on someone else’s podcast, etc., that’s your cobblestone content. The combo of your niche expertise and your unique point-of-view should be woven into every piece of content you create. In some cases, it will be overt, and in other cases, subtle. But it should always be present to some degree. Some experts or influencers try to be everywhere, but that stretches them pretty thin pretty quickly. All you need are a few channels spot-on for your audience that you consistently feed with new content. You need a single cornerstone and at least two or three cobblestone channels. From there, you can use your social media channels to spotlight both. Just remember, your cornerstone is the primary channel through which you consistently deliver useful content that helps your audience do their jobs better. And it needs to be meaty enough that you can slice and dice it into multiple cobblestones. Think of the cobblestones as info-snack-sized pieces of content like a quote graphic featuring your podcast guest that someone might stumble upon and be interested in enough that they are led to your cornerstone content. New York Times best-selling author Jay Baer shared the importance of info-snacks during Episode 305 of Onward Nation. You need both cornerstone and cobblestone content. But you don’t need dozens. Cornerstones, by their nature, require a much more significant time investment. Which means you don’t have time to create too many. Far better to do one exceedingly well than to stretch yourself too thin, and better to be consistently present in a few places as opposed to occasionally showing up everywhere. And — you want to build something you can sustain for the long haul, and unless you’re going to make being an authority your full-time gig — it’s better to start with one. Your cornerstone, and at least a few of your cobblestones, need to be built on media you own and control, not on someone else’s platform. That might be your website, a book you write, research you conduct, or your own podcast series. You can use channels like Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn to highlight your efforts, but your cornerstone content shouldn’t be housed there. You don’t want to go to the effort of creating content only to have some third party (like Facebook) decide to take it down or charge people for accessing it. While you don’t want to build your cornerstone content on a media channel you don’t own, that doesn’t mean you don’t want to be on other people’s channels. If your cornerstone content is targeted and tied to your point-of-view, and you’re consistent in creating smaller pieces of content from that cornerstone, you’re going to get noticed. That’s all you need to get invited onto other people’s channels. One of the key elements about being an authority is that you don’t want everything to remain on your owned channels. You want to leverage other people’s spheres of influence, and when you appear as a guest on their show or whatever channel they own and control, now they’re endorsing you, telling other people how smart you are, and introducing you to an entirely new audience. That amplification expands your audience exponentially once you have built the foundation that earns the invites. But they will roll in, in a variety of ways. You’ll be invited to: Speak at conferences Be a guest on podcasts Write bylined articles for publications Sit on a panel of experts Serve on a board Write a regular column Teach a class Be part of a webinar series Be interviewed as a source by the media And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. On occasion, your cornerstone channel will shift. This shouldn’t be because you’re getting bored or are indecisive. It should be driven by your audience, reactions to your efforts, and potentially, media consumption trends. The content itself doesn’t shift, but how you deliver the content might. When I started executing this authority strategy for Predictive ROI, book writing was my cornerstone channel. I was creating a lot of content for publications and was being published in publications like Forbes, The Washington Post, Inc. Magazine, and other media about once a month. And much of that content was sliced and diced off of my books on search engine optimization and social media that I wrote while I was teaching at the university. But then in May 2015 — when we ran into revenue challenges at Predictive — and that pushed my team and I to launch the Onward Nation podcast as part of our pivot. And the growth of the podcast quickly eclipsed my written content and took over as our cornerstone content channel. And then we have added some cobblestones into the mix with our YouTube channel, weekly emails for our community, as well as conference presentations. And — we’ve even worked the cornerstone content process backward…with several episodes being instrumental in helping me write our bestselling book, Profitable Podcasting…and after 3-years…is still one of the best selling podcasting books on the market. For a complete breakdown on how to create cornerstone content — I encourage you to go back to my solocast in Episode 676 of Onward Nation. Okay — let’s come full circle and bring this in for a landing. Nothing about this recession has been — or will be easy. To come roaring out of it on the other side will take a lot of hard work, discipline, and generous spirit in doubling down to be helpful. But if you do — the data is on your side. If you take this time and commit to building your authority position…you will put yourself and your business in the best possible position when the sun begins to shine once again. This is the time, Onward Nation for you to grab hold of those silver linings — they are there — if you’re willing to look hard enough. Thanks for taking the time to be here and for sharing a portion of your 86,400 you have today…with me. I’m grateful and I look forward to you being back for our next episode. Until then — double down — and onward with gusto!

