The Scale Your Agency Podcast | Bright Ideas: Recent Episodes

Trent Dyrsmid

Tune in weekly and hear Trent Dyrsmid interview today's leading digital marketing professionals to uncover the strategies, systems, and processes they are using to scale their businesses to seven figures and beyond.

Flowster Live Demo

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Episode Highlights [0:53] — Trent breaks the news * Hosting the Bright Ideas Podcast for 12 years has been phenomenal for Trent. * Through the podcast, he learned a lot, met many interesting people, and hopefully made a positive impact on his audience. * For now, and most likely forever, the show is officially coming to an end.

[01:31] — Why is Bright Ideas ending? * After recording so many podcast episodes, he doesn’t enjoy it anymore. * It's also been increasingly difficult to make time to do an activity that he no longer enjoys due to other demands on his time. * He enjoys talking to people but realized that there are other ways he could spend his time. * The ROI on the podcast also steadily decreased since there’s an abundance of shows.

[02:36] — Should you publish a podcast? * Podcasts are not a great way to build your audience because they’re not searchable. * On the other hand, YouTube is a great search engine. * While you can publish podcasts on YouTube, a long-form podcast on that platform won’t do much for growing your audience. * Due to platforms like Instagram and TikTok, people’s attention spans have shortened. * However, you can also chop up your podcast into smaller segments.

[03:49] — Advice for YouTube podcasts * You can chop up your podcast into smaller segments. * Trent believes that if you’re using video content for your top-of-funnel awareness content, you must keep it short — ideally 10 minutes or less. * Make use of YouTube shorts. * Seek advice from someone with millions of followers on their channel.

[04:45] — What will happen to the website? * The Bright Ideas website won’t be taken down, but it will be static. * Due to the demands of his time running Flowster, Trent no longer has the bandwidth to add content to the site. * It might still change in the future, and he’ll surely let everyone know if it does.

[05:45] — What about email subscriptions? * For email subscriptions, all current active Bright Ideas subscribers will have their records moved over into the Flowster email database. * They will double-check in case some subscribers are already in the Flowster database. * Still, all future emails will come from Trent and Bright Ideas. * They simply do not want to pay for two databases for email marketing.

Flowster Live Demo

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Episode Highlights [3:15] — Yuri introduces himself and Healthpreneur * Yuri is the founder and CEO of Healthpreneur. * Healthpreneur helps health professionals and coaches gain clients and scale their virtual practices or businesses online. * They help clients make more impact, reach more people, and enjoy a better quality of life.

[4:22] — Webinars as powerful tools * Content marketing plays a significant part for most businesses. * Regardless of industry, it doesn’t matter what you do if no one knows about you — and that’s why webinars can become an asset to your business. * Creating webinars is a more efficient and effective method of educating and persuading people to consume your brand. * Every business should have a webinar that allows them to create leverage. * Listen to the full episode to hear about how Yuri used a webinar to educate people and earn money — all while being on a plane to Hawaii!

[10:56] — Figure out your big idea * Answer the questions, "What is this?", "What is it all about?", and "How is this different than what I've tried before?" * Build your webinar around the pain points of your target market. * The big idea is an articulation of what you believe. * The goal of the big idea isn't to be empirically true; — it's to share your truth and persuade people to change their perspective. * To create a big idea, you must understand your target audience and the marketplace.

[17:10] — Identify your perfect client * The key to great marketing is marketing to one person, not everyone. * Find out the frustrations, fears, wants, and desires of your perfect client. * When people feel that they’re understood, that’s when they start paying attention.

[21:16] — Knowing what you’re talking about * Show them you know what you're talking about while holding on to the granular details of the actual process. * To justify the unique qualities of your methods, you need to establish the results of what you do. * Mapping the details out doesn't equate to success; the devil's in the details. * The audience should feel that the webinar resonated with them and made sense. A good webinar primes your clients and shortens the selling cycle.

[25:36] — Finding an audience * Every entrepreneur should master paid traffic. * In creating ads, consider the questions: “What’s the messaging going to look like?", "Who’s the audience?”. * The ad should lead people to the webinar, where they will be a call to action. * Regularly assess what you’re willing to spend for a client.

[31:12] — Determine how much you’re willing to lose * Invest in your business. * Ask yourself, “How much are you willing to lose?” * Practice realistic budgeting.

[33:12] — Live webinar vs. evergreen webinar * Doing a live webinar and subsequently putting up the recording as "evergreen" doesn't work very well. * Think about what gets people excited enough to show up, such as doing a preamble and offering worksheets. * Start promoting your webinar four to five days before the webinar. * With evergreen webinars, you could re-record or tweak certain parts to make them more solid and concise.

Flowster Live Demo

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Episode Highlights [2:53] — A brief background on Dan and Sales Schema * Dan is the CEO and founder of Sales Schema. * Sales Schema is a fractional new business team for agencies, marketing services companies, as well as other B2B service companies for lead generation. * Their company has a forthcoming data product. * The biggest challenge their sales team encounters is gaining the trust of their clients for referral marketing. * Daniel's strategic approach to referral marketing starts with an account-based foundation, listing quality leads for a specific campaign.

[6:04] — How does Dan create an account-based list? * Lead generation involves a back-and-forth communication process with clients. * They source data from different channels. * After compiling a list of companies, it will require the approval of their clients. * Their clients may either opt to work with brands that are industry-specific or be open to collaborating with any consumer brand. * The list is mainly effective for most mid to large companies.

[8:07] — Leveraging your network to connect with the accounts in your list * Come up with a list of accounts related to the market you want to enter. * Assess your current network/contacts in the industry you are pursuing. Export a list of these LinkedIn (or other sources available) contacts. * Refine the list by finding connections between your contacts and the accounts you’ve approved. * Connect with your contacts, offer value from your end, and request for an introduction to the accounts.

[12:11] — The key points of lead generation * Lead generation requires work and communication with your potential network. * Obtaining an introduction from your network grants you a more assessed and focused list of valuable connections. * The connections might drive you to other unexplored opportunities. * The biggest challenge is building that trust factor.

[15:00] — Tips to get referrals for the DIYs * Start with Flowster and consider the fine line between personalization and scale in referral marketing. * For large companies, you can try the carpet bombing tactic for lead generation. * If your clients are similar to Daniel’s, starting with an account-based list is ideal. * Sales Navigator helps to find clients that are industry-specific.

[17:28] — What are the biggest mistakes people make in their referral marketing program? * Backloading the work * Spamming your campaign instead of promoting valuable content for people * To obtain connections effectively, you need to understand the fine line between personalization and scale. * Budgeting the right amount of time and optimizing the sales process are other essential elements in achieving a ranked outreach.

[19:25] — Helpful tools to systemize referrals * For DIYs, using Sales Navigator is a good start. * The other tools that he finds effective for sales reps are Reply.io, Streak, and GMass. Different people have their own preferences when it comes to customer relationship management tools and their efficacy.

Flowster Live Demo

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Episode Highlights [2:24] — Norm introduces himself * Also known as "the Beard Guy," Norm started in 2013 and went to an Amazon Amazing Selling Machine conference. * Those who got into Amazon got money easily using simple steps. * If he didn’t have resilience, he never would’ve made it. * Amazon has changed greatly over the years, so he expanded on what he learned into other markets. * Currently, Norm is not just a seller but also a brand owner, business owner, and podcaster.

[5:57] — Processes and delegation * Attending Michael Gerber’s EMyth Academy, he’s taught to be automated and scalable. * If it's repeatable, there’s a process. * Going through a problematic process caused negativity in the office. However, their 5-page policy streamlined everything. * Norm delegates everything so he can grow other businesses.

[10:11] — Creating your brand * You can use Amazon Posts, Live, and Brand Story to create a customer experience and build a brand community. * In choosing a brand name, you could send out names and descriptions to companies (e.g. PickFu). Doing this gives you access to an inexpensive focus group to assess them. * Get a graphic artist that understands corporate identity to create a good logo. * Check if your domain name is available on social media.

[14:49] — The power of packaging * Increase the perceived value of your product by spending a little more on the packaging. * Good packaging can hook customers and drive them over for warranty registration or subscription, leading to more traffic for your brand. * Consider outer packaging by unveiling the product, including a welcome message, etc. * Be distinctive in your packaging if you can. * Buy your own products to maintain quality assurance.

[22:56] — Product innovation * Do a proper competitive analysis for your products. * By checking product reviews, you can determine what people like and dislike about a product and improve upon them by changing the materials, color, etc. * Get ideas for product innovation on artsy websites. * Search the keyword, find out what the average product looks like, and be different. * Innovation can be expensive.

