Podcasts about weaknesses

Most high performers aren't stuck because they lack discipline. They're stuck because they're trying to fix things that were never meant to be their strengths. That's not growth — that's burnout with a productivity planner. In this episode of PivotMe, April dismantles one of the most persistent myths in personal development: that success requires being "well-rounded." Drawing from strengths psychology, Gallup research, and real-world high performers, April explains why obsessing over weaknesses produces minimal return — and why leverage, not balance, is the real driver of scale. This episode is for anyone who feels exhausted trying to improve in areas that drain them, while underusing the strengths that actually move the needle. Key Takeaways The myth of being well-rounded High performers are intentionally uneven. They don't chase balance — they chase leverage. What strengths psychology proves Research from Gallup and CliftonStrengths shows that people who develop strengths are more engaged, productive, and fulfilled, while weakness-fixation yields diminishing returns. Why fixing weaknesses feels responsible Weakness work feels humble and mature — but it's often fear in disguise. Strengths create visibility, expectation, and accountability. What elite performers actually do They: Name their strengths clearly Design systems and teams around weaknesses Build leverage instead of willpower Limitations vs. liabilities A limitation is something you're not great at. A liability is something you refuse to acknowledge. Awareness neutralizes weakness. Denial weaponizes it. Quotes "High performers are not well-rounded. They are intentionally uneven." "Weaknesses rarely become strengths — they usually just become less annoying." "You don't scale by becoming more balanced. You scale by becoming more you — on purpose." "Your business doesn't grow when you fix everything. It grows when you stop asking your weaknesses to lead." The Challenge Ask yourself honestly: What am I trying to fix that I should be designing around? Which strength have I underused because it makes me visible? What would change if I trusted my strengths enough to build around them? Stop fixing. Start leveraging. Growth doesn't come from becoming well-rounded. It comes from becoming effective. Your job isn't to be everything. Your job is to be dangerously good at the things that matter most. Keep pivoting forward, Pivoter. ____________ Want help identifying and leveraging your strengths — without burning yourself out?

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Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

SKOL Search: Scouting Linebacker Sonny Styles — In this episode of SKOL Search, hosted by Tyler Forness and brought to you by Vikings 1st & SKOL and The Real Forno Show, the focus is on preparing for the 2026 NFL draft by analyzing potential prospects for the Minnesota Vikings. The episode specifically scouts linebacker Sonny Styles from Ohio State, detailing his abilities, strengths, and areas for improvement. It emphasizes the importance of the linebacker position in Brian Flores' defense and discusses Styles' background as a former safety, his physical attributes, football IQ, tackling skills, and potential impact on the Vikings' defense. The episode concludes with broader draft insights and the potential need for cornerbacks and wide receivers for the team. 00:00 Introduction to SKOL Search 00:59 Importance of Linebackers in Brian Flores' Defense 02:32 Scouting Report: Sunny Styles 05:14 Strengths and Skills of Sunny Styles 12:25 Weaknesses and Areas for Improvement 16:33 Conclusion and Future Prospects ____________________________________________________________ ⭐️ Subscribe to us here! - https://www.youtube.com/@vikings1stskol92 ⭐️ Our Twitter can be found at @Vikings1stSKOL ⭐️ Our Discord at https://discord.com/invite/493z6mQXcN ⭐️ Tyler Forness can be read at A to Z Sports - https://atozsports.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings-news/ ⭐️ Submit questions: forms.gle/7LJkCAern9kdUkuD8 ⭐️ On Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/vikings1standskol ⭐️ Watch the live show here: https://youtu.be/eXkUtw3dZmg Fan With Us!!! Tyler Forness @TheRealForno of Vikings 1st & SKOL @Vikings1stSKOL and A to Z Sports @AtoZSportsNFL, with Dave Stefano @Luft_Krigare producing this Vikings 1st & SKOL production, the @RealFornoShow. Podcasts partnered with Fans First Sports Network @FansFirstSN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Monday episode of the North Shore Drive podcast, Post-Gazette Steelers insiders Christopher Carter and Ray Fittipaldo discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the team's decision to hire Mike McCarthy as its replacement at head coach for Mike Tomlin. Does this move finally give the franchise a fighting chance to develop a young quarterback and functional offense? With pieces in place that include names like Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Jaylen Warren, Pat Freiermuth, Zach Frazier, Troy Fautanu and Mason McCormick? Can McCarthy win without a franchise QB type like Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers or Dak Prescott at the helm? Could he develop Will Howard or an NFL draft rookie like Ty Simpson, Drew Allar, Cade Klubnik or Garrett Nussmeier? Or could he foster a career renaissance like we've seen Sam Darnold enjoy for another veteran QB like Malik Willis? Our duo tackles those questions and more now that owner Art Rooney II and GM Omar Khan have chosen McCarthy over names like Chris Shula, Nate Scheelhaase, Anthony Weaver and Brian Flores. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

God always meets 1) our mess with HIs mercy, 2) our failures with His forgiveness, 3) our guilt with His grace, and 4) our sin with His salvation.

God always meets 1) our mess with HIs mercy, 2) our failures with His forgiveness, 3) our guilt with His grace, and 4) our sin with His salvation.