Good Morning Onward Nation – I’m Stephen Woessner, CEO of Predictive ROI and your host. Thanks for coming back – and if you’re new to Onward Nation – please know – I greatly appreciate your time and it’s wonderful to have you here. Today’s episode is going to be a solocast – just you and me exploring a topic with some real depth. And sort of a house-keeping heads up – this may very well be one of the longest solocast I’ve ever recorded – if not the longest. In fact – during one of the morning kick-start meetings with my Predictive team this week – I shared with them that I felt like I was back at the university getting ready to teach a half-day session on campus. For the last several days — I’ve been writing on my whiteboards…erasing…starting over…scouring through literally 400 pages of research reports…and then refining my thoughts. This will be a long one – but my hope is that when you and I are finished walking through it – you’ll feel it was well worth your time. As I considered topics that would be helpful to you and your team — I thought about the daily phone calls I’ve had over the last several weeks with business owners…or the emails I have received from owners within our Onward Nation community…business owners just like you…who wanted some help brainstorm strategies, or to have an opportunity to get a sanity check on the next steps they were considering, or to help them talk through decisions they were thinking about making within their business. Here’s the reality, Onward Nation – without question – we’re facing new and historic challenges But – even though sometimes the challenges may seem insurmountable – I’m telling you – they aren’t. I get it — none of us have ever had to deal with something exactly like COVID-19 before – but – we have certainly worked through and navigated some very major crises before…and we survived through it all. Look – you know that I’m not a rah-rah, blow inspiration your way in order to make you feel better kind of person. I like data. I like examples. I like research. I like proven methods. So I built the content of this episode from the ground up to be a resource that you and your team can use to market – yes, market – your way through the crisis. I’m going to share some big golden nuggets from the research that I have curated from a variety of sources – and special thanks to Drew McLellan and Susan Baier for helping me knit the data points together. I’m grateful for how you always generously share your smarts. So that’s what you and I are going to talk through today – how you and your team can proactively market your business through this crisis – and at the same time – get through to the other side in a healthy position and ready for the rebound in the economy. Make no mistake. It is not a quick fix. It isn’t easy. It will take hard work. And it may require that you make some difficult decisions. But — if you do all we talk about in this solocast…you will not only put your business in a position to make it through to the other side…but you will have also future-proofed your business for when the next crisis, challenge, or recession lands on our doorsteps. Okay – so that’s the plan for today. Deal? But – before we dive into all of that…I feel like I’d be remiss if we didn’t squarely address the emotional side of what we…as owners…are dealing with right now. I hope you’ll forgive me here – because the next several minutes might sound like venting…because I kind of am…but my guess is…you might take this opportunity to vent right alongside me as I share this. Candidly — part of what drove me to do the research, to write, and record this solocast was my own anger — my own frustration, my disappointment, and my sadness around what is happening right now. I will tell you — there have been some days where I’ve felt bruised, battered, bewildered, and quite frankly…exhausted. My lens through which I normally view the world is to always look for the silver lining – and there are indeed silver linings with today’s crisis – but I admit…it’s taken me longer than normal to see them. These are some big emotions so I wanted to tackle each of them in front of you because I know many of you have felt the same. You’ve shared that with me in our calls and emails. Or – maybe you’re wrestling with or feeling something entirely different. Either way – maybe we’ll find some common ground here together. I’m going to start with sadness. I’m so sad for all of the families here in the United States and abroad that have had to say goodbye to a loved one, way too soon, because of COVID. I have several at-risk family members and friends — as I’m sure you do, too — and we’d be devastated if we were to lose any of them…ever. My heart is also broken for business owners who have had to shut down…who are now questioning the livelihoods and the livelihoods of their employees. And to make matters worse — many owners played by all the rules when seeking financial assistance…and yet…they were left out in the cold. How could this possibly happen? And — I’m embarrassed to admit…when I think about my feelings of sadness…they quickly transition to anger and frustration. Even as I thought through and then wrote out what I wanted to share with you today — I felt my eyes welling up as I reflected on my sadness and then I heard my fingers pounding on my keyboard harder and harder because my level of tension grew. I’m angry and frustrated when I hear of instances where our courageous healthcare workers and first responders who were asked to run toward the fight…yet had to do it at great personal risk because they didn’t have the gear they needed. And yet – our brave men and women didn’t stop — they did their duty because we all needed them to. Or – I feel myself get angry when I hear politicians on both sides of the aisle and bureaucrats seemingly make decisions with their own best interests in mind and not their constituents. With the end result being that many small business owners were left out of the original stimulus – and have been forced to dangle in the wind and hope they get the assistance they desperately need — because someone, somewhere, was playing favorites. Yet through it all — as I talk with business owners, Onward Nation – as I’m hearing similar emotions felt — I will tell you what I’m NOT hearing…and that’s the word QUIT. Out of all of those calls — and all of the emails I have received — literally — not one person has said to me that they had decided to throw in the towel and quit. Not a single person. And that is one of the many reasons why I love business owners as much as I do. You’re some of the most tenacious, generous, and committed people I know. You give, you sacrifice, and you lend support wherever you can. I love that about you. So when the roles are reversed and support is promised to you…and you’re told by a big box bank that they’ll be there for you…and then we come to find out that that was never their intention…you bet, Onward Nation…that makes me really, really angry. I’m angry for every business owner who was given a promise and then that promise was broken. Yes, I get it…life isn’t fair but I was hoping that during this crisis we would have demonstrated that we learned some important lessons from the mistakes of the past. I’m frustrated that the answers and next steps for business owners have been few and far between. So – I built this solocast as a way to provide a roadmap for where we as owners can and should go next in the coming weeks. What can we do to rebuild — and if we work hard at it — could it be possible to come out of this crisis in a better position than when we went in? And that’s is what drove me to do the research. To look back through past recessions, past recoveries…to study the winners and the losers…and to share with you what they did…so we can all take some lessons out of their playbooks and put them to work right now. I’m going to give you the data points and examples to show it’s possible. And — I’m going to share the next steps that you and your team can take and apply. Okay — two final housekeeping items before we dive in. First — thanks for listening to me vent — and I hope you were able to blow off a little steam in the process, too. We all need to give ourselves the grace of being able to do that from time-to-time. Yes, our teams deserve the best leadership and direction we can provide. But — you’re also human — you’re not a rock and sometimes we need to remind ourselves that it’s okay to take a step back and to honor the fact that this is an emotional time…even if that’s for 5 minutes. So thank you for giving me that grace just now, Onward Nation. Second — all of the citation and references sources that I have included can be found in the endnotes section of today’s show notes on PredictiveROI.com. And third — as I mapped out all of this content on my whiteboards and worked through the written drafts — holy bananas — I quickly saw that there was no way I could cover everything in the level of detail necessary within one solocast. It would be too long and too overwhelming. So today’s solocast is Part 1 of 2. But by the time you listen to this episode — I will have likely finished up Part 2 so we will be airing it very soon. Stepping through the research… Okay, Onward Nation — with all that said — let’s start stepping through how to market your way through the crisis. And we will start off by reviewing three research studies and articles published in the Harvard Business Review. Again all linked within today’s show notes. Okay, Onward Nation — with all that said — let’s start stepping through how to market your way through the crisis. And we will start off by reviewing three research studies and articles published in the Harvard Business Review. Again all linked within today’s show notes. The first article is entitled “Preparing your business for a post-pandemic world”, which was published by HBR on April 10, 2020 and was written by Carsten Lund Pedersen and Thomas Ritter, both professors at the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. I decided to pull golden nuggets out of Pedersen and Ritter’s work and share it with you because of their emphasis on planning before and during a crisis — and how if your planning process was sound, Onward Nation — that the end-result could be that you will not only survive the current crisis but you will have future-proofed your business so you can survive and thrive future threats. But in order to prep the proper response plan with smart strategic decisions, you must first understand the position your business holds in the market. You can do that by asking yourself and your team some fundamental questions like, “who are we in our market”, “what role do we play in the market? (Are we price-sensitive suppliers, are we market leaders, do our clients and prospects see us as thought leaders, etc.?).” And — what if we make immediate course corrections…could we emerge as a market leader fueled by developments, new ideas, service offerings, or new markets that we invest in during the lockdown? [1] Onward Nation — we all know that a plan is a course of action pointing the way to the position you hope to attain. But — the right plan should also map out what you need to do today to achieve your objectives tomorrow. And this is where business owners get snagged. Their plans consist of either lofty ideas without any of the tactical detail their team can challenge, make better, and then implement — or often times — there’s no plan at all because the business owner relies on winging it. Winging it may work during good economic times — but it doesn’t work during a crisis. And yes, I think Mike Tyson had a point when he famously said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” And that is exactly why when the U.S. Navy Seals create a mission plan along with 13 contingencies for each mission they execute. They recognize that there will be ebb and flow to the mission plan as the situation evolves and changes with new data points, variables difficult to predict, or sudden changes. But if they didn’t have a plan – they wouldn’t know what gear to take, how much gear, transportation, extraction, and the litany of other things that need to be considered. And yet – I know many business owners who bristle at planning because they don’t want to feel boxed in or the constraint on flexibility. The Seals would tell you that it is because of the intensity of their planning process that they can be more flexible on the battlefield because they have already anticipated their options – and – have everything they need to proceed with a new direction. Here’s the reality — and I think the authors of the article were spot on when they wrote, “the lack of a plan only exacerbates disorientation in an already confusing situation.”[2] Yes, this crisis is confusing. It’s stressful. And there have been times when working with my leadership team at Predictive when I felt overwhelmed and just wanted to start doing things to see if anything would stick. But — we didn’t until we had a plan. I encourage you to take a step back…have discipline…look around…ask yourself and your team questions…look at today…this week…this month…and map out in writing the steps you intend to take quickly for both the short-term — and — identify how those steps will set your business up for success in 12-months as it relates to your 3-year mission. In addition to the planning process that you and your fellow leaders within your business need to be working through — you also need to communicate the plan as well as the process to create the plan — with your entire team. If you or your leadership team works through the planning process in a vacuum and doesn’t share highlights, milestones, or progress as the plan is evolving — I’m telling you — your team will feel lost and your culture will suffer. Your team is just as confused, scared, and concerned as you are. And many of them might be super scared and concerned for you – way more so than their own job security. So — I’m not suggesting that your entire team needs to be involved in the creation of the core plan. But what I am suggesting is that you take a lesson out of the book, “Extreme Ownership” where you and your leadership team create the core plan — brief your entire team on the objectives and intent of the plan — and then ask junior members of your team to meet and work out the tactical details for implementing the plan.[3] Your job is to make sure you are clear on the objectives and the intent of the plan. Then set your expectations for the timing for the completion of the plan — quickly…like 24- to 48-hours — and have each of the junior team members present their portion of the plan back to you and your leadership team. Then everyone asks questions and in doing so – does some stress testing of the plan. It’s crucial to create space for the plan to evolve but that doesn’t mean your planning process needs to take weeks. It can be days and you will be off and running. I assure you — your greatest challenge during the planning process will be to prioritize. You need to be careful that you don’t start numerous projects that all depend on the same critical resources. If you do — you will burn out your team and nothing will get done with excellence. Instead — take your five, six, or 10 great ideas…apply pressure to them…and distill them down to one to two great ideas with clear steps for the next 30-days. And then keep a list of all of the other ideas and come back to it in 30-days and re-evaluate what should be next. Okay — before we move on to another ingredient in the planning process – I want to give you a warning so you don’t fall into a mental trap. I learned this lesson during my mentorship with Darren Hardy, former publisher of SUCCESS Magazine when he was on our board of advisors at Predictive. And one day he shared some marketing strategies and tactics with me…and candidly…while he was sharing them with me…I was arrogantly thinking to myself, “Yes, good ideas, Darren but I’ve heard these before.” And then came the two-part question from Darren. “Stephen – you may have heard these ideas before but…” Question 1: Are you doing them? And as soon as he asked me the question – I immediately felt embarrassed. When he was sharing the ideas – I was affirming my own smarts in my head because I wanted to show myself that I had similar ideas to Darren. When instead I should have been thinking… “Yes, I have heard this before…and why aren’t we doing this?” So his challenge landed exactly the way he wanted it to land. And then the second question… Question #2: If you are doing it…can you do it better, greater, with more excellence? So – if you’re already planning…rock solid awesome. I commend you because most business owners aren’t planning right now — they are reacting without a plan, which is dangerous because it forces them to aimlessly wandering through the wilderness while trying to wing it. So my challenge to you is — can you take a nugget out of what Pedersen, Ritter, and the Navy Seals do for planning and make your planning process even better? My guess is…we all can. Now let’s shift our attention to imagination — because we need it now more than ever. Martin Reeves and Jack Fuller, both part of the Boston Consulting Group’s Henderson Institute, wrote a brilliant article entitled, “We Need Imagination Now More Than Ever” which was published by the Harvard Business Review on April 10, 2020. A link to the full text of the article can be found in the endnotes section of today’s show notes. Reeves and Fuller put forth the argument that imagination — in the face of uncertainty, economic crisis, and the historic challenges we are facing right now as a nation/world — is exactly what we need to solve the problem. But it is difficult to apply imagination and all of its benefits when we are in full-on crisis management mode. Why? Because when something unexpected and significant happens our first instinct is to defend against it. Then we later move to understand and manage whatever caused the crisis so we can get back to the status quo. But we may not be able to return to our familiar pre-crisis reality. Onward Nation – no one knows for sure of course – but if I had to guess – I’d predict that COVID-19 is going to permanently change attitudes, needs, behaviors, and industries. The authors believe – and I agree – “that your capacity to imagine…to create, to evolve, and to pursue ideas — is a crucial factor in seizing and creating new opportunities, and finding new paths to growth.”[4] But the challenge is — and my guess is when I impressed upon you the importance of planning a few minutes ago — you felt the pressure to act and may have said to yourself “Stephen…there’s no time for planning – I need to take action now.” Same thing with imagination — because of the pressure of COVID-19 — it will be one of the hardest things to keep alive within your business right now. However — imagination — re-thinking how you can double down in being helpful to your clients and prospects right now is exactly what can help your business survive this recession. For example — in recessions and downturns, 14 percent of companies outperform both historically and competitively because they invested in new growth areas. Apple released its first iPod in 2001 — the same year the U.S. economy experienced a recession that contributed to a 33 percent drop in Apple’s total revenue. Still – Apple saw the iPod’s ability to transform its product portfolio so the company increased R&D spending by double digits, which sparked an era of high growth for the company.[5] Later in today’s solocast — I will share with you some data points from a special coronavirus report from Edelman, which shows that what your clients and prospects want from you right now is to be helpful. Share, communicate, educate, teach, and be supportive. Onward Nation — you cannot do any of those things at a high level, with excellence, by reacting…by winging it…without a plan…and with no imagination. The authors also surveyed more than 250 multi-national companies to understand what leaders were doing to manage the COVID-19 epidemic and its impact on their businesses. Interestingly, only a small number of companies are at a stage where they’re identifying and sharing strategic opportunities. I suppose this shouldn’t be surprising since big companies take longer to pivot than what our teams within our small businesses can do. But it also paints a picture of opportunity, too, doesn’t it? If you can rally your teams — create an imaginative plan that everyone buys into because they had a hand in building it — you will likely be way of ahead of your competitors. And yes I get it – you likely don’t own a multi-national company and you don’t have an R&D budget like Apple did back in 2001. But think of it this way – if multi-national companies that have budgets capable of doubling down on R&D – yet aren’t because they are in reactive mode – just think of the possibilities if you could actual reimage what’s next for you in your industry. You might be the only one serving your niche that is actually thinking about how best to double down on being helpful. The rest of your industry might be thinking about that next promotional push…something…anything in order to get in a few dollars to survive. But you can imagine a completely different path. One that shares your smarts, your insights, the best of what you have in a generous way while everyone else is reacting and frozen. You may have a blue ocean of possibilities in front of you if you can take the time to imagine all that can be. But how do you do that? Let me help by giving you a push from the authors. Instead of asking yourself and your team passive questions like “What will happen to us during this crisis?” — flip the script — by asking active, open questions like “How can we create new options?” Or — “How can we double down and be even more helpful to our clients and prospects during this crisis?” What could we teach? What research could we share? What online event, webinar, or forum could we host for our audience that would share the best of what we’ve got to help them navigate what’s next? I know — there are no easy solutions. And my Predictive team and I have wrestled through many options when we were building out our 30-day Priorities. Rest assured — we have worked through everything I’m recommending to you…I have seen it in action. But through it all – in order for this to work for you – you need to be open to new possibilities and not constrict the funnel. Okay – the last nugget I want to share with you was a game-changer for me. I have been a student of mindset, attraction theory, and the power of the mastermind for years. I am a firm believer in that which we focus on we get more of. Perseverating over negative thoughts produces negative results and I have seen the reverse happen, too. And when blended with a great plan, intentional execution, and hard work – that within the plan becomes reality. But what I learned from this article and wanted to share with you is how this actually plays out in the world of statistics, too. For example — “when we lose hope and adopt a passive mindset, we cease to believe that we can meet our ideals or fix our problems. In statistics, Bayesian learning involves taking a belief about a statistical distribution – prior results – and updating it in the light of each new piece of information obtained. The outcome of the entire process can be determined by the initial belief. Pessimism can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.”[6] So – if you focus on being imaginative, being open to the possibilities, giving your team grounds for hope, encouraging them to be innovative…and all of this is done with the intent of being helpful to your clients and prospects in a way you never have been before…you will make progress. Meanwhile – your competitors will be bogged down in the thickness of things and trapped in a short-term survival mentality that requires them to TAKE from their clients and prospects…and it won’t work. Onward Nation – as a leader in your business – ask yourself whether you are giving people grounds for hope, imagination, and innovation, or whether you are using pessimistic or fatalistic language, which could create a downward spiral in organizational creativity. Dealing with real risks involves taking imaginative risks, which requires hope.