[32:03] — Getting a graphic of your product * Spend the proper amount on your product. * It's okay to experiment and fail in the first product, then put in the time and money into your second product. Use what you learned from the first try. * A graphic artist and a photographer can work together to bring out the best in a picture and increase your product’s perceived value. * Standard packaging has legal requirements, but you don't need to use the same label for your product shot; you need to represent your product effectively. * Tune in to the full episode to find out the people you need to hire and their usual rates!

[39:16] — Growing your perception * Hire a product photographer that does 3D rendering and a graphic artist. * The usual rates for product photographers are $500 to $1,250 as you'll need both an infographic and a product image. * Find nano-influencers to promote your product, grow your perception, and help increase your perceived value. * Consistency and authority are necessary to earn trust and make sales. * Expand your network and form partnerships.

[49:22] — Doing the little things * Small things, like writing a letter or using a different imprint, increase the perceived value of your product. * Take a look at your competitors and make those little changes.

Flowster Live Demo

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Episode Highlights [0:36] — Creating a Podcast * Part of the challenges in podcasting is having insufficient downloads, leads, and social engagement. * Podcasters sometimes have difficulty in publishing content consistently. * However, you will be perceived as an authoritative figure within your niche when you overcome these challenges. * Creating valuable relationships could open up more lucrative opportunities.

[1:19] — Podcast Mistake #1: Disregarding Editorial Calendar * It's ideal to plan your content in advance. * You'd always want to ensure that the episodes support your monetization initiatives for premium content.

[2:06] — Podcast Mistake #2: Inconsistent Publishing of Content * Your audience will start tuning out if you don’t publish content regularly. * Scheduling your pre-production process ensures that your content is regularly produced.

[2:56] — Podcast Mistake #3: Not Niche Specific * We have a habit of wanting to include and appeal to everyone; this makes us a generalist. * Being a generalist is equivalent to failing to be of interest to anyone. * It is critical that your content targets a specific demographic. * Appealing to a target audience encourages podcast monetization and podcast sponsorship.

[4:52] — Podcast Mistake #4: Doing Audio-only Podcasts * We should leverage YouTube because it can offer a large source of traffic for your podcasts. * Trent entrusts his editor to format his podcast that caters to different social media platforms, including YouTube.

[5:32] — Podcast Mistake #5: Relying on Social Media Promotion * Depending solely on social media will only give you exposure to existing followers. * Guesting in other podcast channels could expand your audience size. * Social media ads aren't the most effective method for growing your show. * YouTube is a beneficial tool for you to increase the reach of your videos.

[5:32] — Podcast Mistake #6: Not Repurposing Content * Learn how to increase your social engagement with Social Media Video Content Engine * You can retrieve multiple social media posts from one single episode.

[8:59] — Trent’s Biggest Secret * For him, podcasting is the best networking tool on planet Earth. * To collaborate with desired guests, the line, “I would love to have you on my show” is exemplary compared to, “Can I have an hour of free advice?”

Flowster Live Demo

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Episode Highlights [1:07] — The Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Assistant * VAs are the single greatest addition to Trent's business arsenal. * Significantly increases productivity at an affordable cost.

[1:32] — Costs of Hiring a Virtual Assistant * Trent typically hires most virtual assistants from the Philippines, while his personal assistant is from Mexico. * You can hire a Filipino virtual assistant for around $4 an hour. Trent’s executive assistant in Mexico gets paid about $6 an hour. * Aside from being less expensive, it also saves costs from providing healthcare benefits. * An hour-to-hour basis allows you to terminate them without hassle when they don't perform.

[2:22] — The Role of a Virtual Assistant * Allows you to focus on more critical tasks instead of $10 an hour jobs. * You can hire a general VA for all the tasks you don't want to do. Hiring a specialized VA can help you with specific tasks like project management and content creation. * Accomplish a collection of tasks that do not require experience. Some examples of these tasks are: * Making phone calls and contacting venture partners and clients. * Doing first-level research tasks and project management. * Order management. * Create content, graphic design, digital marketing, social media management, and email management.

[5:22] — Where and How to Hire a Virtual Assistant * Trent typically hires from the Philippines and Mexico. He hires VAs from Mexico to be in the same timezone as them. * The best places to find virtual assistants are Upwork and OnlineJobs.ph. * Make sure to put a unique code in the job description that you want applicants to put in their application. It will allow you to filter out qualified candidates more quickly.

[8:23] — The Applicant Screening Process * Trent's wife handles the hiring process of all their VAs. * They have them complete a test task to filter out applicants who will do a good job. * Test tasks are usually one to two-hour jobs. But instead, they tell them it could take up to eight hours and that they will get paid by the rate. * The test task works as a trial run to find out who among the candidates does the job most efficiently.

[9:49] — Common Mistakes When Hiring a Virtual Assistant * They don't put a code word in their job posting. * They do traditional interviews instead of straightforward project-based interviews. * There's no clearly-defined process and instruction documentation in place for the virtual assistant to follow. * They set unrealistic expectations far from what they have to offer. * Tune in to the full episode to learn more about why people struggle when hiring VAs! Make sure to get your SOP template from Flowster SOP Template Marketplace.

Flowster Live Demo

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Episode Highlights [4:38] — Joe’s Journey in Content Marketing * Joe has been in the content marketing industry for over 20 years. * They popularized the term "content marketing" and held the largest content marketing event in Cleveland, Ohio, with 4,000 attendees. * After leaving the business in 2016 with his wife, he wrote books on content marketing and a novel called The Will to Die. * He has started a new business called The Tilt, which focuses on helping small content creators learn to build a business using a "content first" mentality. * He dabbled with business models, such as Web 3 and NFTs, that didn’t exist before.

[6:32] — What is an NFT? (Non Fungible Token) * After getting into crypto and discovering NFTs in 2020, Joe realized that content creators could build their own mini economy. He then launched Tilt Coin. * A fungible token is primarily for trading dollars; conversely, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are unique, and have an underlying contract. * Listen to the full episode to find out how one of a kind NFTs allow creators to set the rules for what happens when the tokens are bought and sold online and give their audience access to unique experiences!

[12:54] — Leveraging the Scarcity Element of NFTs * Joe mentions that he learned a lot from the Gary Vee model. * Gary Vaynerchuk was a huge content creator but was still subject to the whims of more centralized platforms, so he created 10,255 individual NFTs called VeeFriends. * NFTs consisted of his art, and each digital artwork had different access points and perks, such as exclusive mail and different levels of admission for his VeeCon. * You don't need a large audience. The NFT market is limited; you can provide premium access to your audience regardless of size while also controlling your own business model. * Fans also get the chance to own something from the creator and resell it.

[17:05] — The Benefits of NFTs for Creators and Fans * If an event becomes successful, the pricing for NFTs could go up. The creator will benefit, being the IP owner. * With The Tilt, they created Tilt Coin and set membership levels by the number of Tilt Coins someone had. * Among the perks that come with the Tilt Coins are VIP access to ask Joe questions and monthly content drops. * Launching at 36 cents in March 2021, Tilt Coins are currently priced at $53, which shows that the people who invested are satisfied with it.

[18:42] — How to Create an FT or NFT * For social tokens, it helps to find an organization that can show you how to do it, or you can look for a contractor or technologist to do it for you. * The Tilt worked with rally.io to set up the whole thing on the blockchain as a side chain of their own Genesis coin. * Other organizations you could check out are Roll and Coinvise. * Outsourcing the creation of NFTs by finding foundations to help you set up underlying contracts and deciding on the royalties would be helpful.

[22:05] — The Downsides of NFTs * In 2017, initial coin offering (ICO) boomed, and many shell companies would pump up their prices and leave everyone hanging. * While it’s possible to dump Tilt Coins, it would ruin his reputation. It’s not about getting rich quickly but building an economy. * Two people recently created Squid Coin based on Netflix’s Squid Game, which went up around 5,000%, and the creators made millions before disappearing. * Do your homework before investing in any social tokens.

[26:42] — Resources for Studying NFTs * The Bankless Podcast had an episode with Chris Dixon where he discusses NFTs and paints a picture about why he thinks the future will be tokenized and decentralized. * Tim Ferriss’ podcast had a more than 2-hour talk with Chris Dixon about NFTs. * Another one would be Tom Bilyeu’s Impact Theory episode about the gold standard, the usage of dollars, and the transition to Bitcoin. * Some people might think non fungible tokens are a scam, especially in the digital art world. However, you'll find value in its scarcity element and asset inflation as you learn more about it. * The future is exciting because new business models are emerging.