In this episode of the Expert Speaker Podcast, I sit down with Josh Terry — a creator, coach, and thinker known for saying sharp things in very few words. We unpack why so many smart, capable people stay stuck, and how real momentum often comes from doing less, not more. Josh shares the counterintuitive idea that trying to fix your weaknesses might actually be holding you back — in business, creativity, and leadership. We talk about mastery, creative freedom, productivity, and why operating well within your strengths creates far better results than constantly pushing at the edge of your abilities . Key Takeaways Give up on what you're bad at Growth accelerates when you stop forcing yourself to improve weaknesses that drain you and instead build around what already works. Mastery comes from ease, not struggle People don't want what you can barely deliver. Mastery is built by repeatedly doing what's well within your competence — and letting that competence expand naturally. Your strengths are often invisible to you Many of our strongest capabilities formed early in life, which makes them feel "normal" and easy to overlook — even though they're where our greatest leverage lives. Stop copying the "right way" to create Josh explains how abandoning standard advice (eye contact, memorization, perfect delivery) led to his biggest breakthroughs and viral growth. Productivity isn't about pressure Some people thrive under pressure. Others shut down. Understanding whether you respond better to pressure or space can radically change how you work. Eliminate infinite time sinks Endless distractions (scrolling, gaming, mindless consumption) kill momentum. Replacing them with finite breaks helps you return to focused work faster. Notable Quotes "Nobody wants what you can just barely deliver." "Mastery comes from repeatedly doing something that is well within your competence." "We're not supposed to make our weaknesses our day job." "If you stop trying to look like who you're not, you can finally create something real." Action Steps Make a list of what drains you vs. what feels easy and effective — and ruthlessly reduce the former Identify one strength you've dismissed as "too obvious" and lean into it this week Replace infinite distractions with finite breaks (walks, stretching, sitting quietly) Ask yourself: What could I create if I stopped trying to fix myself first? Listen If You Are A founder, creator, or leader feeling stuck despite working hard Someone overwhelmed by "do more, be better" advice A creative who wants to find their real voice Looking for a smarter, calmer way to grow without burning out  

Michael McKee is expected to plead not guilty to the aggravated murders of Monique Tepe and Richard Tepe. His defense team sees something prosecutors don't want jurors to notice. The murder weapon was allegedly found in McKee's Chicago apartment—but that's 300 miles from the crime scene in Columbus. There are no eyewitnesses placing him inside the Tepe home. The forensic evidence that seems airtight? Defense attorneys have ways to challenge it. Criminal defense attorney Eric Faddis spent years as a felony prosecutor before switching sides. He's tried over 45 jury trials and knows exactly how defense teams dismantle cases that look strong on the surface. In this Hidden Killers interview, Faddis identifies where McKee's defense will attack: chain of custody issues with the weapon, potential search warrant problems, the difficulty of proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt when the evidence is entirely circumstantial. We examine whether McKee's reported statements to police can be suppressed or contextualized, how defense counters eight years of alleged obsession without letting their client testify, and what happens if prosecutors seek the death penalty. Juries tend to trust doctors. They also tend to believe forensic evidence is infallible. McKee's defense has to navigate both instincts. Eric Faddis explains how.#TepeMurders #MichaelMcKee #MoniqueTepe #RichardTepe #HiddenKillers #DefenseStrategy #EricFaddis #ReasonableDoubt #MurderTrial #CriminalDefenseJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

Topics discussed: Measuring the strengths and weaknesses of the Patriots and Broncos against one another // What's been the difference for Patriots' Drake Maye between the first and second half in the playoffs // Bruins blown out by the Stars on Tuesday; is Jeremy Swayman a "franchise" goaltender? // Comparing the head coaches (Vrabel vs. Payton) leading the Patriots and Broncos on Sunday // ESPN's Adam Schefter on potential changes to the NFL's schedule beyond 2026 // Why Ted Johnson has official joined Hart and Stiz in the "Super Bowl-or-bust" camp // Reacting to Drake Maye's comments at his midweek press conference + hearing from Patriots fans on the phone lines // Is Dustin Pedroia deserving of induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame? // Reacting to Patriots owner Robert Kraft's foreshadowing of major changes in the NFL // Three Point Stance, The Drive, Odds and Ends + more!

The true secret of great session prep isn't a framework for session prep.It great campaign prepWhich just so happens to be something a lot of people get wrong a lot of the time.But that ends today.1. Strengths and Weaknesses as a DM2. Time Constraints3. Your Preferences as DM4. Theme and Story IdeaThanks for listening to today's show. If you like our stuff and want to support us, here are some sponsor links and links to our other stuff:Worldsmith: http://session0studios.com/worldsmithRoll and Play Press:http://session0studios.com/rollandplayPhantasm Studios: https://session0studios.com/fantasmsMonument Studios: session0studios.com/monumentstudiosDiscord: http://session0studios.com/discordPatreon:https://session0studios.com/patreonDungeon Master Level Up Guide: https://session0studios.com/newsletter

Imagine a CRM that empowers your sales team and drives predictable B2B growth. In this episode of Predictable B2B Success, host Vinay Koshy interviews John Golden, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at Pipeliner CRM, bestselling author, and global sales leader. Learn why John Golden shifted from the CEO track to transform how sales teams use CRM technology, and how a “salesperson-first” approach redefines traditional software. Drawing on insights from over 1,600 expert interviews and decades of leadership, this episode examines the often-overlooked human elements of B2B sales and the benefits of simplifying strategy. John Golden shares real-world examples of how AI supports relationship-building, enables salespeople to leverage their strengths, and enhances coaching in high-performing organizations. He also offers practical advice on overcoming stalled deals and building trust as a key performance indicator for lasting customer relationships. Listen to this episode to gain new perspectives on your sales strategy, CRM implementation, and the future of human-driven revenue growth. Some topics we explore in this episode include: Key topics discussed in this episode include: Career Transition – John Golden explains his shift from prior executive roles to Pipeliner CRM.Strategic Simplicity – The value of simplifying business strategy and focusing on fundamentals.Strategy vs. Tactics – The risks of prioritizing tactics over a clear, simple strategy.Salesperson-First CRM – How Pipeliner CRM flips traditional CRM design to empower salespeople.CRM Adoption & Revenue Growth – The impact of higher CRM adoption on predictable revenue.Human Elements in B2B Sales – The essential role of creativity, relationships, and authenticity.AI in Sales – How AI frees salespeople to focus on relationship-building and deeper work.Personal Branding for Salespeople – Building a professional brand and soft skills in sales.Trust and Relationship Quality – Patterns of trust-building and metrics for predictability in revenue.Human-First Culture – Shifting from technology-first to human-first, and how to measure transformation.And much, much more...