[7] Trust me when I say that the trench you are fighting in every day – that trench of pressure, doubt, fear, anxiety, and at times…overwhelm…yes, I know that trench well, too. And I’m right there with you…slugging it out, too…and working hard. But one thing I’m grateful for is that we quickly built a plan at Predictive, we prioritized, we mapped out how we could be helpful to clients and prospects…and we did all of that from the spirit of imagination…and then we shared it with our team. Now – taking you behind the curtain in full transparency…we did all of that in 48-hours. This is not a 4-6 week process. Don’t get bogged down…get moving. Let’s keep up the momentum of the planning process and begin to think about how you should deal with the myriad of business pressures right now. Do you cut operating costs, do you furlough employees, do you work to open new markets and invest in R&D, or some other combination of strategies? And – is there an ideal combination or blend of the strategies – and if so – what have been the result outcomes from other companies as they worked to navigate past crises. Thankfully – there is some excellent research available on all of the above. With that said – it might seem a bit odd that I am going to now turn our attention toward an article / published study in the Harvard Business Review from 2010. Why would I pull from an article that is 10-years old? The article is entitled, “Roaring Out of Recession” and was published in HBR on March 3, 2010. I’m recommending you and your team study it because the data points within the article provide a whole lot of context that matters during today’s crisis. Back in 2010 of course – the country was looking for any and all help in pulling itself out of the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009. But in order to make smart recommendations to their 2010 readers – the authors went back and gathered data from the past three global recessions: the 1980 crisis (which lasted from 1980 to 1982), the 1990 slowdown (1990 to 1991) and the 2000 bust (2000 to 2002). They studied 4,700 public companies, breaking down the data into three periods: the three years before a recession, the three years after, and the recession years themselves.[8] It took the researchers over 12-months to complete the research project and they focused on publicly traded companies because of the availability and access to data. At the high level — and I will slice the big nuggets apart in just a minute — but as a business owner this data is helpful because right now you are in the heat of battle. You are a battlefield general. You’re commanding your troops…you’re asking for the best intel…and you and your fellow leaders are trying to react and respond. But without taking the time to plan…to imagine…to think about long-term positioning…I assure you…you will be busy tackling short term priorities and your outlook on the future will continue to be obscured by the fog of war. Here are some of the highlights… Seventeen percent of the companies in the study didn’t survive the recession. About 80 percent of 4,700 companies in the study (3,760 companies) had not yet regained their pre-recession growth rate for sales and profits three years after the recession. Forty percent of the 4,700 companies (1,880 companies) hadn’t even returned to their prerecession sales and profits levels by the end of the three years post-recession. So for the majority of the companies – the financial impact of the recession were long lasting. Only nine percent of companies flourished after a slowdown, doing better on key financial parameters than they had before and outperforming rivals in their industry by at least 10 percent in terms of sales and profits growth. Interestingly — companies that cut costs faster and deeper than their competitors didn’t necessarily flourish. In fact – these were the companies in the study with the lowest probability — 21 percent — of pulling ahead of their competition when the economy rebounded. Counter-intuitively — the company leaders that decided to double down and boldly invest more than their rivals during a recession also didn’t fare well. They only enjoyed a 26 percent chance of becoming leaders after a downturn and then into an economic rebound. And most surprising to me was learning that 85 percent of growth leaders heading into a recession are then toppled because of the crisis. So if you’re not currently the leader in your niche – the current crisis could absolutely be your opportunity if you lead your team correctly over the next several months. The post-recession winners were companies that mastered the balance between cutting costs to survive today and investing to grow tomorrow. And the proof is in the results with 37 percent of the post-recession winners breaking away from the pack. “The post-recession winners were the companies that cut costs selectively by focusing on increasing operational efficiency — meanwhile — they invested relatively comprehensively in the future by spending on marketing, R&D, and new assets. This is the best antidote to a recession.”[9] The researchers called the segment of companies that had taken this strategic approach, “Progressive.” Progressive companies deploy the optimal combination of defense and offense. Conversely — the “prevention-focused companies” in the study were the ones whose leaders quickly implemented policies that reduced operating costs, shrunk discretionary expenditures, eliminated frills, lowered headcount, and preserved cash. They also postponed making new investments in R&D, developing new businesses, or buying assets such as plants and machinery to expand their capacity. Prevention-focused leaders cut back on almost every item of cost and investment and reduce expenditures significantly more than competitors. Focusing solely on cost-cutting causes executives and employees to approach every decision through a loss-minimizing lens and pessimism permeates the organization. Post-recession profits for prevention-focused enterprises typically rose by only $600 million, whereas for progressive companies they increased by an average of $6.6 billion. Prevention-focused companies were the ones that suffered the most during the recession – and – took the longest to recover. Or – never recovered to their pre-recession levels for sales and profit. So let’s flip that — is doubling down on promotion is the right strategy? Unfortunately – no – it’s not that simple. A focus purely on promotion develops a culture of optimism that led companies to deny the gravity of a crisis for a long time. They ignored early warning signs, such as customer’s budget cuts, and were steadfast in the belief that as long as they innovate, their sales and profits will continue to rise. They didn’t notice that because the pie was shrinking, they must capture an even larger share from rivals to keep growing. And this typically leads to intense price competition and a zero-sum game. No one wins in a race to the bottom. However — progressive companies — which is where I’m urging you to begin thinking, Onward Nation — they are the companies that cut costs by improving operational efficiency rather than by slashing the number of employees. Only 23 percent of progressive companies cut staff — whereas 56% of prevention-focused companies do—and they lay off fewer people. And the offensive moves by progressive are even comprehensive. Progression companies develop new business opportunities by making significantly greater investments than their rivals in R&D and marketing, and they invest in expanding their capacity. Progressive companies develop new markets and invest to enlarge their asset bases. They take advantage of depressed prices to buy property, plants, and equipment. All of that combined is why the post-recession growth in sales and earnings by the progressive lead companies was the best among the 4,700 within the study. Okay — let’s do a quick recap from what we have covered so far. First — by the data — you need to have a plan that involves your entire team – you cannot afford to wing it through any crisis…and definitely not this one. Second — you need to find ways to stay open to imagination and letting it impact your R&D and how you approach doubling down on being helpful to your clients and prospects. And third — if you want your business to make it through the other side of this crisis…and potentially…be in an even better position than when you entered it…now is the time to be progressive. Yes, reduce your operating expenses to boost efficiency…keep your team intact the best you can…and make investments in your marketing and R&D. Let’s take the ROI around marketing investments a bit deeper with some data points collected from a study commissioned by the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI). “ASI studied 2,662 firms from 1970 – 1991 to determine the effect of marketing on a company during a recession. Firms that marketed during a recession increased in value and got more marketing bang for their investment. In some cases – up to three years after the recession had ended. It seems like common sense – if you market when everyone else stops marketing – your message is more likely to be noticed due to a less cluttered market and your business is more likely to be remembered once your competitors begin marketing again.” In my opinion, Onward Nation — this crisis is the time for you not to be silent. You need to be in front of your clients, prospects, and audience — and yes — that is marketing. But — this isn’t the time to be selling. This is the time to be helping. So yes — I want you to have a progressive mindset about how to lead your business to the other side of this but I want you to be very thoughtful about the content you and your team create and shares. This is why I also want to share some highlights from a recent special report from Edelman because the context here will help guide the context of your content. You can access a full copy of the report from the Edelman website using the link at the bottom of today’s show notes. Edelman is a global communications firm that partners with businesses and organizations to evolve, promote, and protect their brands and reputations. Edelman employs 6,000 people in more than 60 offices. And they have been studying, researching, reporting on the topic of trust for the last 20-years. Their report has become the standard for excellence on the topic. Edelman just conducted a 12-market study on the critical role brands are expected to play during the coronavirus pandemic, completed on March 26. We interviewed 12,000 people in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, the UK, and the U.S. This follows on a study that we released two weeks ago on the role of the private sector during the pandemic. I’m going to walk through a high-level overview of the key points… If you were ever in doubt that your brand(s) mattered, this new data reveals the power and necessity of brand as well as the urgent need for you to act. You and your team need to find solutions (think “imagination” – remember that from earlier in this solocast?) instead of selling passion or image. Your solutions need to be tangible and fast, not impressionistic and conceptual. Respondents recognized the need for specific actions to help address the societal challenges posed by COVID-19, from protecting the wellbeing of employees to shifting products, services, and pricing to create a sense of community. This crisis is indeed an opportunity for you to step up in a whole new way to be helpful in your niche. Sixty-two percent of respondents said that their country won’t make it through this crisis without businesses playing a critical role in addressing the challenges. At the same time, 71 percent agree that if they perceive that a business is putting profit over people, they will lose trust in that business forever.[10] So Onward Nation – if you’re not smart about your context ensuring it’s on-point – you could cause more harm than good from your marketing effort. Businesses must focus their messaging on solutions, not selling. Eighty-four percent of respondents said they want brand advertising to focus on how brands help people cope with pandemic-related life challenges.[11] Seventy-seven percent said they want brands only to speak about products and services in ways that show they are aware of the crisis and the impact on people’s lives.[12] And Onward Nation — the study showed that there’s a deep desire for expertise. Eighty-four percent of respondents globally said that they want businesses to be a reliable news source that keeps people informed. They want to receive this information from multiple sources, in part because they are skeptical about any individual medium given the epidemic of fake news. The most credible combination is mainstream media plus email. Taking that further — eighty-five percent of respondents want you to be an educator, offering your audience instructional information about the virus and its effects and how to protect yourselves from it. With the said — I’m suggesting that you play doctor or infectious disease expert. But what I am recommending that you do is pick up the torch and lead the conversations in your niche about the business impact the virus is having on your customers, your vendors, your industry as a whole. And — champion the distribution of resources, research, or anything else you think will be helpful to your community of clients and prospects who are desperately seeking answers. If you’re on our email list – you’ve likely received updates from me with PPP resources, calculators, applications, etc. Our expertise isn’t in the public health arena – but – we absolutely believe we can be helpful to business owners within our community by sharing resources we have curated. And the response from our community has been incredible because we shared the right resources, at the right time, with absolutely no expectation of return. Helping – not selling, Onward Nation. The team at Edelman believes that this global crisis will fundamentally change how we think, behave, and consume. There will not be a rapid return to normal. And the new world will have trust at its core, with the brand mandate expanded to solve problems for all, protect all, care for all, collaborate with all, and innovate in the public interest. Business owners that act in the interest of their employees, clients, prospects, and other stakeholders will reinforce their expertise, leadership, and trust and immeasurably strengthen those bonds. Your community is looking to you to share your thought leadership and expertise – and you can’t do that by shrinking or by being quiet. They want you to demonstrate your authority. Don’t be promotional – be helpful. Don’t focus on selling – but be solutions focused. Double down on sharing your expertise like you never have before. We’re all faced with economic challenges right now – no one is immune – and if you can resist the temptation to sell…I assure you…creating an authority position will deliver a financial return on your investment. In an upcoming episode of Onward Nation — Susan Baier, founder of Audience Audit – an exceptional research firm and our partner on a recent study on the ROI of Thought Leadership will join me to walk through the findings with you. I will tell you – the results are shocking. Yes, there is an ROI on your thought leadership when done well. For example… When a prospect chooses to work with you and your team instead of a competitor – 62 percent of the time that choice was made because of whether they consider you to be an authority or not. Susan and I are preparing an executive summary with some of the biggest findings from the research. It will be available soon. If you’d like to ensure you receive it when it’s available – go to our Resources Library at PredictiveROI.com/resources and download one of the resources to ensure you’re on our mailing list – or – you can also email me directly at Stephen@predictiveroi.com and I’ll make sure you get on the distribution list. Okay – let’s begin to wrap up an come in for a landing by circling back to the Edelman data and then some additional framing about what makes someone an authority. Onward Nation — all of the data points to the fact that we’ve entered the era of the Authority…even before COVID-19…and now even more so as a result of the virus. And while you may be sick of the phrase “thought leader”, the truth is there aren’t that many of them in the niches where you have decided to focus your business. If you haven’t yet niched down – I highly recommend you listen to Episode 930 where Eric Lanel and I talked through the importance of claiming your niche. But what makes a thought leader a thought leader? Thought leaders don’t write content that anyone else could claim. Thought leaders don’t write about anything and everything. And thought leaders don’t compete on price. And because of COVID, the data from Edelman, the data from our own ROI of Thought Leadership study, and many other relevant sources — I will argue — that the ideal time for you to double down on your own thought leadership to build your authority in your niche is now. Churning out generic content to get ahead in Google rankings may have worked 20 years ago – but it doesn’t work today and it’s not helpful to your audience. In our recent book entitled, “Sell with Authority”, my co-author, Drew McLellan, and I shared highlights from the 2019 Trust Barometer study from Edelman, a global PR agency, which has conducted the study each year for the last 20-years. It’s a worldwide study with 33,000 consumers participating in 27 countries. One of the biggest takeaways from the study was that buyers assign a high level of trust to people they believe are just like themselves. When you think about the impact that ratings, reviews, and influencers have with their audiences, you begin to see the power of that belief. But Edelman’s research isn’t about the celebrity influencer. This study documents the rise of the common man influencer – business owners just like you and me, Onward Nation. It’s noteworthy because it gives statistical validity to the idea of real people as influencers and the impact they can have on the beliefs around a brand. The one attribute that ranked higher than the trust we have in people like you and me is the trust we have in highly educated experts. The only three groups of people we trust more than people like ourselves are company, industry, and academic experts. Experts are afforded the highest level of confidence and trust because they have a depth of knowledge in a specific industry or niche. So why in the world wouldn’t you capitalize on that? Instead of creating generic content that looks and sounds like everyone else during this crisis – take the opportunity to create thought leadership content that is unique, different, and helpful – not promotional. Your competitors aren’t. So you should. Now more than ever — you can own an authority position – you can do it – and it will help you future proof your business. There has never been a better time in history to start. The data is all on your side. The 10 Truths of an Authority If you were asked to think of an authority on any subject, who would come to mind? What about them designates them as an authority? What’s true about them? And what does someone have to do to earn and keep the title of authority? Truth #1: They have a focus area or subject matter expertise. Truth #2: They don’t just repeat what everyone else is saying. Truth #3: They have a public presence where they share their expertise. Truth #4: They don’t stray from their area of expertise—think specialist versus a generalist. Truth #5: They aren’t equally attractive to everyone. In fact, they probably bore most people to tears. Truth #6: They’re significant—which is different from prolific—in terms of content creation. Truth #7: They don’t create any generic content that someone with far less knowledge or experience could have just as easily written. Truth #8: They’re perceived as an educator in some way. Truth #9: They have a passion for their subject matter. Truth #10: They have a strong point of view, which is the foundation of all of their content. A true authority has something specific to teach us, and they want to be helpful or illuminating. They’re eager to share what they know because they have a genuine passion for it, and they don’t fear giving away the recipe to their secret sauce (or so it’s perceived). That confidence and generosity are contagious. Their expertise is something specific groups of people (their sweet-spot prospects) are hungry to access. Call them an expert, a thought leader, an authority, a sought-after pundit, advisor, or specialist. They’re all words for the same thing—a trusted resource that has earned that trust by demonstrating and generously sharing the depth of their specialized knowledge over and over again. One way to recognize an authority is the ability to define them in a single sentence, like Simon Sinek. He’s “the why guy.” Brené Brown is “the dare-to-be-vulnerable woman.” They’ve so narrowly and so carefully defined their expertise that we can capture it with a word or phrase. Does Simon Sinek talk about other things? Of course. But he always ties it back to his thing—the “why.” Does Brené Brown write about additional topics? Absolutely. But she always loops it back to being vulnerable and the power that comes from being brave enough to embrace vulnerability. Beyond that, Drew and I would argue that a true authority has a strong point-of-view or belief that influences how they talk about their subject area. A narrow niche, a strong point-of-view, and being findable in multiple places are the hallmarks of an authority position. And — they have a plan for creating content that is helpful to their niche and not focused on selling. All of the data points to the validity of leveraging your own thought leadership as your core strategy to proactively market your way through the crisis and to make it through to the other side in a stronger position than when all of this happened. You need a plan, with some imagination, some hard work, progressive ideas, and the willingness to invest your time and attention toward execution. But if you do that – and your clients, prospects, and audience can see that you are being helpful and not selling…when they are ready to enter the market again…you will have put yourself in the best possible position for a new trajectory of growth. Your plan – will need to address what my team and I call the 6 tenets of how to Sell with Authority. And I will cover those in full transparent detail in Part 2 of this solocast series. Okay – whew – was that a lot? Holy bananas – it sure felt like a lot. And remember — all of the research sources can be found in the endnotes in today’s show notes on PredictiveROI.com. As always — I look forward to your feedback. The emails you send me — and your comments on social media — all help us get better every day — so thank you for that Onward Nation and keep them coming. And if you need me — you can reach me directly at Stephen@predictiveroi.com. Rest assured — that’s my actual Inbox and I read and reply to every email. Okay, Onward Nation — this is the time to double down like no other in history. But — be smart about it. Invest in the right areas. Make progressive decisions. And if you do all that — you will market your way through this crisis. I look forward to seeing you on the other side. Until our next episode — onward with gusto! [1] “Preparing Your Business for a Post-Pandemic World”, Carsten Lund Pederson and Thomas Ritter, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2020. [2] “Preparing Your Business for a Post-Pandemic World”, Carsten Lund Pederson and Thomas Ritter, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2020. [3] “Extreme Ownership”, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, St. Martin’s Press, 2015. [4] “We Need Imagination Now More Than Ever”, Martin Reeves and Jack Fuller, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2020. [5] “We Need Imagination Now More Than Ever”, Martin Reeves and Jack Fuller, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2020. [6] “We Need Imagination Now More Than Ever”, Martin Reeves and Jack Fuller, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2020. [7] “We Need Imagination Now More Than Ever”, Martin Reeves and Jack Fuller, Harvard Business Review, April 10, 2020. [8] “Roaring Out of Recession”, Ranjay Gulati, Nitin Nohria, Franz Wohlgezogen, Harvard Business Review, March 3, 2010. [9] “Roaring Out of Recession”, Ranjay Gulati, Nitin Nohria, Franz Wohlgezogen, Harvard Business Review, March 3, 2010. [10] “Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust and the Coronavirus Pandemic”, Richard Edelman, Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report, March 30, 2020. [11] “Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust and the Coronavirus Pandemic”, Richard Edelman, Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report, March 30, 2020. [12] “Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust and the Coronavirus Pandemic”, Richard Edelman, Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report, March 30, 2020.