[30:15] — Get Started Owning NFTs * It's hard for someone to understand what they’re talking about unless they try it. * Try getting a digital wallet by going to MetaMask. * You'll need Coinbase to buy $50 worth of Ethereum and deposit it into your MetaMask account. * After that, find some NFTs worth $5 and buy it regardless of whether you’ll lose it. * This gives you a taste of NFTs. You can figure out if you want to explore it or continue living in the banking world through experimentation.

Flowster Live Demo

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Episode Highlights

[2:57] — Brad Introduces OutLoud Group and Influencer Marketing * Brad is the Chief Growth Officer at OutLoud Group, a 60-person influencer marketing agency. * Brands can use influencer campaigns to grow their revenue. * Social media influencers can be tapped as third-party endorsements because their audience trusts them.

[7:56] — The Who Of Influencer Marketing * Running an influencer campaign is not for everyone. * Influencer marketing campaigns are not great for commoditized products, but they work best for B2C brands and those with a story to tell. * Brands should make sure to pick influencer types that are either a good brand fit or adjacently related to their brand.

[15:10] — How To Structure A Deal With Influencers * Smaller creators are generally easier to reach since they usually don't work with managers or agents yet. * Brad observed that some creators are more reliable. * He also recommends starting with an initial test with influencers before committing to a long-term deal. * Most influencers will protect themselves by asking for a flat fee regardless of the campaign’s success.

[20:42] — KPIs To Watch In Influencer Marketing Campaigns * Brad recommends observing CPM by the increase of traffic to your website. * Different creators and their platforms will have different CPMs. * The subscriber and follower count is only a vanity metric — it may contain fake followers and cannot assure conversions, potential customers, or traffic. * Brad recommends starting with a minimum of 5 creators first.

[27:48] — What Can Go Wrong With Your Influencer Marketing Campaigns * Don't force influencers to use a script of brand voice and marketing buzzwords. * Let them do their own thing since they know what will resonate with their audience the most. * Don't negotiate for the lowest price. Remember that influencers’ work will be affected by how much they feel valued.

[31:44] — Brad Shares How The OutLoud Group Grew * Brad shares that their agency started with a family model. However, as the agency grew, they had to adopt a pro-sports team kind of model. * The agency's main principle is to have clear goals and bring out the best in people.

[36:55] — Where To Automate Or Humanize * As their agency grew, the business became more complex. At this point, they implemented Salesforce. * Brad shares that their agency prides itself on customer service rather than automation. * The agency automates its contracting and execution. However, they keep their humanized communications with different influencers and clients. * There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to brands and influencers. So the agency’s SOPs evolve over time. * The core of their SOP is the willingness to change.

Flowster Live Demo

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Episode Highlights [02:35] — Andrew introduces Marknology * Seven years ago, Andrew founded Marknology, a company that helps brands evolve and compete in the Amazon accelerator. * He started out freelancing on Upwork and Elance and eventually quit his day job to build his agency. Marknology has grown to a team of 25 through bootstrapping.

[09:05] — What’s the difference between hourly billing and retainer? * Andrew struggled with hourly billing since it put his interests at odds with his clients’. * This model also ties you to the belief that you must get paid for the hours you work. * After many iterations, Marknology ended up with the retainer plus commission model. * Andrew found it advantageous, as he could count on the retainer to plan for hiring and scaling. * When the commission hits a certain level, the retainer falls off and from there, it’s just a straight retainer or a straight commission.

[18:25] — Venturing into international markets * Marknology is now big enough to handle the international market; In fact, they’re already in 13 different Amazon marketplaces around the world. * One of Andrew's early wins was getting brands into a less saturated market. * He advises paying attention to whatever Amazon's focus is, so you can leverage it and bring more value to your clients.

[20:39] — How to attract clients * Content marketing and partnerships are Andrew’s bread and butter. * He's created a YouTube channel, opened blogs and speaking events, and started a podcast as a trust-building effort to win over clients.

[24:41] — The advantages of creating content * Explaining Amazon’s new releases from a commentator’s perspective is Andrew's strategy on YouTube content creation. * Through that, he helped brands in a more casual rather than formal way. * He wanted to talk about things that could help companies, such as SEO and tracking organic growth. * People usually hear about him or watch his videos, leading them to connect with him.

[28:34] — Why Andrew hates hard selling * Andrew hates the salesman’s approach to selling a product or service. * He prefers building on his expertise in the field to reflect his credibility rather than convincing someone to hire him.

[33:03] — Challenges and solutions in running Marknology * Cash flow isn’t an issue for them anymore, although it used to be a great challenge. * People are both the best part and the hardest part because of needing to build relationships, communicate effectively, and be aligned in the workflow. * Moreover, managing the team and continuously learning to be a leader has also been quite the challenge. * Partnering with Flowster has helped him overcome those challenges. * Albeit a new user, Andrew’s excited about partnering with Flowster to get more processes in place.

[36:18] — Andrew’s diverse team * Andrew’s workers are distributed between Colombia, Kansas, Florida, and India. * His workers in India are focused on data researching and SEO. * Andrew is also looking into hiring from Romania because of the amazing branding of barbershops, restaurants, and small businesses. * He finds that outsourcing talents from all over the world adds value to his business.

Flowster Live Demo

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Episode Highlights [2:39] — Gainful’s humble beginnings * Eric is the co-founder of Gainful, a CPG brand manufacturing personalized nutrition products. * During his undergrad years, Eric had always played sports but was intimidated by supplements. * Not finding the products he wanted led him to mix his protein powder in his college dorm basement.

[6:33] — The concept of progress * As an athlete, he always wanted to do better. This passion translated into his desire to create a better protein powder. * As a liberal arts graduate, he wasn’t knowledgeable about raising venture capital, setting up a business model, and other entrepreneurial skills. * Yet his desire to make himself, the people, and the products around him better spurred him on.

[8:53] — Setting their business foundation * Jahaan, Eric’s buddy, became excited about the idea of personalized nutrition. * His enthusiasm made Eric consider that there was a potential business in his personal experiment. * Thus, they applied to accelerators and startup incubators. The progress and traction that they got with The Brandery got them into Y Combinator. * Throughout their journey, they ran around gyms and conferences throughout their journey to hand out flyers and do some guerrilla marketing.

[13:35] — Knowing your customers * It's important to figure out your brand identity, core values, and customer needs. * Everyone who purchases a Gainful product needs to answer a five-minute quiz to help Eric’s team fulfill their needs. * This quiz helped them figure out what makes them use the products that they love.

[18:58] — Getting a distribution network * Eric soon realized that working night shifts and selling products online isn’t sustainable for growing a CPG brand. * So, they found a production facility, hired a small staff, and employed a third-party logistics provider. * Going from small circles to a distribution network is a crucial inflection point for CPG brands. * Through that, Eric and Jahaan were able to focus more on tech, research, and innovation.

[21:03] — Scaling personalized products * Figure out what’s important and what people want by doing it on a small scale. * For two years, Eric and Jahaan mixed hundreds of protein powder blends by hand. By doing so, they found trends in customer conversion, retainment, and preferences. * They waited for a specific amount of demand before going to a contract manufacturer.

[26:47] — Bringing value vs. paid marketing * The days of building a big business off the back of paid marketing are long gone. However, it will always be important for any direct-to-consumer business. * Gainful focuses more on its products and finding ways for customers to see their brand value in their daily lives.

[30:28] — Hiring people * When hiring people, approaching each conversation with sincerity will help you be able to communicate better. * It's also crucial to have strong advisors to lean on for reference calls or interviews. * The most valuable thing for founders is being able to adapt and learn by doing.

[35:34] — Leveraging your core competencies * It's necessary to do things that will bring you closer to the customer and understand how your internal processes work. * Gainful's key differentiator is personalization and making product categories better through this trait. * Eric has been communicating that vision to potential partners, investors, and his team.

[39:58] — Evolving as a leader * Setting brand values establishes Eric’s credibility to lead the company. * He also considers being present, proactive, teachable, and compassionate as good starting points for getting people to believe in their brand. * Reading Emily Heyward’s book, listening to podcasts, and the Fitt Insider podcast’s newsletter have helped him evolve as a leader.