Bleav Host Robert Land asks Boston Globe Patriots Reporter & Patriots Report Podcast Host Christopher Price about the strengths & weaknesses of Drake Maye, the Pats Defense & the keys to victory in the Texans-Patriots Playoff Game. Today's Show is Presented by FanDuel! (:28) Snow Showers in Forecast? (1:30) How's Drake Maye looked in Snow? (2:24) Which team does Snow Help More? (4:30) Drake Maye: Strengths & Weaknesses? (7:11) Is Maye Scrambling a Problem for Texans? (8:51) Battle of big plays between Maye & Texans D? (11:21) Where's weakness in Pats OL? (13:07) Will Nico absence help Stroud? Pats D vs. CJ? (17:32) Which Run Defense Blinks? Who's better? (20:20) Should you bet on Texans? (22:33) X-Factors Fairbairn & Denico Autry? (24:10) Trayveon Henderson: Difference Maker? (26:38) Where's Trash Talk? Future Rivalry? (27:44) Stroud underrated Steelers Performance? Subscribe on Youtube, Spotify, Apple & iHeart X @HSTPodcast Classic Houston Memories & History Playlist ️ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP6kjM8cv81ruXBBvH-vfCxXPO0npG_OS #cjstroud #drakemaye #texans #patriots Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of the Healthy, Wealthy and Smart podcast, Dr. Karen Litzy interviews Rachel Burr about leadership, transformation, and the challenges of navigating change. They discuss the importance of understanding one's core identity, the messy process of transformation, and the significance of emotional intelligence in leadership. Rachel emphasizes the need for leaders to recognize their strengths and weaknesses through feedback and self-assessment, and she offers insights into building resilience and adapting to the evolving landscape of leadership.   Takeaways ·      Leadership is about authenticity, not fitting a mold. ·      The messy middle of change is essential for transformation. ·      Recognizing signs of stagnation can lead to personal growth. ·      Emotional intelligence is crucial for effective leadership. ·      Feedback from peers and mentors is vital for self-awareness. ·      Leaders should focus on their strengths while addressing weaknesses. ·      Humor can be a powerful tool in leadership. ·      Continuous learning is necessary to stay relevant in leadership. ·      Understanding emotions can enhance decision-making and relationships. ·      Building a path to leadership requires self-discovery and action.   Chapters ·      00:00 Introduction to Leadership and Transformation ·      03:57 The Messy Middle of Change ·      09:59 Recognizing Signs of Stagnation ·      14:45 Building Emotional Intelligence ·      19:43 Assessing Leadership Strengths and Weaknesses ·      33:43 Future of Leadership Development   More About Rachel: Rachel Burr is an executive coach, leadership consultant, and people expert with over 20 years of experience helping leaders and organizations unlock their full potential. She guides high-performing individuals, often promoted for their individual excellence, to develop authentic leadership by embracing their unique strengths, talents, and passions. Rachel's evidence-based approach involves honest assessments of strengths, weaknesses, and values, confronting challenges, and identifying actionable steps to achieve goals. With insight, action, and humor, she coaches executives and teams, facilitates transformative team sessions, and navigates complex change to build high-performing teams rooted in strength, alignment, and integrity. Rachel is the author of her book, Butterfly Goo: The Down and Dirty Truth of Transformation, which chronicles her transformative journey through mishaps and triumphs, mirroring her coaching approach of guiding leaders through change with insight and humor.   Resources from this Episode Rachel's Website Rachel on LinknedIn Rachel on Instagram Rachel on Facebook Link to Rachel's Book Free Gift: Playground Area Workbook Downloads from my book - "Butterfly Goo: The Down and Dirty Truth of Transformation." Jane Sponsorship Information: Book a one-on-one demo here Mention the code LITZY1MO for a free month   Follow Dr. Karen Litzy on Social Media: Karen's Instagram Karen's LinkedIn   Subscribe to Healthy, Wealthy & Smart: YouTube Website Apple Podcast Spotify SoundCloud Stitcher iHeart Radio

True Crime Today brings you the defense perspective on the Brendan Banfield murder trial. Defense attorney Bob Motta breaks down where the prosecution's case is weakest — and how reasonable doubt gets built from the wreckage of a flawed investigation.Officer Brendan Miller — the department's digital forensics expert — analyzed 60 devices and concluded Christine Banfield controlled the FetLife account. Not her husband. His findings were peer-reviewed by the University of Alabama and confirmed. Then he was transferred out of the unit. The lead detective who questioned the catfishing theory was reassigned. Prosecutor Eric Clingan was removed after being cited for drinking at 8 a.m.Clingan admitted on the record that 12 homicide detectives had 24 different theories before the au pair gave her proffer. Motta explains exactly how damaging that admission is — and how the defense exploits it in front of a jury.The prosecution treats the framed photo of Brendan and Juliana as a smoking gun. They're using Banfield's IRS background to argue he knew how to stage a crime scene. Motta explains how defense attorneys flip every piece of that narrative.It took 19 months to charge Brendan Banfield. Investigators were transferred. Evidence was excluded. Theories kept changing. Motta identifies where reasonable doubt lives in this case — and what the jury should be thinking about when they walk into deliberations.#BrendanBanfield #BobMotta #TrueCrimeToday #DefenseAttorney #ChristineBanfield #AuPairMurder #ReasonableDoubt #MurderTrial #CriminalDefense #TrueCrimeNewsJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