Small Biz Buzz hosts Crystal Heuft and Scott Martineau are joined by Susan Baier, the owner and founder of Audience Audit, who talks about attitudinal segmentation and identifying an audience that actually works for a small business. As a small business owner, your audience is not based on what it looks like. Your audience is based on the problems your small business is solving, and who has them, and why your customers haven't solved them already–that is attitudinal segmentation. “In our research, what we're doing is looking at populations, customers, prospects, whatever it may be, B2B, B2C, and saying, we can look at company size for these people, or we can look at their age or their gender, but instead let's look at the kinds of attitudes that they have about this category, the kinds of experiences they've had in the past, the things that are important to them and the things that aren't, and let's group people that way,” said Baier. “You don't have to choose just one audience, but you have to be super clear, for the audiences that you choose, and choose is the operative word,” Baier continued. “The ones that you want to serve, the problem that you want to solve, you have to be crystal clear about why they're looking, and what is involved in their choice, and who they're putting you up against, so that you can provide relevant marketing content, product services, whatever it is.” “Who” is not the question you have to answer in marketing. “Why” is the question you have to answer and find your niche. Tune in for more.

About the guest:    For more than 25 years, Robert has helped marketers tell their story more effectively through digital media. Over the last five years, Robert has worked with more than 500 companies, including 15 of the Fortune 100. He's provided strategic marketing advice and counsel for global brands such as Capital One, NASA, Dell, McCormick Spices, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Robert is the founder and chief strategy officer for The Content Advisory, the education and consulting group for The Content Marketing Institute. Robert's third book — Killing Marketing, with co-author Joe Pulizzi — has been called the “book that rewrites the rules of marketing.” His second book — Experiences: The Seventh Era of Marketing — is a top seller and has been called a “treatise, and a call to arms for marketers to lead business innovation in the 21st century.” Robert's first book, Managing Content Marketing, spent two weeks as a top-ten marketing book on Amazon.com and is generally considered to be the “owner's manual” of the content marketing process. In the episode:    2:17 – Robert shares how he started in television, transitioning to marketing where he has been for 30 years. 3:30 – Robert talks about how he created a content marketing approach opposed to traditional marketing. 7:03 – Nancy tells how she met Robert through Drew McLellan and the Agency Management Institute. 7:43 – Robert explains the origins of content marketing. 11:36 – Nancy and Robert talk about the connection between gaining audience trust and content marketing. 14:46 – Robert shares some of the different ways to use content marketing, giving Lincoln Electric's magazine as an example.  18:47 – Nancy and Robert talk about how content marketing can be used for recruiting.  21:38 – Robert shares how PR professionals could improve their use of content marketing. 29:29 – Robert describes how he has made a conscious effort to build his network. 33:37 – Nancy and Robert talk about the importance of being able to be found online. 35:40 – Robert explains how to “get rid” of bad content someone else is producing about your brand or product. 38:12 – Robert shares some of the books that have been most instrumental to his career. Quote: “And so that lack of trust, while kind of a sad state of the world and our culture, is an opportunity for us as brands to create that trust, to create content that is valuable, trusted, and gives our audience the value that they are looking for.” – Robert Rose, Chief Troublemaker at The Content Advisory Links:          The Content Advisory: https://contentadvisory.net/ Content Marketing World: https://www.contentmarketingworld.com/ John Deere's Furrow Magazine: https://www.johndeerefurrow.com/ Lincoln Electric's Arc Magazine: http://www.arcmagazine.pub/ Bath Iron Works: https://www.gdbiw.com/ Cisco: https://www.cisco.com/ Monster Career Advice: https://www.monster.com/career-advice/ The End of Competitive Advantage by Rita Gunther McGrath Discovery-Driven Growth by Rita Gunther McGrath The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen Competing Against Luck by Clayton Christensen Evernote: https://evernote.com/ Robert's Books: Killing Marketing: https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Marketing-Innovative-Businesses-Turning/dp/1260026426 Experiences: The Seventh Era of Marketing: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0985957646/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1 Managing Content Marketing: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0983330719/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2   Drew McLellan's PR Maven® Podcast Episode: https://www.marshallpr.com/podcast/episode-4-drew-mclellan-top-dog-at-agency-management-institute/ Susan Baier's PR Maven® Podcast Episode: https://www.marshallpr.com/podcast/episode-22-susan-baier-head-honcho-audience-audit-inc/   Activate the PR Maven® Flash Briefing on your Alexa Device. Join the PR Maven® Facebook group page.   Looking to connect:           Email: robert@contentadvisory.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robrose/ Twitter: @Robert_Rose