[45:33] — Dealing with impostor syndrome * Eric is passionate about working with brilliant people, learning what makes customers tick, and bringing something valuable into the world. * So when he doubts himself, he reminds himself that his job is still the best gig in the world. * He also remembers the sacrifice his parents made to let him pursue his American dream with full freedom. * He simply loves doing what he does every single day. * If he feels down in the dumps, he clears his head through exercise and a good meal.

Flowster Live Demo

https://flowster.app/live-demo/

Episode Highlights [1:46] — Key takeaways from the Traffic and Conversion Summit * Have an irresistible offer. This is more important than having effective copy and ads. * Optimize your copywriting by utilizing AI. AI for writing copies.

[7:37] — How Ben started Beast Gear * All the best businesses start with people who are scratching an itch. Ben did the same with his fitness equipment through Beast Gear. * As an ecologist, Ben tested his ideas and gathered data through experiments. That’s what gave him an advantage in his business.

[14:27] — Zigging in the fitness industry * Through Facebook groups and subreddits, Ben was able to know that people are getting frustrated with the elitism of the fitness industry. * He also discovered that people wanted good quality fitness products at a lower price. * Instead of hiring professional athletes to model for his brand, he chose himself—an average Joe—to represent Beast Gear. * His message resonated with other people, and that’s how he started a community. He could ask this community what they wanted and tailor his products accordingly.

[19:00] — How to create a community * Religiously message every customer on every platform. * Engage them in real conversations and show empathy. * Share the process of how you develop your products. * Build goodwill, trust, and a relationship with your customers.

[24:01] — How to shift the Amazon funnel to your website * You can add marketing collateral to the products you ship through Amazon. Through these materials, you can ask customers to post on social media. * When people post your products, you can reach out and redirect them to your website by offering discounts. * You can also save their posts in a collection on Instagram and continue the conversation after a few months to ask them to leave a review. * Over time, this one-to-one relational strategy became unscalable for Beast Gear. But at that point, they already had a big enough tribe and evangelists.

[29:39] — Spending money on ads and PPC * Ben managed Amazon PPC profitably until he handed the task off to an agency. * He also experimented a bit with Facebook ads. However, what benefited them the most was word of mouth. * Some athletes even showcase their products in matches without sponsorship, boosting their reach. * By that point, they had already become a reputable brand in the UK and even Europe. * This all boils down to having a great product that people naturally want to share.

[31:35] — Growing the business by doing what other people can’t be bothered to do * Joining the pan-European FBA program helped Ben’s business immensely. * His competitors didn't join this program. As a result, Ben hit 1.5 million in revenue — he had no competition. * Ben also asked Amazon to gate his brand against Beast Gear knockoffs. * A competitor also wanted to sue him for intellectual property but didn’t fall through. Listen to the full episode to learn how he succeeded in this legal battle.

[40:46] — Preparing an exit plan * You don’t need to stay with your company forever, but make sure that your exit plan will benefit you. * Boost your company’s value and sellability through efficient systems and boosting profitability.

[47:51] — Exit plan strategies and tactics * Have someone fighting for your corner to ensure you don’t get screwed in a deal. * Understand what your business is worth now and what it will be worth in the future for the buyer. * Some buyers will first offer a huge amount for your business and, slowly, over time, reduce it as much as possible. Don't fall for this tactic. * Market to the right buyers who have the chops to run your business.

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Episode Highlights [03:06] — The biggest mistake entrepreneurs make * Entrepreneurs spend way too much time working in their business instead of working on it. * Your business will not be successful if you treat it like a job. Instead, treat it like a machine. * You need three parts to build your machine.

[04:44] — Part one: The importance of standard operating procedures * Building a business machine requires establishing standard operating procedures (SOP). * SOPs are highly detailed sets of instructions for the business's repetitive processes. * These are crucial because you’re not going to do all the work yourself; you need people who will follow them.

[05:06] — Part two: Why automate in business? * Using software to automate recurring or repetitive processes is one of the key business growth strategies. * Delegate tasks a software could do. If you don’t, you run the risk of driving up costs. * Unlike software, people make mistakes.

[05:36] — Part three: Training people to be part of the business machine * The people you hire will be the ones following your SOP. You need to train them to be part of the business machine. * Virtual assistants can be excellent additions to the business if given the right processes, coaching, mentoring, and accountability.

[06:42] — Why entrepreneurs should not make decisions based on where the business is today * Many earlier stage entrepreneurs make the mistake of making decisions based on where the business currently is. * Make decisions with the mindset of where your business will be in the future. * Create an SOP so that you can hire VAs that will get those things done for you. * Always think about how you can make the best use of your time as a machine builder.

[09:31] — Business growth strategies: develop a quarterly planning template * First, set a revenue goal. * Second, have an offer. It should solve a customer problem and have an element of scarcity. * Third, come up with a strategy for how you will sell your offer.

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Episode Highlights [05:20] – Joe introduces himself * Joe does authority marketing where he helps people build their online reputation.< * oe was able to make one of his clients become the #1 car dealership in New York by leveraging the power of social media. * This client went from making $250,000 to $4 million per annum in just two years.

[08:45] – Managing a business without growth tools * Before starting an online marketing agency, Joe used to have a restaurant. * At first, he had 52 employees that he had to train. * Trent eventually became his client and introduced him to Flowster. * Before using Flowster, Joe was using project management software. Unfortunately, it didn't work well for him, leading him to lose clients. * Joe started working ridiculous hours, becoming a slave to his work.

[12:42] – Discovering growth tools like Flowster * Joe was immediately sold when Trent explained how Flowster works to him. * It took him a year to upgrade his training because recreating an hour-long video would take up so much time. * At some points, his team had to change things that weren’t working. * It's not just Flowster; it’s the mindset of doing little step-by-steps. * When he needs to change something about the process, he can change the step on Flowster in seconds.

[16:15] – Keeping processes up-to-date * Joe likes to chat with people and sell products, but he’s not a structured person. * What he does is make a 20-minute training video. Then, he hires someone to edit it into something easier for employees to digest and understand. * The video material is then converted into a checklist within Flowster. * Flowster has made onboarding easier, giving Joe time to focus on other things in his life. * His point person is also trained to record their screen, get screenshots, and replace a step whenever they need to update their process.

[20:08] – How did Flowster impact his team? * Joe's team is smaller than before due to the radical change in his business. * His high school friend, who is an engineer, lost his job because of COVID. Joe was able to onboard him easily because of Flowster. * His friend was blown away at how organized the workflows were on Flowster.

[22:17] – Using templates on Flowster * Because his business is unique, Joe hasn’t used the templates in Flowster’s marketplace. * Flowster has the best ROI for what it is. * With Flowster, Joe pays less and saves at least $5,000 to $10,000 a month. * Joe doesn’t even look at how much he’s paying for Flowster anymore because of the affordable prices.

[24:21] – Saving money with Flowster * Before using Flowster, Joe was getting three clients and losing two. * Hiring new people and putting in his working hours has also led him to lose money. * Solving problems brought about by inefficient processes also costs time and money.

[26:58] – Saving time with Flowster * Joe used to complain a lot about the workload, but Flowster has made things easier. * It wasn't his employees that were inefficient — it was his SOPs. * Instead of having the same recurring problem, you can change and fix your SOPs in as little as 30 seconds on Flowster.

[33:30] – Joe’s parting advice * One of Joe’s biggest frustrations was having to explain the same thing over and over. * But now, that frustration has diminished. All Joe needs to do is check the steps on Flowster and direct his employees there. * If he sees that a process is no longer working, Joe or his team can do quick edits to the checklist.

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Episode Highlights

[03:01] – Michael introduces himself * Michael has been working for 25 years in sales, primarily in corporate marketing. * He founded Marketing Insider Group, a content marketing agency, six years ago. * This company helps businesses grow through organic traffic using consistent content and empathetic marketing strategies.

[04:15] – What do you think about marketing? * On a consulting call, Michael would usually ask what the client thinks about marketing. * Most people confuse marketing with advertising. * Marketing is forwarding your company to the people whose problems you can solve.

[06:13] – Busting marketing myths * Marketing and advertising are not the same. * You don’t need to hire a social media person right away. * It's more sustainable to invest in organic traffic than ads. * Organic engines allow you to build an audience and encourages them to engage by providing valuable interactions. * Marketing is about earning trust and gaining attention by introducing your company, not promoting your products.

[12:22] – How to find your ideal customers * Buyer profiles shouldn’t be about demographics but their interests. * When they know they’re being targeted, audiences tend not to engage with your content. * Be specific about the concerns you want to address to attract the right audience.