If you're defending Brendan Banfield, where do you attack first? Defense attorney Bob Motta joins Hidden Killers to identify exactly where the prosecution's case falls apart — and how reasonable doubt gets built in a courtroom.The state's own digital forensics expert concluded their catfishing theory was wrong. Officer Brendan Miller found Christine Banfield controlled the FetLife account, not her husband. His work was peer-reviewed by the University of Alabama and confirmed. Then he was transferred. Deputy Chief Brusch allegedly told him he'd never work another digital forensics case. The lead detective was reassigned. The original prosecutor was removed after being cited for drinking at 8 a.m.Motta explains how you weave all of that into a narrative of a flawed investigation that a jury can see and understand. Twelve homicide detectives. Twenty-four different theories. No consensus until the au pair gave her proffer after a year in jail.The prosecution is using Banfield's IRS criminal investigator background against him — arguing he knew how to stage a crime scene. Motta explains how the defense flips that narrative and makes it work for Banfield instead.The framed photo of Brendan and Juliana found eight months after the murders looks damning. Motta breaks down how you neutralize evidence the prosecution treats as a smoking gun.Judge Azcarate excluded the child's forensic interview. What does it mean when testimony from someone present during the crime gets blocked?This is what the defense sees when they look at this case.#BrendanBanfield #BobMotta #HiddenKillers #DefenseAttorney #ChristineBanfield #JosephRyan #AuPairMurder #ReasonableDoubt #CriminalDefense #MurderTrialJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

"What part of this story just doesn't hit you right?"   How would a potential juror answer that question? We're talking about gut feeling, instinctive reaction: something that's there, and they're trying to put their finger on it.   These are very good avenues to explore in focus groups, and can uncover emotional and cognitive responses that you weren't expecting.   Today's episode features three questions that are deceptively simple yet powerful in their nuance and framing. Successfully applying them will not only make your case stronger, but help you be much better prepared for what the other side is thinking as well.     In this episode:   Strategic questions can reveal case weaknesses effectively. There are hidden weaknesses in your case that you may not see. Asking jurors to explain the case in their own words can uncover confusion. Emotional responses are crucial in jury decision-making. You can also watch this episode on my YouTube Channel: Three Focus Group Questions You can Use to Reveal Hidden Case Weaknesses [Ep 157]   Are you a lawyer looking to run your own virtual focus groups? I have a free starter kit that can help you get started that includes checklists, questionnaires, confidentiality forms and more!  Use this link to download: https://elizabethlarrick.kit.com/diyvirtualfocusgroups   Follow and Review: We'd love for you to follow us if you haven't yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We'd love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select "Ratings and Reviews" and "Write a Review" then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.   Have a trial or mediation coming up and want to test with a focus group? Book a free consultation call with Elizabeth to learn more: www.calendly.com/elizabethlarrick Don't miss out on the Trial Lawyer Prep Newsletter that is delivered right to your email with extra tips and 'how to' information. Join the newsletter here: www.larricklawfirm.com/connect

Join us for episode 472 of the Theme Park Trader Podcast! On this week's show, we discuss all things Disney Dining Plan at Walt Disney World and also how airlines seem to be going full-rip-off mode this Summer. A reminder, if you have any questions for us, send us a message on TikTok or Instagram. Also, check out our guide to the DDP in 2026.

Steve Cleveland joined DJ & PK to talk about the BYU and Utah rivalry along with some thoughts on the issues the Utah Jazz are facing.

Breaking Down Caleb Downs: A Top Safety Prospect for the 2026 NFL Draft — This episode of SKOL Search, hosted by Tyler Forness on Vikings 1st & SKOL in collaboration with The Real Forno Show, dives deep into the 2026 NFL draft focusing on prospects that the Minnesota Vikings might target. The episode provides a comprehensive scouting report on Caleb Downs, a versatile safety from Ohio State. Forness details Downs's positional versatility, high football IQ, strengths, and areas for improvement. The discussion includes comparisons to other notable safeties and explores how Downs could be a valuable addition to the Minnesota Vikings. The episode concludes by encouraging listener interaction and inviting fans to share their thoughts on Downs's potential. 00:00 Introduction to SKOL Search 00:35 Format and Approach 01:49 Caleb Downs: The Next Big Prospect 02:14 Caleb Downs' Versatility and Skills 04:45 Strengths and Weaknesses of Caleb Downs 07:18 Caleb Downs' NFL Potential 12:26 Final Thoughts and Conclusion ____________________________________________________________ ⭐️ Subscribe to us here! - https://www.youtube.com/@vikings1stskol92 ⭐️ Our Twitter can be found at @Vikings1stSKOL ⭐️ Our Discord at https://discord.com/invite/493z6mQXcN ⭐️ Tyler Forness can be read at A to Z Sports - https://atozsports.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings-news/ ⭐️ Submit questions: forms.gle/7LJkCAern9kdUkuD8 ⭐️ On Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/vikings1standskol ⭐️ Watch the live show here: https://youtu.be/8li0kP0ocbI Fan With Us!!! Tyler Forness @TheRealForno of Vikings 1st & SKOL @Vikings1stSKOL and A to Z Sports @AtoZSportsNFL, with Dave Stefano @Luft_Krigare producing this Vikings 1st & SKOL production, the @RealFornoShow. Podcasts partnered with Fans First Sports Network @FansFirstSN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textJoel and a church planter in South America discuss the challenges and rewards of new leadership roles, focusing on balancing authority with humility and identifying necessary skills for future growth. Misael Lucano shares insights from planting a church in Asuncion, Paraguay, and navigating the complexities of leadership transitions. In This Episode: 00:00 New Season of Leadership 02:06 Leadership Evolution: Rural to City 05:44 Strengths, Weaknesses, and Delegation 11:54 Embracing Vulnerability in Leadership 19:01 Seeking the Right People and Avoiding ‘Sheep Stealing' 25:12 Trusting Experience and Holy Spirit Key Takeaways: - Lead with an accurate perception of reality, acknowledging strengths and weaknesses. - Focus on your unique contributions; delegate tasks that others can excel at. - Embrace seasons of leadership, understanding when to be the plumber and when to lead. - Build the foundation of a new venture by intentionally leaving gaps for gifted individuals to fill. - Trust your experience and the Holy Spirit's guidance as you grow into leadership.