With a talent for creating special events that blossomed while working for my dad’s car stereo shop, I got my start in marketing at Frontier Field in Rochester and I began serving as the executive director of the internationally known Lilac Festival. Later on, I headed the Canandaigua, New York Business Improvement District while also performing projects for the tourism promotion agency Visit Rochester. In 2009, I founded Break the Ice Media, with more than 20 years of experience in tourism marketing. I now host “Destination on the Left”, a highly successful tourism marketing podcast. As a business owner, I know what it takes to be successful. I founded BTI to help businesses tell their brand story through public relations, digital and traditional channels. I have the ability to uncover unique marketing opportunities and develop marketing and public relations initiatives that help clients build long-term success. In this solocast episode of Destination on the Left, we look at the highlights from day two of our Destination on the Left Virtual Summit. What You Will Learn in This Episode: The highlights from day two of the Destination on the Left Virtual Summit How you can use live video and video to increase exposure and attendance at events and destinations How to improve your communication strategy through demographic research How to employ traditional branding tactics as a DMO Why DMOs can benefit from the dramatic change in Chinese travel trends How you can leverage influencer marketing to generate awareness and drive visitation at their destinations Destination on the Left Virtual Summit: Day 2 On day one of the virtual summit, we were graced with some amazing speakers. If you missed our recap of their presentations and want to revisit them, make sure to check out “Destination on the Left Virtual Summit Recap: Day 1, with Nicole Mahoney.” This episode will follow suit with a recap of day two and all of the fabulous presentations that came with it. We dive into the talking points presented by marketing gurus Reagan Burns, Susan Baier, Matt Stiker, Humphrey Ho, and Stacy Jones. We cover a wide variety of topics based on current industry trends and marketing best practices, including: Using Live Videos at Events and Tourism Destinations: Reagan Burns of Lime Creative provided valuable insights into creating live video, and explained how video can increase exposure and attendance at events and destinations. Going Beyond Demographics and Finding the Visitors’ ‘Why?’: Susan Baier of Audience Audit shares a new perspective on targeting. She explore how destinations can move beyond the typical demographic categorization of audiences and market in a way that answers the visitor’s question of “why”. What Destination Marketers Can Learn From Non-Destination Marketers: Matt Stiker of Garrand Moehlenkamp looks at destination marketing through a wide-angle lens and discusses the fundamental components of powerful branding. Changing Chinese Traveler and Travel Trends: Humphrey Ho of Hylink Digital discusses the shift from group travel to FIT (free, independent travelers) and how smaller destinations can take advantage of prospective Chinese visitors doing their own research online. Using Pop Culture to Market Your Brand: Stacy Jones of Hollywood Branded talks about how destination marketers can use celebrities and influencers to generate awareness and drive visitation at their destinations. If you weren’t able to take part in the amazing Destination on the Left Virtual Summit, don’t fret! You can still watch all of the presentations on our website. Just purchase an all-access pass by visiting www.destinationontheleft.com/summit and enjoy! Otherwise, keep an eye out for an upcoming announcement for our next summit in Spring 2020. We hope you can join us. Resources: Email: nicole@breaktheicemedia.com Website: www.destinationontheleft.com/summit Website: https://breaktheicemedia.com/ Twitter: @Break_TheIce Facebook: @BreakTheIceMedia Episode Transcript