[16:28] – Finding the moment of inspiration * Don't focus on why people chose your product or service. Instead, hone in on the moment of inspiration behind that why. * Agency owners often do great work that’s not reflected on their websites. * Share your founding stories before anything else.

[18:16] – Using content to learn about your target audience * Start with an SEO-based foundation. * Identify the keywords that people are using. * Seek to help rather than to persuade, promote, or sell. * Come up with a list of keywords that your company could rank highly on search engines.

[20:51] – Narrowing down your keyword list * Go big, then go small. * Scrape your website and build a heat map. * Whittle down the keywords by looking at the CPC before ranking them. * Lastly, consider a keyword's value, ability to rank, and competitiveness when creating the final list. * Figure out the pain points of your audience.

[23:15] – Determining the strategy for content creation * The keywords should ideally straddle the funnel. * Focus on the top of the funnel first.

[25:23] – Should you build links or better content? * Spammy links have lost their value. * Quality content on your website should still be of utmost priority. These help drive organic traffic. * Earning external links from high domain authority and relevant websites can be an option too.

[27:27] – Getting links organically * Knowing your target audience’s pain points and writing about them generate great links. * Look at the trends, insights, research, and infographics. * You can do guest posting to add value for your clients, but such strategies are not advisable for an ROI-driven business to invest in.

[30:15] – Crafting expert level articles * Take the identified focused keyword. * Look at the buyer intent behind the headline you created, then Google it. * Read through the top 10 results on the first page. * Doing so allows you to get a good grasp of the topic.

[32:28] – Promoting content * You can try connecting your social media to your RSS feed to publish your content automatically. * However, don't focus too much on social media. Organic traffic accounts for 75% of visits to a website. * A newsletter is a great way to boost organic traffic.

[35:51] – Building a list * Growth hack your way into a downloadable guide. * Take your first ten articles and bundle them up into an ebook. * Put that on a landing page that requires people to register with an email address. * Setting a conversion point in place is essential in building up organic traffic.

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Episode Highlights

[05:07] – John introduces himself * John is the CEO and founder of Orca Pacific. * His company has transitioned from a full-service agency focused on Amazon to global eCommerce. * Orca Pacific has merged with global marketing firms, MightyHive and S4 Capital.

[06:39] – eCommerce and Amazon Trends * COVID has influenced consumer demand and the global acceleration of the adoption of eCommerce. * eCommerce is gaining traction; this will stick even post-COVID. * One of the most notable Amazon trends in recent years has been the increasing pay-to-play platform. * Brick and mortar retailers are starting to adopt retail media as a revenue channel. They do so to increase revenue streams.

[08:51] – What is retail media? * Retail media is the monetization of traffic by eCommerce retailer marketplaces. They do this by selling ads on their platform. * By selling digital real estate, retail media provides eCommerce platforms a second revenue stream. * Amazon is the blueprint for retail media.

[11:18] – The challenge for brick and mortar retailers * Brick-and-mortar stores leverage their scale to pump more money out of their vendors and suppliers. However, they do not present any significant benefits for the brand. * Meanwhile, retail media is self-sustaining and has larger financial returns. * Paying money to obtain more shelf space is not as direct as getting an ad click. * If done correctly, retail media could be beneficial for both the retailer and the brand.

[14:07] – The industry’s responses to Amazon trends * There is cynicism in that Amazon is finding another way to extract money. * The biggest complaint on the pay-to-play shift is the erosion of organic customer attraction. Product quality doesn't matter as much as paying to be advertised. * For newer and more aggressive brands, this shift provides opportunities to accelerate their presence.

[17:21] – Equipping your ad toolkit * Sponsored products are the lowest funnel you can reach for. * High-funnel ads target customers that are not necessarily browsing in your category. * Mid-funnel ads target customers who might be searching in your category but not specifically looking at the item you're selling. * Sponsored videos are effective tools in attracting customers. * With its emphasis on creativity, videos can grab customers’ attention in just a few seconds.

[19:49] – What is effective creativity? * There's a lack of practical creatives in the market. * Effective creativity doesn't mean creating top-notch images and videos. It's the practicality of presenting the appropriate information in the right way. * People prefer authentic ads over polished ads.

[24:56] – Amazon trends to look out for and predictions on its competitors * eCommerce could become a more significant channel. The players in the competitive landscape may be maintaining their relative share. * Groceries could leapfrog Amazon in eCommerce. * Amazon is strong on the hard lines, but they can improve on their fashion categories. * Smaller and more niche players could overcome Amazon. * Instacart, Shopify, and other direct-to-consumer brands can be a threat to Amazon.

[28:55] – Will Instacart and Shopify overtake Amazon? * Amazon has built its physical infrastructure for almost three decades. * There are no roundabout ways to build it easier and quicker. And so, Amazon’s physical infrastructure is its biggest strength. * Instacart is their most interesting competitor because they don't need physical infrastructure.

[30:50] – Amazon trends: drones and cashier-less stores * Drones will be put into action in five years and only if they’re 100% perfect. * Cashier-less stores solve the customer pain point of having to wait in line. * These stores minimize the formats of brick-and-mortar stores and monetizing the data streams.

[35:26] – Walmart’s customer experience * Walmart is starting to treat its physical stores as an asset. * It's convenient to buy your groceries online, show up at their store, and have the goods loaded onto your vehicle. * Walmart's biggest advantage is the connectivity back to their physical store. * Jet was a good investment for Walmart because they picked up many new people, tags, and customers.

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Episode Highlights

[04:43] — Aaron introduces LIFEAID * LIFEAID Beverage Co. started by making products for the CrossFit community. * They aim to make beverages that are healthy and enjoyable. * With 3,000 retail accounts, LifeAID earned $16 million revenue this year and continues to grow by 25-30% every year.

[08:22] — Control your choices and mindset * When the real estate market crashed, Aaron had to file for bankruptcy. His finances and ego both took a hit. * Our perceptions form our thoughts, words, and actions. These directly affect our choices and the results that they create. * By controlling his words and actions, Aaron found that he started to progress — slowly but surely. * Overcoming adversity requires that you change your language.

[13:54] — Breaking free from the victim cycle * Being a victim means you are not in control. * Discard the "cause and effect" mindset. Adopt the mindset that "cause plus reaction equals effect." * We have the ability to choose.

[17:06] — Ditching materialism * When the house he had worked on for 17 years burned down, Aaron took this experience as an opportunity for growth. * Don’t assign permanence to material things. * Words, thoughts, and actions are what last forever and hold the most weight.

[19:31] — Dealing with bankruptcy * After going bankrupt, Aaron and his family lived in a 400-square foot RV. * LIFEAID started as a side hustle with a fellow CrossFit enthusiast, Orion. * Eventually, they decided to devote their time entirely to LIFEAID because they couldn't serve two masters if they wanted their business to succeed. * Their finances were tight during this period. This experience served as a lesson in humility for Aaron.

[23:36] — Choosing your target market and offering them something new * Looking for tips that they can apply to their business, Aaron joined a high-level marketing group. * There, Dean Jackson advised him to choose a single target market. By doing so, you can focus your time and resources on putting together a great product. * Aaron emphasizes that you should bring something new to the market and not follow the usual path to compete in the market.

[28:55] — How is LIFEAID different from other energy drinks? * Rather than an energy drink, LIFEAID belongs to the healthy energy or performance energy space. * Their ingredients consist of moderate hits of natural caffeine with green tea, nootropics Alpha-GPC, GABA, and B complex. * It's cleaner and more sustainable approach that aims to stimulate the brain and nervous system. * LIFEAID costs more, but it’s different and healthier than other energy drinks in the market.

[31:26] — Creating their products * Because of his background in nutrition, Aaron is well-versed in the right ingredients to use. * Aaron researched the best ingredients to use and worked with a food scientist to make LIFEAID's first products.

[38:12] — Hiring the right people * Don't hire people out of desperation. * If you do, it might cost you more in the long run. * Instead, make sure that your prospects are a good cultural fit and can keep up with your company’s progress.

[41:35] — Increasing business capabilities * Focus on learning new things. * Encourage holistic growth for the business. Pass on what you learn to the team so that you are all growing. * Assess your goals. If you are not satisfied with the results, choose better.

[44:41] — Developing the business process * It's better to develop your business process sooner rather than later. * Aaron hired a consultant who helped them set up a quarterly vision statement. * Creating the systems and processes for your business is a constant work in progress that you revisit and upgrade over time.

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Episode Highlights

[3:19] — Kelsey introduces VAXA Digital Agency and explains his background * Kelsey worked in finance before switching to the creative industry because of his passion for video editing. * He started VAXA as a side hustle in January 2020 and turned it into a full-time business in March 2021. * Business slowed down when the pandemic first hit, but it has since started to gain momentum and boomed.