Evaluating Patriots strengths/weaknesses vs Chargers

It's once again SWOT Analysis time on Upmarket Pod! We take our listeners in depth through Upmarket Media's 2025 SWOT Analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Opportunities, Weaknesses, and Threats. Reed and Mark go deep on everything Upmarket Media is thinking and feeling heading into 2026. Follow along with their SWOT bullet points and find out what questions you should ask yourself when you do your own SWOT with this document: https://bit.ly/3PBMwJjDon't worry, they still end the show with their Action Items... things that any listener can do right now to help lay the foundation for scaling their Real Estate Media Business.Follow the pod on Instagram at @upmarketpod.The Presenting Sponsor of Upmarket is Fotello, an AI media platform built to snap, upload, and deliver. Pricing starts at $12 per listing, with human revisions available within six hours. Go to fotello.co and use code UPMARKET25 to get 25 free listings added to your account (a $500 value).Another amazing sponsor is iGUIDE, which helps real estate professionals capture spaces fast and with industry-leading accuracy. Their PLANIX Pro camera delivers trusted measurements, with no subscriptions and priced per project. Options like iGUIDE Instant provide a clean 3D tour and interactive floor plan in minutes, starting at $7.99. Learn more at goiguide.com or @go_iguide.Another sponsor is Aryeo, the best place to help grow and manage your Real Estate Media business. Use the code UPMARKET at aryeo.com to get 15 free bonus listings with any new account.Another amazing sponsor of Upmarket is SecondFloor, the fastest way to create a finished floor plan. It's so fast that you can deliver the finished floor plan while you are still on-site! Not only that, but you can get UNLIMITED floor plans for one low monthly fee. We love SecondFloor and you can go to secondfloorapp.com/upmarket and any new subscriber will get a one-month free trial.Our Action Items are sponsored by PixlCRM, where you can scale your real estate photography business through automation. It's an all-in-one business and marketing platform that complements your current delivery app. If you go to pixlcrm.com/upmarket you can get a 30-day risk-free trial!

In this episode, Brendan Housler from EVOQ Bike and Landry Bobo discuss the importance of identifying and addressing weaknesses in your training to win races. They explore the concept of whether to focus on enhancing your strengths or improving weaknesses, using various race scenarios to illustrate their points. Topics include the balance between aerobic and anaerobic training, the significance of endurance and fatigue resistance, and avoiding the trap of becoming mediocre at everything. They also highlight the benefits of consistent base training and provide insights into event-specific preparation. Tune in to learn how to effectively strategize your training for better race performance.Chapters:00:00 Introduction: Winning by Mastering Your Strengths01:05 Event-Specific Training: Strengths vs. Weaknesses01:35 Big Picture Overview: Identifying Weak Links02:29 Training Strategies for Different Race Types03:00 The Danger of Overfocusing on Specific Qualities03:49 Misidentifying Limiters: A Common Pitfall05:17 Training for Sprinting and Aerobic Capacity06:26 Evaluating and Addressing Weaknesses07:47 Finding Your True Passion in Racing08:37 Event-Specific Training: Myths and Realities10:04 Real-World Examples of Race Strategies13:38 Final Thoughts and Bonus Content

Stay informed on South Carolina Women's Basketball with Gamecocks Talk with Captain Will your premier source for the latest recruiting updates. As three-time NCAA National Champions, the team is preparing to defend their title season. We're dissecting Alabama Women's basketball, pinpointing their strategic vulnerabilities and how those weaknesses play directly into the Gamecocks' strengths. This isn't just a breakdown, it's a tactical expose revealing precisely where South Carolina can exploit their opponent for a decisive advantage. Women's basketball is continuously evolving, with NCAA Women's Basketball and the WNBA receiving acclaim for their exciting gameplay. Under the leadership of Head Coach Dawn Staley, the team includes players such as Raven Johnson, Ta'Niya Latson, Tessa Johnson, Joyce Edwards, Madina Okot, with strong bench support from Maddy McDaniel, Maryam Dauda, and Adhel Tac. Newcomers Agot Makeer and Ayla McDowell are expected to enhance the team's performance this season. Tune in to Gamecocks Talk with Captain Will, broadcasting daily. For comprehensive coverage of South Carolina Women's Basketball, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Follow every episode by subscribing to "Gamecocks Talk with Captain Will" on YouTube and clicking the "bell" icon to receive notifications.