Marketers know that the value of data from the past helps them strategize for the future. However, it may be time to gather data in a different and proactive way. Why not try an organic and mathematical approach? Today’s guest is Susan Baier of Audience Audit, a marketing research company. She describes how attitudinal research can be more effective than demographics research. Susan explains the difference between audience and customer research.   Some of the highlights of the show include: Audience Audit: Attitudinal audience segmentation research that gains quantitative insight into audiences trying to be reached via marketing efforts Attitudinal Research: Understanding how opinions, assumptions, perspectives, and preconceived ideas affect purchase decisions Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research: Each offer value, including quantitative statistically significant insights of things affecting some of your audience Marketers need to answer ‘Why?’ by providing reliable data Audience Research: Only listening to customers, can create skewed perspective Who is your sample? Talk to past, present, and potential customers in the market to solve a problem that you understand Where to find your audience? Don’t rely on a single source; understand audience via email subscriber list, customer files, and social media platforms Why are people here? What kept them from getting help sooner? Focus on what problems your company’s products and services solve, not on what they do What does CMT stand for? Write compelling content using existing customers language/lingo to attract a similar audience What method(s) to use to gather research? Survey of connotative data; avoid pushing your assumptions that artificially stratify people and don’t make sense What doesn’t matter? 95% of studies that identify attitudinal segments reveal that company size, gender, household, and other factors aren’t important Crafting Questions: Remove bias from data gathering and analysis processes to improve product positioning, audience targeting, and personas  Segmentation: Understand, implement, and use information/data Links:  Audience Audit How To Do Remarkable Customer Research With Rand Fishkin From SparkToro [AMP081] Gartner  Magic Quadrant Content Marketing Platform SurveyMonkey SurveyGizmo Qualtrics CoSchedule Marketing Software Suite