[7:33] — How Kelsey decided to quit his job * Kelsey dabbled in a few side hustles before finally hitting the nail with his digital agency VAXA. * It's important to know when to cut your losses, even when you’ve invested money and effort into something. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to shut it down. * Even when VAXA made Kelsey six figures, he didn't jump to make it his main job just yet. * However, Kelsey knew that if he wanted VAXA to earn $40-50k a month, he’d have to go full-time with it. He never knew the exact time to jump off — he just did. * It helped that Kelsey got support from his colleagues and peers.

[15:11] — Bootstrapping vs. debt financing * There are pros and cons to each method of starting a business. * Kelsey wonders if they could have doubled their growth rate had he invested more capital or acquired debt financing. * Aside from using one credit card to buy their initial equipment, Kelsey shares that everything was positive cash flow. * They charged clients upfront, which they use to pay contractors and salaries.

[20:28] — VAXA’s current customer capacity * Kelsey is confident that they have the capacity to deliver outputs for eight retainer-based customers a month. * He is considering expanding the team if they hit 10-12 customers a month. * On the possibility of scaling to 80 clients, he shares that he would replicate their teams and have them follow the systems that they built.

[25:53] — Kelsey shares how he creates systems * The first thing that Kelsey systematized was editing, including the standard fonts they would use, the colors that pop out, and how to insert graphics. * Kelsey reverse-engineered his output when creating a framework, dissecting it by figuring out the hook, benefits, problems, social proofs, and call to action. He then built flowcharts for employees to follow. * They also built systems for production day (such as hiring talent, booking Airbnbs, sending out the schedule) and client experience (onboarding, forums, sources for materials, feedback forms). * There are many tools you can use to track and manage your processes.

[34:25] — Kelsey explains the importance of opportunity cost * Hiring people and expanding his team have allowed him to focus on other revenue-generating things. * There will be an initial drop in quality as new hires learn the ropes. But eventually, they catch up and produce good results — sometimes better than what Kelsey can make. * Understand the value of your time. Don’t incur costs; use your time to generate revenue.

[40:45] — Kelsey on outsourcing * Not all outsourcing has to cost you money. * Finding people willing to work on commissions is also hugely beneficial.

[42:21] — How did you get your digital agency’s name out there? * Kelsey had no outbound strategy for the digital agency. * Being active on social media, engaging with other people in the same community, and expanding your network all play a significant role in organic growth. * Consider an affiliate program as that can also generate more customers.

[46:22] — Building his connections * Kelsey joined as a beta member in the Facebook group “Trends” in December 2018. * He blocked off 15-20 minutes of his day to engage with the community, establish rapport, and set up a solid client base. * Kelsey launched VAXA through a post in the group and got 40 leads by offering a 90%-off trial for anyone who needed an e-commerce video ad.<

[50:24] — How are you getting business now? * Kelsey mixes inbounds and outbounds. * He still finds value in Trends because he has established a connection with the members, and his name is well-known within the group. * Cold emails are effective, but not the same as going through a community that already knows your name. * They still do not do paid advertising for the digital agency, but Kelsey would consider it if they were ready to expand their business.

Flowster Live Demo https://flowster.app/live-demo// Episode Highlights [02:51] — Neil introduces himself and how he became an SEO consultant * Neil was an investment banking project manager before he started his SEO journey in 2009. * He worked on his business evenings and weekends until it grew. * Initially, he wanted to hire agencies to help his business grow. However, he found that he was more than capable of solving his problems. * That’s how he fell into the world of SEO strategy.

[05:13] — Neil shares his client’s experience with SEO * Neil worked with a client who sold thousands of products, including heaters, online. * This client’s traffic mainly was from paid advertisements. * They wanted to know how they can grow their sales organically. * Neil introduced an SEO strategy to his client, along with the factors that can affect SEO results to manage their expectations.

[10:15] — Factors that you need to consider when looking at the speed of SEO strategy results * Brand new sites will not be trusted by Google right away. * Sites that have more history will have better domain authority. * The more trusted sites link to your site, the more Google trusts you. * Determine how optimized the site and the content are for Google and the users. * When site architecture and content are optimized, it becomes easier for Google to rank your website.

[17:29] — Neil’s SEO strategy and tactics * Identifying architectural issues in your site and clearing them up contributes to the site’s reputation. * Creating content with keywords targeted to your users will make them find the products faster. * Optimizing category pages declutters the site, which heightens the experience of Google and its users. * The more good data is given to Google, the higher a page can rank.

[34:07] — Why SEO is a compass that builds your brand organically online * Tactics for SEO strategy on this front include blogs, social media presence, and non-sales-related newsletters. * The effects of this SEO strategy will snowball over time. * When you broaden your view, you can fill your content calendar with exciting ideas.

[39:34] — Link building practices to avoid and do * You can hurt your site by buying links from the wrong places. * Buy links if the site is genuine and high-quality. * Running a blogger outreach campaign is also a good idea. * Create unique content if you want it to be shared.

[49:20] — Why an SEO strategy involving link building pays dividends * Link building is a component of SEO strategy that takes time. * However, it can be a better investment than paid advertising since it provides value to your site over time. * You can do a mix of building links and increasing your domain authority, depending on your keywords.

Flowster Live Demo https://flowster.app/live-demo/ Episode Highlights [01:46] – Francis introduces himself and what he does in his company * Francis is originally from Memphis but is now living in Budapest. * He is an email strategist and copywriter for eCommerce businesses, coaches, and consultants. * Francis works with six-figure drop shipping brands to eight- to nine-figure health supplement companies. * As a copywriter, he is responsible for differentiating these brands against their competitors.

[2:52] – Why should brands focus on email? * According to Francis, the email system is not dead. It is more relevant now than at any other time in history. * Your email copy is a crucial element in ensuring a personalized, customized, and less scammy approach to marketing. * Today, it is difficult for eCommerce businesses to stand out.

[5:55] – How does a brand construct an email strategy to make itself stand out amidst the competition? * Care about your customer and your emails to them. * Email engagement goes far beyond just sending promotions. * Chubbies, an apparel brand, is an example of effectively delivering care in their content. * Speak a specific language relatable to your audience. Brands should keep their emails quirky, engaging, and unique. * If you are a direct-to-customer brand, establishing email engagement can get you ahead of the curve.

[8:50] – Examples of funny names used in email engagement * Francis shares one of the shoe brands he works with. * Instead of using their brand name in their emails, they write “From: Your Foot Pain.” * By doing something unusual, you entertain and interest your audience. * The main thing you have to do is not initiate a bored response from your audience.

[10:59] – How do you leave a rockstar impression? * Email engagement is like dating. * Make your customer feel good about their decision. * It helps to set expectations at the start of your email engagement with a customer. * Email engagement doesn’t start and end with the first email. Stay engaged for three, four, or more emails.

[13:47] – Francis’ successful ideas for further establishing email engagement * Keep your customers updated. * Incentivize customers to respond so you can stimulate further email engagement. * Humanize your emails — the last thing you want to be seen as is a bot.

[16:23] – What is email deliverability, and how can you optimize it? * Email deliverability defines whether your emails get into their primary inbox, promotions, or a spam folder. * The higher the quality of your emails, the more likely they will land in the primary inbox of your customers. * Low-quality emails get sent to promotions or spam. * If your emails get sent to promotions or spam, you can ask for a response from your customers. * Listen to the full episode to hear about Francis’ techniques for increasing email deliverability!

[21:33] – Difference between sales and content emails * Sales emails are typically about product launches, promotions, or discounts. * Repetitive sales emails get boring and tiresome, like a friend who only talks to you to ask for something. * Meanwhile, content emails provide a different kind of value to your customers. * Content emails can still generate sales. Listen to the full episode to find out how and why!

[24:48] – How can you boost your average order value and lifetime value? * Focus on making your customer feel good. * Emphasize the benefits customers receive from what they’ve just bought. * Track your data: when people visit, what people buy, and more. * Give your audience valuable content, and they'll be back for more.

Flowster Live Demo https://flowster.app/live-demo/ Episode Highlights [03:03] — About Airborne and the B2B Tech Landscape * Lee is the co-founder of AirborneApp, a sales engagement platform built for lead generation in marketing agencies. * They help marketing agencies manage their outreach. * Unlike other sales engagement platforms, AirborneApp is built for agencies. * Unless you’re into B2B tech, it can be hard to differentiate products in the market these days. * More businesses are now focusing less on automation to reach a high volume of people to narrow down on single accounts.