Send us a Positive Review!Series title: Mormon Faith Crisis—Progression, Not Pathology [Part II of III]In today's episode Valerie and guest researcher Jeff Strong explore why people in the same LDS congregation can experience church so differently, depending on where they are in their faith journey. They introduce Jeff's model of six faith mindsets—seekers, cultivators, protectors, avoiders, connectors, and explorers—each representing valid and meaningful ways of engaging faith. The problem? That many of these healthy and normal ways of engaging with one's faith journey are pathologized within the LDS culture at both local and general levels. Valerie and Jeff hope that research like Jeff's and platforms like Latter Day Struggles will place growth where it actually belongs--as normal, natural, and precisely what each of us are here on this earth to do. Timestamps:00:00 – Introduction and Welcome00:22 – Series Overview and Jeff's Background01:18 – Exploring Church Demographics and Tensions02:45 – Review of Previous Episode04:00 – Cultural Causes of Tension05:30 – The Weight of Disaffiliation07:00 – Research Methodology and Data Collection07:58 – Strengths of LDS Culture09:45 – Personal Reflections on Community11:35 – Weaknesses of LDS Culture13:20 – The Soil Metaphor for Culture15:00 – The River Metaphor: Rigidity vs. Chaos17:10 – The Impact of Cultural Rigidity18:45 – The Struggle for Belonging20:09 – Stages of Faith Development22:00 – Simplicity and Complexity Explained23:45 – Perplexity and Harmony Explained25:30 – Faith Journeys and Community Reactions27:00 – The Pain of Being Misunderstood28:22 – Personal Faith Journeys29:47 – The Garden of Eden Metaphor30:47 – Pathologizing Growth in Faith32:00 – The Need for Community Support33:09 – Community and Belonging33:52 – Brian McLaren's Model in Scriptures35:30 – The Arc of Human Spiritual Growth37:25 – Understanding Different Faith Mindsets39:00 – Disparities in Perceptions of Christ-Centeredness40:30 – The Loneliness of Nonconformity42:04 – Introducing the Six Segments44:00 – Descriptions of Each Segment46:00 – The Dynamic Nature of Faith Mindsets47:00 – Encouragement for Self-Reflection48:24 – Conclusion and Next StepsSupport the showSupport the show Listen, Share, Rate & Review EPISODES Friday Episodes Annual Access $89 Friday Episodes Monthly Access $10 Valerie's Support & Processing Groups Gift a Scholarship Download Free Resources Visit our Website

Olu delivers a full preview of Nigeria's crucial AFCON 2025 Group C clash against Tunisia. With Tunisia currently top of the group and Nigeria sitting second on goal difference, this fixture could be decisive in determining who finishes in pole position. Olu breaks down everything you need to know about the match, including what's at stake, key battles, Tunisia's strengths and weaknesses, the players Nigeria must be wary of, and the Super Eagles' possible starting lineup.After the match preview, Olu rounds off the episode with a full AFCON Matchday 1 round-up, reviewing all the opening games across the tournament, key results, standout performers, and early talking points as AFCON 2025 continues to take shape.https://linktr.ee/nigeriafootballweekly Follow Nigeria Football Weekly:Twitter - https://twitter.com/NFWPod Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nigeriafootballweekly/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@nigeriafootballweekly Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/NigeriaFootballWeekly Linktree - https://linktr.ee/nigeriafootballweekly Email - nigeriafootballweekly@gmail.com(00:00 Intro(03:00 What's at stake for this game?(09:54 Tale of the Tape (Head-to-head, Rankings)(12:22 Tunisia's AFCON Record(14:39 Tunisian Players to Watch(16:44 Tunisia's Strengths(18:51 Tunisia's Weaknesses(20:00 How Tunisia Qualified(20:46 Tanzania's Recent Form(21:54 Key Questions for Nigeria(25:29 Predicted Super Eagles Lineup(27:36 Key Players for Nigeria(33:02 Final Score Prediction(35:13 AFCON Matchday 1 Round Up(43:40 Key Stats & All We've Learnt(51:12 Matchday 2 Fixtures(55:50 Outro

Bills Edge Past Browns: Defensive Woes & Offensive Struggles In this episode of Circling the Wagons, we analyze the Buffalo Bills' narrow 23-20 victory against the Cleveland Browns, highlighting crucial moments and player performances. They discuss the game's key stats, including Greg Rousseau's standout defensive play, Josh Allen's inconsistent performance, and the wide receiver struggles. The podcast also examines the team's tackling issues, missed opportunities, and potential playoff concerns. Listener hot takes and season outlooks are reviewed, while contributors are announced as giveaway winners. Tune in for in-depth analysis and Bills chatter. Go Bills! 00:00 Bills vs. Browns: Game Recap 01:08 Game Highlights and Key Moments 01:43 Player Performances and Analysis 02:38 Controversial Calls and Missed Opportunities 07:05 Stats of the Game 09:00 Sweet Sassy Molassy Plays of the Game 10:51 Wall of Fame and Wall of Shame 15:41 Strengths and Weaknesses of the Bills 29:17 Kicker Woes and Defensive Mistakes 29:56 Browns' Mistakes and Missed Opportunities 31:38 Hot Takes from Twitter 35:06 Wide Receiver Woes and Offensive Struggles 44:08 Playoff Hopes and Team Comparisons 56:50 Giveaway and Final Thoughts If you like our show, tell a friend and spread the word! Like, Comment, Share and Subscribe! Email us questions, comments, or Bills stories: ctwpod@gmail.com Follow us on X/Twitter: @CTWpod Like us on Facebook: Circling the Wagons: A Buffalo Bills Podcast Follow us on Instagram: CTWpod Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: @CTWpod Check out our low-priced Bills T-Shirts, Socks, Hoodies, Mugs & More: Circling the Wagons TeePublic Store Get $125 for every $100 you deposit for Sports Betting on BetUS (where we bet each week) #BillsMafia #BuffaloBills #GoBills #Buffalo    

As leaders gain responsibility, honest feedback disappears. Bob and Josh explore why power dynamics silence your team, how to find truth tellers who will call you out, and why no criticism isn't good news—it's a warning sign. Learn to mine for feedback and fix your leadership blind spots. Stay Connected and Informed with Our NewslettersJosh Anderson's "Leadership Lighthouse"Dive deeper into the world of Agile leadership and management with Josh Anderson's "Leadership Lighthouse." This bi-weekly newsletter offers insights, tips, and personal stories to help you navigate the complexities of leadership in today's fast-paced tech environment. Whether you're a new manager or a seasoned leader, you'll find valuable guidance and practical advice to enhance your leadership skills. Subscribe to "Leadership Lighthouse" for the latest articles and exclusive content right to your inbox.Subscribe hereBob Galen's "Agile Moose"Bob Galen's "Agile Moose" is a must-read for anyone interested in Agile practices, team dynamics, and personal growth within the tech industry. The newsletter features in-depth analysis, case studies, and actionable tips to help you excel in your Agile journey. Bob brings his extensive experience and thoughtful perspectives directly to you, covering everything from foundational Agile concepts to advanced techniques. Join a community of Agile enthusiasts and practitioners by subscribing to "Agile Moose."Subscribe hereDo More Than Listen:We publish video versions of every episode and post them on our YouTube page.Help Us Spread The Word: Love our content? Help us out by sharing on social media, rating our podcast/episodes on iTunes, or by giving to our Patreon campaign. Every time you give, in any way, you empower our mission of helping as many agilists as possible. Thanks for sharing!