Every year we partner with Audience Audit to conduct research that we know will benefit agency leaders. This year, we decided to re-visit some of the questions we initially asked in 2014 to see if there had been significant shifts. In some ways, the results showed a consistent trend and in some other areas, there’d been some pretty significant changes. In the 2019 study we included clients from the US, Canada, Australia and the UK and there were over 1,000 respondents who participated. In this episode we’ll walk you through some of the most significant ah ha moments in the study in terms of what clients value, how they view us, and the kinds of work they think we do best. We will also talk about some of the new questions around agency specialization and agency owner involvement in key accounts. Listen in as Susan Baier, president of Audience Audit and I explore the insights and talk about the implications of this new research. We’d also like to invite you to join us on November 12th (if you’re listening to this in real time) as we walk folks through every single question and data point in a live webinar just for you! A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here: https://www.whitelabeliq.com/ami/. What You Will Learn in this Episode: What remained steady and what shifts we saw from the 2014 study The three distinct audience segments we uncovered and how each of them view agencies Why over 50% of all respondents work with an agency who is 200+ miles away from them How you can get the complete download during the webinar on November 12th Ways to Contact Susan Baier: Website: www.audienceaudit.com Email: susan@audienceaudit.com Twitter: @susanbaier

Susan Baier has been a marketing strategist for a long time, both on the agency side and the client side. Throughout her career, Susan noted that people often stick to two types of audience segmentation strategies: demographic or behavioral. While these strategies can provide valuable insights, Susan had a new goal that she wanted to achieve. She wanted to be able to offer audience segmentation to small and mid size agencies that was based on attitude. In other words, why do people do what they do. So, at the beginning of the Recession, Susan founded her company, Audience Audit. Our latest guest on The Innovative Agency, Susan talked with us about different types of segmentation studies, using research to differentiate your agency, and how to use your intellectual capital to generate additional revenue.

Putting a marketing plan together may seem like a daunting task, competing with your daily must-do list and everything else vying for your attention. But without a plan, you are just wandering in the desert and hoping for outcomes you haven’t clearly defined. Planning is a necessity in order to grow and sustain your business. This episode of Destination on the Left is a solocast all about developing a solid marketing plan: setting goals and the tactics it will take to achieve those goals. We’ll talk about situational analysis, SMART goals, and drilling down on exactly who your target market is. We’ll talk about the messaging you need for different stages in the customer journey. We’re going to give you everything you need to get a great plan for 2019 together and get it done! What You Will Learn: How to set SMART goals for the coming year How to do a situational analysis Steps to develop one or more buyer personas Developing and following through on a tactical marketing plan Keeping your plan flexible, but tethered to doable goals and outcomes Insights to Support Your Plan Plans are fluid documents.- you don’t have to have all the answers today. They provide a roadmap to where you want to go, but it’s okay to tweak them and change them. Having a plan to start with will make it easier to make adjustments along the way. You will start your plan by answering this question: What are the top three to five goals that you want to accomplish in 2019? Back in Episode 96, we touched on some really important ideas that affect how you plan your marketing. I spoke with guest Susan Baier from Audience Audit. She talked about getting beyond the who and the where to really understanding the why. Why are clients looking for a travel option, and why is your destination the best option for them? Understanding the why provides you with the insight needed to tailor communications to speak to them. This is the kind of information you need to gather for an effective marketing plan. Getting Tactical None of this matters if plans remain on a page somewhere on your laptop or in a binder lost in a pile in your office. So in this episode, we also dig into the tactical elements that will bring your marketing plan to life. Remember, this is a breathing and living document. It’s not written in stone and it can easily be changed and adapted as you move through the year. Just having the plan is a huge step in helping you to achieve your goals in 2019. Resources: US Travel Association Destination Analysts State of the American Traveler Family Travel Association Destination on the Left Episode 96 Brand Now by Nick Westergaard

Susan Baier's research focuses on uncovering how groups of people think and feel as they make important decisions, like selecting a college. We discuss specific ways schools have used her research to improve their enrollment and advancement efforts by better understanding critical attitudinal differences in their target audiences.