[07:21] — Making the Processes Systematic for Agencies * When they started AirborneApp, they interviewed around 100 customers. * They found that agencies had trouble managing so many things all at once. * Because products in the market were geared towards individual reps, there was no one system for any agency. * That was the problem that Airborne wanted to solve. * They also noticed that agencies wanted to create their own tech. So, they allowed agencies to license Airborne tech and build whatever they want on top of

[12:36] — Best Practices in B2B Demand Generation * Have a playbook and know what your playbook looks like. * Know where your prospects are hanging out and how they’re going to respond to you. * Try a little bit of everything to know what works best for you. * Your process is more important than your channels when it comes to B2B demand generation. * They also ask experts in B2B demand generation to write for them, which results in leads.

[18:38] — B2B Demand Generation Pain Points * The biggest problems are: getting into their prospects’ inbox, * managing the deliverability of their messages, and running out of the right prospects to sell to.

[20:44] — Channels that AirborneApp Covers * Email, phone, and LinkedIn are their primary touchpoints. * They don't use Instagram or Facebook for communication. * LinkedIn is a manual step, meaning that they don't do automation on their AirborneApp per se. * They don’t want to deal with the headache of tweaking their system every time LinkedIn cracks down on automation.

[29:15] — CRM vs. Sales Engagement * CRM is about actively managing a client, whereas sales engagement is about how you get a client. * With AirborneApp, a client can bring all of their prospects into their system, and it'll take only around 30 minutes to set up and send emails to all of these prospects. * Sales engagement platforms are useful for reaching prospects who have yet to opt into your marketing.

[34:20] — Automation and Sequencing * Lee recommends sending out only a few hundred emails per day. * Doing this allows you to change your messaging and pause your sequence if the campaign is not working. * Understand why people do not respond to you so you can nurture them into another campaign.

[37:20] — Lee's Formula for B2B Demand Generation Success * Lee shares their playbook involving emails, phone calls, LinkedIn connection requests, and a piece of content. Listen to the full episode to hear how they tie together! * This strategy earns them 15 to 20 meetings in a week. * B2B demand generation playbook works very well for them because they target a niche. * They only message people whose problems they know they can solve.

[40:37] — Why Agencies Use Airborne * AirborneApp generates agencies’ reports with just one click. * It saves precious hours and allows agencies to have a high level of visibility to their clients. * They focus on one customer at a time, helping them with their problems before expanding to other market areas.

[46:45] — Inbound and Outbound Strategies, What’s Next for Them * Lee’s team started making content a while ago, believing that it will pay in inbound leads in the long run. * But since they’re still starting, they recognize that they still need outbound marketing. * Ultimately, business is about people. It's about your mission, vision, and values. * Even a lean team like Flowster can benefit from the services of AirborneApp. * They are planning to expand their services to sales teams.

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Episode Highlights

[02:16] — Logan introduces Kanga Coolers * Kanga Coolers is a company he started back in college. They produce koozies for beer or soda cases. * He had to create a solution to a problem for his entrepreneurial class. * The idea came from tailgate parties and how they never used coolers because they were inconvenient. * They just bought from convenience stores and drank their beer warm. * Their product bridges the gap between convenience and coldness of the beverage.

[04:30] — How much has the company grown? * Kanga Coolers is in its 5th year of business. * They became a multi-million dollar company last year and expect to double or triple their net growth within the next quarter. * Their success was boosted by their appearance on Shark Tank when Mark Cuban offered them an investment.

[06:23] — From class project to an actual company * They had to figure out every aspect of the business, from marketing, website development to creating a prototype. * After buying the materials for the koozie, they took it to a dress alteration shop and asked someone to make the prototype. * When starting a business, you have to get your foundations set up. * This process involves the not-so-fun parts of a business, such as filing for intellectual property and setting up operating agreements. * In terms of capital, they got started with loans from friends and family. Since then, they’ve adopted more of a bootstrap method.

[10:11] — Kickstarter and Shark Tank< * Right after they did market testing, they met their first mentor. This person helped shift their mindset to become more serious. * Then, they turned to Kickstarter to market and sell their product but found that their target market was not on that platform. * Whenever you drag a customer too far to buy your product, you pay more money than you would get in return. * They learned that lesson the hard way but made it out alive to turn the next page on their next chapter—Shark Tank. * To prepare for the show, they watched episodes and conducted mock trials.

[16:12] — Understanding the target market * Initially, they assumed that college students would be their target market, but it turned out to be recent grads. * It's hard to narrow down your target customers when your product has broad appeal. * Kanga Coolers figured out their market by analyzing online marketing metrics. * Testing your assumptions is essential to not marketing to the wrong audience.

[21:01] — Getting a lucky break via B2B Lead Generation * Before the Shark Tank episode, Logan’s team had to generate enough revenue. They did this through B2B lead generation. * They got a lucky break when a company reached out to them, wanting custom koozies with their logo. * Luck is the meeting of preparation and opportunity. * If they had not chosen a material they could print on, they would not have been successful with that particular B2B lead generation.

[23:16] — Figuring out Facebook ads and eCommerce * You can’t establish a reliable relationship with your agency or partner if you don't grasp how Facebook ads and internet marketing in general work. * After having a volatile relationship with some ad companies, Logan studied how online ads work using digital resources. * He now has a partner who handles Facebook ads for their company. * In terms of sales channels, they temporarily opened on Amazon. However, they are focusing on only one channel right now due to inventory shortages: Shopify. * They diversify their manufacturing and try to reduce the distance from the manufacturers.

[30:15] — Getting into retail * It takes a long time to broker a deal with a retail company. * You have to nurture the relationship and be ready when the opportunity comes up. * B2B lead generation makes up about 40% of their revenue, split evenly between custom and wholesale. * The B2B lead generation side of their business is only one stream of income. Kanga Coolers has diverse income streams.

[35:30] — Content is king * Having quality content will be even more critical now that iOS users can opt out of targeting. * Kanga has long-form content, ranging from documentaries to podcasts. * They found social media success on TikTok. Here, they create content for top of the funnel, mass awareness. * Listen to the full episode for more ideas on how to find or buy an audience! * Down the road, their marketing will expand to involve SEO and influencer marketing.

[50:06] — The challenge to scale * Maximizing their multiple distribution channels with one product is a challenge for them. * So is introducing new products to the market. * Instead of doing poorly at many things, they choose to focus on a few routes to excel. * Be wary of Amazon resellers who violate the minimum advertised price. When this happens, you compromise your relationship with retail companies. * Overall, they love what they do, so they have yet to think of an exit strategy.

Flowster Live Demo https://flowster.app/live-demo/ Episode Highlights [02:56] — Who is Stefan? * For the past 15 years, Stefan has worked for startups or agencies focused on social and media technology. * He was the founding Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the first-ever social television network Youtube TV. * Currently, he’s focused on more individual coaching for solopreneurs, one-man-bands, consultants, and coaches alike who are trying to keep the pipeline full so they can do what they want to do.

[06:36] — Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) for B2B Lead Generation * Directing your message to the right customer is a marketing fundamental. * Unless you have enough money to segment your marketing to multiple, varied audiences, having a product or service with broad appeal may create a problem. * Imagine having a stack of bowling pins. It's challenging to knock them all down at once, but taking them down one at a time is more manageable. * Similarly, in marketing, you want to focus on your first audience first.

[10:05] — Build Traction with Your First Cohort * Understand and gain insight from your first audience * Outbound plays a critical role in allowing you the opportunity to have one on one discussions with possible clients. * Look for patterns of keywords.

[13:41] — Improving Response Rates * Turn cold calls into lukewarm outreach. * Increase your chances of getting a response from experts and influencers by interacting with them through other platforms. * Listen to the podcast to learn more about how you can use blowing digital sunshine to increase your response rate.

[17:37] — B2B Lead Generation Through Automation * There’s a variety of LinkedIn automation tools in the market. * Use the message that gets you the most significant response rate. * Once you’ve built rapport and get a response, you can get the data you need to dial in on your ICP.

[22:30] — Fundamentals of Marketing * < * Always be sure you have the fundamentals in marketing— the right message to the right person at the right time. * Develop your ICP. Be grounded by data from conversations rather than relying on your opinions. * Essentially, listen to your audience.

[24:23] — Building a Focused List of Clients * Continue conversations with clients whom you think would be great customers.

Make use of database filters or apply scraping techniques so you can apply relevant messaging to prospects.