Olu delivers a full preview of Nigeria's AFCON 2025 opener against Tanzania. He breaks down everything you need to know about the match, what's at stake, why Nigeria must reconnect with the fans after missing out on the World Cup, and how this tournament represents a fresh chance to push for a fourth AFCON title.Olu also analyses Tanzania's strengths and weaknesses, highlights the players Nigeria must be wary of, and discusses the Super Eagles' possible starting lineup for the game. He wraps up the episode with his final score prediction and expectations for how Nigeria should approach their opening match as the AFCON journey officially begins.Follow Nigeria Football Weekly:Twitter - https://twitter.com/NFWPod Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nigeriafootballweekly/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@nigeriafootballweekly Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/NigeriaFootballWeekly Linktree - https://linktr.ee/nigeriafootballweekly Email - nigeriafootballweekly@gmail.com (00:00) Intro(01:56) What's at stake for this game?(06:45) Tale of the Tape (Head-to-head, Rankings)(11:14) Tanzania's AFCON Squad(11:44) Tanzanian Players to Watch(12:57) Tanzania's Strengths(13:34) Tanzania's Weaknesses(14:12) How Tanzania Qualified(15:20) Tanzania's 2025 Record(16:59) Key Questions for Nigeria(24:38) Predicted Super Eagles Lineup(28:08) Final Score Prediction

12.19.25, Jack Fritz from WIP Radio joins the Kevin Sheehan Show to give a breakdown on the Philadelphia Eagles ahead of their matchup vs the Commanders and if the Eagles are on upset alert.

Mike Johnson, Beau Morgan, and Ali Mac continue to preview the Atlanta Falcons matchup with the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday in Arizona, and explain why they think the Falcons should beat the Cardinals because the Cardinals' weaknesses are the Falcons' strengths.

HR2 - Falcons should beat Cardinals; Cardinals' weaknesses are Falcons' strengths In hour two Mike Johnson, Beau Morgan, and Ali Mac continue to preview the Atlanta Falcons matchup with the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday in Arizona, explain why they think the Falcons should beat the Cardinals because the Cardinals' weaknesses are the Falcons' strengths, react to the latest news, rumors, and reports in the NFL as they go In The Huddle, make their picks against the spread, and then close out hour two by playing a round of Fair or Foul!

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In this podcast episode, hosts Zach Davis and Coach Parker delve into the T formation, one of the oldest and most versatile offensive strategies in football. They discuss its history, variations, strengths, and weaknesses, as well as key plays and strategies that can be employed at youth and high school levels. The conversation emphasizes the importance of misdirection, teamwork, and the adaptability of the T formation for different coaching contexts. The hosts also share insights on how to effectively teach this formation to players, making it a valuable resource for coaches looking to enhance their offensive playbook. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Hosts 01:51 Exploring the T Formation 06:06 Overview of the T Formation's Variations 11:49 Strengths and Weaknesses of the T Formation 18:01 Key Plays and Strategies in the T Formation 23:48 Youth and High School Applications of the T Formation 29:59 Conclusion and Future Topics YouTube Video of the Podcast: https://youtu.be/KeY2xa475u4?si=gqOBkj_SFoDFWKJx Coach Parker's Website: https://coachparker.org/2025/12/16/t-formation-offense-football-podcast/ Website: https://mindofafootballcoach.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's nearly Christmas, but there is still lots of excitement to be had in Westminster, including Keir Starmer's trip to the Liaison Committee. This is where the Prime Minister sits in front of senior MPs and is grilled on various policy areas. Today's topics included the leaks (Wes Streeting and the OBR) and Keir Starmer's integrity more generally, as well as the farm tax, the House of Lords and the government's long-anticipated strategy to counter violence against women and girls. How did today's proceedings expose the ‘paucity' of Starmer's Labour?Oscar Edmondson speaks to Isabel Hardman and James Heale.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts.Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Link to episode page This week's Department of Know is hosted by Rich Stroffolino with guests Andy Ellis, Principal, Duha, and Johna Till Johnson, CEO and Founder, Nemertes Research Thanks to our show sponsor, Adaptive Security This episode is brought to you by Adaptive Security, the first cybersecurity company backed by OpenAI. AI is rewriting the cybersecurity rulebook, because attackers can now scale persuasion as easily as they scale code. The real target isn't just your systems anymore; it's human trust. If you aren't actively testing your organization against AI-driven phishing, vishing, and deepfakes, you're leaving a gap criminals will exploit. Adaptive runs realistic simulations and delivers tailored, engaging training so teams respond correctly when it counts. Learn more at adaptivesecurity.com. Learn more at adaptivesecurity.com. All links and the video of this episode can be found on CISO Series.com