Susan Baier, Head Honcho at Audience Audit, joins the Content Experience Show to discuss better audience segmentation through attitudinal personas.   Special thanks to our sponsors: Vidyard Uberflip Convince & Convert: Four Ways to Fix Your Broken Content Marketing   In This Episode How to find meaningful information for segmentation How to conduct research to build attitudinal personas How to balance “deep dives” with archetypal personas Why typical demographic information is ineffective for segmentation   Resources Uberflip Convince & Convert Audience Audit Satan: His Psychotherapy and Cure by the Unfortunate Dr. Kassler   Visit contentexperienceshow.com for more insights from your favorite content marketers.  

In this episode, Stacy speaks with Susan Baier about the most effective ways to build buyer personas when working with new clients. 

My guest today is Susan Baier, head honcho at Audience Audit, a company specializing in attitudinal audience segmentation research.  We chat about how crafty businesses can harness the power of segmenting for better customer engagement.

Why are people interested in traveling to your destination? Finding out the “why” makes marketing more precise and leads to more visitors and ergo, more revenue. Finding out the “why” gets beyond lumping people into demographic categories. It helps us understand what motivates them and what could potentially motivate them to choose us. Our guest this episode of Destination on the Left is Susan Baier. Susan is an Audience and Marketing Strategist. She helps organizations figure out what’s going on in the minds of their prospects and customers, and how to use that information to craft targeted efficient and effective marketing programs. Her company, Audience Audit, develops custom attitudinal segmentation research for smart marketing agencies and their clients in a wide range of industries. She has worked with over 50 agencies and their clients including Gap, Kona Grill, Infusionsoft, Jayco, Tufts University, AT&T, Pella and more. Susan has been a Marketing Strategist for 30 years working in Fortune 500 firms such as Dial and ConocoPhillips as well as in marketing agencies. She has an MBA in marketing and entrepreneurship and has mentored hundreds of small business owners in marketing and audience strategy. Susan regularly speaks at major marketing conferences including Inbound and Content Marketing World. She’s been featured on Jay Baer’s Social Pros Podcast, the Build a Better Agency podcast, and the Duct Tape Marketing podcast. Full show notes available here: https://breaktheicemedia.com/podcasts/susan-baier/

Attitudinal Segmentation makes you think beyond your typical demographics. Listen in as Susan Baier shares her insights.

Susan Baier founded her company, Audience Audit, in 2009 in order to help organizations understand their best audiences based on attitudes and needs rather than just demographics or purchase behavior. With 30-years of experience as a marketing strategist, she develops custom segmentation research for marketers and agencies around the world, supporting their efforts to create marketing initiatives that are more relevant, more efficient, and more impactful. What you’ll learn about in this episode: How Audience Audit gives small to midsize businesses access to marketing research The importance of focusing on an audience when building a business The two questions that help define your audience Why you should stop focusing on the demographics of your audience Why you need to identify the problem your audience is trying to solve The importance of building the audience you want to work with Why you should use your website as a sales tool How to use your website to target the clients you want to work with The importance of working with clients that are the right fit for your business Why you should not rely on searches for exactly what you sell Ways to contact Susan: Website: www.audienceaudit.com Email: susan@audienceaudit.com  

Susan Baier has been a marketing strategist for 30 years, and now help organizations figure out their ideal audiences. She supports marketing agencies with custom attitudinal segmentation research and helps small business owners learn how to think about their audiences in a way that helps them develop their positioning, content, messaging and marketing strategies.

Susan Baier is a marketing veteran with 30 years of experience helping Fortune 500 brands and small business learn their perfect audience and EXACTLY what makes them tick. What you’ll learn: The one BIG question every business needs to answer How to be BURSTING with ideas for your blog post The real reason businesses fail and how to avoid it See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Susan Baier began her career as a brand manager for companies like Dial and Conoco-Philips. She also worked agency side and within client companies in their research departments, honing her skills as a research professional. Recognizing that primary research was often too expensive for small to mid-sized agencies, she launched Audience Audit, where she conducts quantitative attitudinal audience segmented research. She helps her agency clients develop marketing strategy for their clients based on customer insights. They find it much easier to develop messaging, strategic plans, and business development plans with real data that helps them understand how customers who look (demographically) the same behave in very different ways and what motives those choices and behaviors. Over the past few years, AMI and Audience Audit have partnered together for studies on how business owners find agencies, their attitudes towards working with agencies, and more.   What you’ll learn about in this episode: Our 2016 Agency Workforce Report What made our 2016 research different from other research projects we’ve done in the past How we crunched our data The three types of agency employees that we found in our research: agency advocates, prosperity partners, and “millennial mindset” (and why the majority of millennials don’t fall in the “millennial mindset” group) What your agency can do to have less “millennial mindset” employees than average Why the opportunity to learn and grow is the most important thing to all employees (especially millennials) How to give your employees ways to learn and grow that don’t break the bank Why your employees have to be willing to come back from training and events ready to teach the rest of your agency Why treating your employees fairly does not mean treating them equally Why making agency advocates happy is easy (and how to cultivate them into the agency leaders of tomorrow) Why you have to help prosperity partners develop their own brand Why you should avoid using the word millennials Ways to Contact Susan Baier: Website: www.audienceaudit.com Email: susan@audienceaudit.com Twitter: @susanbaier Resources: 2016 Agency Workforce Report AMI Audience Audit Webinar One on One Meeting Form We’re proud to announce that Hubspot is now the presenting sponsor of the Build A Better Agency podcast! Many thanks to them for their support!

Susan Baier began her career as a brand manager for companies like Dial and Conoco-Philips. She also worked agency side and within client companies in their research departments, honing her skills as a research professional. Recognizing that primary research was often too expensive for small to mid-sized agencies, she launched Audience Audit, where she conducts quantitative attitudinal audience segmented research. She helps her agency clients develop marketing strategy for their clients based on customer insights. They find it much easier to develop messaging, strategic plans, and business development plans with real data that helps them understand how customers who look (demographically) the same behave in very different ways and what motives those choices and behaviors. Over the past few years, AMI and Audience Audit have partnered together for studies on how business owners find agencies, their attitudes towards working with agencies, and more.   What you’ll learn about in this episode: How the research that Audience Audit does differs from a lot of the research that’s out there How your agency can leverage research inside your agency-client relationships The ways agencies can better sell the value of research to existing and prospective clients Why agencies can’t build their business around “shiny toys” The ways research has changed and why agencies shouldn’t be afraid to bring it to clients that they haven’t done research with in the past How bringing research to clients can give them a sense of relief and make it easier for your agency to retain their business A specific example of how this kind of targeted research helped a client in a big way The mistakes agencies make when trying bring research into their shop Why niche really matters when it comes to research Baby steps agencies can take to start incorporating research Ways to contact Susan Baier: Website: www.audienceaudit.com Email: susan@audienceaudit.com Twitter: @susanbaier Resources: 2015 research 2014 research We’re proud to announce that Hubspot is now the presenting sponsor of the Build A Better Agency podcast! Many thanks to them for their support!

Susan Baier and Drew McLellan, Founders of Audience Audit Inc. and Agency Management Institute respectively, join Jay and Adam on Social Pros to discuss the surprising reasons why companies give agencies their walking papers and what that means for the evolution of advertising.