An interview with Olympic Medalist, Author, & Design Thinker John K. Coyle What if your next breakthrough wasn't about fixing your weaknesses… but doubling down on your strengths? This week on DREAM THINK DO, Mitch sits down with John K. Coyle - an Olympic silver medalist turned Fortune 500 exec, design thinking expert, and Emmy-winning analyst - to explore what happens when you stop trying to fix what's "wrong" with you… and instead, design a life around what you do best. John shares his journey from burnout and humiliation on the U.S. Olympic speed skating team to a world-record-breaking comeback - by rejecting a "weakness-focused" system and training solo, built entirely around his strengths. Now, as a bestselling author and consultant, John helps leaders, organizations, and individuals around the world design for strength, flow, and intentional living. If you're navigating a pivot, feeling stuck, or just ready for more clarity and impact in your work or life… this episode is for you. You'll walk away inspired and equipped to start designing your next breakthrough. READ THE FULL SHOW NOTES HERE: https://mitchmatthews.com/442/

If YOU'RE ready to make real, sustainable change in your life, jump on a free call with us - https://physiquedevelopment.typeform.com/to/ToP9TYLEIf you're tired of starting over and keep wondering if you are the problem, this episode is your reality check. Sue breaks down why knowing your weaknesses, and actually understanding them, is what determines whether you make progress or stay stuck.She walks through three simple ways to identify where you're getting tripped up, how to stop avoiding your weak spots, and how to build a system that works even when life isn't perfect.Replace friction with structure, build default choices, adjust expectations to match your current season, and stop romanticizing the "perfect" version of you that never actually shows up.Because awareness isn't judgment, it's how you set yourself up to win.Have questions or comments for us? Submit them here - https://forms.gle/AEu5vMKNLDfmc24M7Check out our FREE 4-Week Glute Program - https://go.physiquedevelopment.com/freegluteprogram701788And keep the gains rolling with 12 MORE weeks of glute growth (use code POD at checkout for $25 off!) - https://train.physiquedevelopment.com/workout-plans/963551As always, it is our goal not only to supply you, the listener, with valuable insights on the topics or questions but also to plant some seeds for further research and thought. Be sure to like and subscribe and leave us a review if you loved this episode!Timestamps:(0:00) Today's topic(0:38) The reality of your weaknesses(2:26) How to find where you're getting stuck(2:29) Step 1(2:40) Step 2(2:49) Step 3(3:11) What to do next(3:15) Step 1(3:35) Step 2(3:55) Step 3(4:20) Step 4(4:33) Applying these concepts practically(7:20) Key takeaways(8:05) Wrap-upConnect with Coach Sue & Team PD:Coach Sue: https://www.instagram.com/suegainzPhysique Development: https://www.instagram.com/physiquedevelopment_Physique Development Podcast: https://www.instagram.com/physiquedevelopmentpodcastLooking to hire the last coach you'll ever need? Apply here - https://physiquedevelopment.typeform.com/to/ToP9TYLEInterested in competition prep? Apply here - https://physiquedevelopment.typeform.com/to/Ii2UNAFor more videos, articles, and information, head to - https://physiquedevelopment.comIf you would like to support Physique Development and this podcast, please head over to your favorite podcast app and leave us a rating and review! This goes a long way in supporting this podcast and helps us continue to bring high-quality, honest content to you in the form of a podcast. Thank you for listening and we will see you all next time!----Produced by: David Margittai | In Post MediaWebsite: https://www.inpostmedia.comEmail: david@inpostmedia.com© 2025, Physique Development LLC. All rights reserved.

Giants Special Assistant to Baseball Operations Ron Wotus joins the Gregs to assess how Bryce Eldridge has progressed defensively during his time with the Giants, and how he sees similar defensive strengths & weaknesses between Casey Schmitt and Jeff KentSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Giants Special Assistant to Baseball Operations Ron Wotus joins the Gregs to assess how Bryce Eldridge has progressed defensively during his time with the Giants, and how he sees similar defensive strengths & weaknesses between Casey Schmitt and Jeff KentSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How should Christians approach contraception and family planning?Unless a Christian couple has taken the time to investigate contraceptive and family planning options, it can be hard to know what exists, what is safe, and what is ethical. In part one of this two-part episode, we address a listener's question about how to honor God in our approach to family planning. We discuss the predominant cultural narratives about contraception, how a Christian view is different, and why the fertility awareness method offers a unique wisdom in this area.Chapters:(0:00) Introductions: Listener Justin Has a Question(3:16) The Cultural Starting Point for Contraception(9:03) Strengths & Weaknesses of Protestant Thought(13:33) Reflecting on Our Assumptions about Birth Control(21:44) Jenn Newman Joins Us to Talk About Fertility Awareness

This episode features a full length Bible study taught by Pastor Jack Abeelen of Morningstar Christian Chapel in Whittier, California.If today you prayed with Pastor Jack to receive the Lord, we'd love to hear about it and get you started on the right foot. Visit us online at: https://morningstarcc.org/born-again/To see more of Pastor Jack's Bible studies, visit our Morningstar Christian Chapel channel at https://www.youtube.com/@morningstarcc.To subscribe to our Podcast newsletter go to http://eepurl.com/iGzsP6.If you would like to support our electronic ministry, you may do so by going to our donations page at https://morningstarcc.churchcenter.com/giving/to/podcast.Visit our church website at https://morningstarcc.org.

Deep down most people wish they were more intelligent, experienced, and skilled in a particular area because these attributes are equated with being successful. However, the truth is that these attributes of apparent strength are in most cases disregarded by God. Instead, He uses your weaknesses to make you extremely successful.       Partner with Us: https://churchforentrepreneurs.com/partner Connect with Us: https://churchforentrepreneurs.com __________                                     

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

Adam Haman returns for another crossover. In this episode, they give the brief history and a critique of formal game theory.Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:The YouTube version of this conversation.This episode's sponsor, The Swan Brothers.Bob's article on A Beautiful Mind.The HamanNature substack.Help support the Bob Murphy Show.

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