[30:11] — B2B Prospecting * Check out the Resources section for links where you can pick up the Flowster playbook on building ICP and B2B prospecting. * Flowster is the “Netflix of standard operating systems.” Here you’ll find not only playbooks but also hundreds of templates.

[34:11] — The Advantages of Flowster * Flowster allows you to learn through doing by providing playbooks. * t addresses the problems regarding attention, retention, implementation, and delegation. * The LinkedIn Prospecting on Autopiloting Playbook focuses on sending messages on LinkedIn. Meanwhile, the Outbound Marketing Playbook focuses on a multi-channel outreach system. * These playbooks could especially be helpful for solopreneurs to alleviate the stress and anxiety associated with marketing and operating services/products.

[42:02] — Test Messaging * There is no one template for emails because every market demographic will speak a different language. * Use the language of your customer and prioritize personalization when reaching out. * Relevance is critical when writing your subject line or connection request. * AIDA: Attention-Interest-Decision-Action — use this framework when constructing your emails.< * Change up your messages to follow AIDA better.

[51:27] — Develop a Streamlined Process * People struggle with the idea of delegation. * You could pre-write your texts, then provide your virtual assistants with an excellent process for them to follow and still bring your voice to your platform. * Flowster can help you out if you’re not too sure about hiring a virtual assistant yet.

In this episode, Benji Hyam shares what it takes to be a successful business blogger. According to him, the key is identifying and addressing your target audience’s problems. He also talks about writing blog posts for SaaS businesses versus service businesses, and we share actionable tips to produce meaningful and measurable returns on investment for your company.

Tune in to this episode to learn how you can maximize blogging for business, the Benji Hyam way.

On the Bright Ideas eCommerce podcast, Trent Dyrsmid interviews today's most successful eCommerce, Agency, and SaaS founders and gets them to share all their most effective strategies and tactics for growth so you can quickly figure what you need to implement in your business today to get ahead of your competition. If you are looking for proven methods to scale up your eCommerce business, increase efficiency, improve your systems, and delegate more, this is the podcast for you. eCommerce, automation, outsourcing, standard operating procedures, workflow management, search engine optimization, social media, podcasting, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.

On the show with me today is Jeremy Sherman is the Marketing & E-Commerce Manager at SNACKLINS - accidentally healthy, intentionally delicious, low-calorie crisps made from simple ingredients. In this role, Jeremy oversees paid digital advertising, e-commerce channel strategy, and e-commerce customer experience.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/363

Episode Highlights
[02:58] — Anja introduces HappyBond and shares a bit of herself
* Anja is the founder and CEO of HappyBond. * She is also a biotech engineer and uses her expertise in making science-backed essential nutrients to keep your dog healthy and strengthen that special bond.

[03:45] — Beginning of formulating for dogs
* She built 3D models of cartilage in the lab to avoid animal testing. * Her bulldog, Tony, had arthritis in his shoulder. * Anja wanted to formulate something that will nurse him back to health within a week.

[04:51] — The growth of HappyBond within a year
* HappBond started with just one skew of products; now they have five. * They have adapted the different stages from puppy, adult, to senior. * They also have treats and chew sticks with collagen. You can find these products on their website.

[05:50] — Revenue of HappyBond
* Anja says that the majority of their revenue comes from their direct-to-consumer website. * The remaining revenue comes from Amazon and other online retailers like petco.com and chewy.com.

[06:04] — How HappyBond got traction on its first launch
* The market for pet essentials is very crowded. * A lot of people tried various products that don’t work. The old science is not showing real great results. * With this in mind, they got Cesar Millan to endorse their product because he tried their products and had great results with his dog. * Having a successful product is the core of HappyBond’s marketing.

[08:29] — Content marketing for HappyBond
* They have done paid media through Facebook, Instagram, and other social media channels. * Due to the pandemic, they changed their strategy and focused more on content marketing. * They did a lot of collaborations with other pet owners and other businesses involved in pet care. * They also used the right message to resonate with their customers.

[10:13] — Working with Instagram Live
* Instagram Live worked well for their business. * They record a lot of science sessions where they educate viewers. * HappyBond records their sessions and uses email marketing to spread the word.

[14:21] — What Anja learned in other content marketing strategies they did
* Anja did a lot of email marketing for HappyBond. * Writing long email content did not work for them. * They changed their emails into short, digestible content. These had a better opening rate and click-through rates. * HappyBond also has new blog content every week. * They placed a lot of effort into building a website with attractive graphics and animations that help their audience learn more about their dog's health.

[17:17] — Using ads to drive traffic
* For the last year, Anja spent around $35,000 on advertising. * Using advertising as a strategy was something new to Anja. * Due to the pandemic, they placed more focus on the direct-to-customer website.

[18:23] — Landing pages and contents

Their website has landing pages with different kinds of content to try out.
They found that what works best for them are contents that have a short educational part about it.
They placed a call to action as well in these landing pages to engage the customer.

[19:14] — Ads, calls to action, and upsells
* HappyBond upsells with treats to encourage buyers to avoid shipping costs. * With these upsells, they have raised their average order value by about 30% during last year. * They have no funding, so they are very conservative about ad spend.

[20:52] — Using media platforms for ads
* HappyBond mainly focuses on Facebook, Google, and Amazon. * They also have tried Nextdoor and Pinterest.

[21:43] — Hiring contractors and agencies to run ads and campaigns
* They outsourced agencies because they need help from advisors that are in the marketing space. * With the agencies’ help, they structured the perfect ads for them and built great brand guidelines. * You get a lot of help in agencies because they are composed of experienced people.

[23:10] — Anja’s tips for those who want to launch a consumer products brand
* Know what your brand stands for. * Concentrate on one channel first, then adapt later on. * Have a good relationship with your customers.

Episode Highlights
[04:45] What is Perch?
* They buy great products on Amazon and add them to their technology platform. * They scale those brands internationally to other marketplaces.

[07:09] Chris Realizing What He Wants To Do
* He was initially a computer engineer. His first job was product management. * After he finished business school, he went to Bain & Company to work in the private equity group doing transactions with leading private equity firms. * Afterward, he worked in Wayfair, where he helped in building North America's supply chain. * From his experiences in Bain & Company and Wayfair, he realized that he liked to build things, which inspired him to make Perch.

[11:31] Starting the Business
* He thought at first that he could do this with his own money. * He realized that he has not enough money, so he began talking to institutional investors. * He met Alex Finkelstein, who became his lead investor. * The business moved forward quickly after their meeting.

[14:50] Journey of Perch
* It took a lot of time, effort, and talking to investors to reach the point where they are now. * He got recommendations from Niraj Shah, the CEO and Founder of Wayfair, and James Savarese, the Former COO of Wayfair, that helped him attract investors for Perch.

[15:49] The Next Steps for Perch
* Slowly he grew the business and started calling brokers and outside diligence support. * Chris only began hiring people when he was sure he had a business running. That was when he got a deal under LOI.

[19:43] Why Owners Want to Sell Their Business
* There are two reasons why owners want to sell their business: capital restraints and businesses exceeding the owners' expectations. * Chris realized these based on his first deal with Flathead Straws.

[22:32] Lessons Chris Learned in Acquiring Businesses
* You need to develop trust and credibility with the entrepreneur. * Make sure to check the quality of the things you’ll be acquiring. * Put some earnout or deferred payment structure into the acquisition.

[29:11] What Makes a Great Product
* Chris follows the data. * They look for products that have consistently maintained growth and price leadership. * They also look for ratings and reviews versus competitors.

[31:48] How Did Chris Make Perch Grow?
* They have a playbook where clients can find their processes, policies, and standard operating procedures. * Every entrepreneur has something they’re good at, but they also miss a few things. * Find excellent people that will be part of your team.

[33:38] Software Tool for Managing PPC Campaigns
* They’re developing their own software tools and are using many different ones as they haven’t found a single best one yet. * It’s not a one-size-fits-all in PPC as it depends on a lot of categories. * They are building a software platform because they manage a lot of keywords and campaigns a day.

[36:55] The Importance of Customer Service and Referrals
* At the end of every deal, they should get a Net Promoter Score of 10. * As they get a higher customer satisfaction rating, they get more customers through referrals. * They get more sellers through this network of referrals as well.

[38:41] The Future of the Industry
* Five or ten years ago, you needed $100,000 or $250,000 to launch a new customer product. * Nowadays, you can launch products on Amazon, sourcing through Alibaba, all for $1,000. * People buy products through the reviews of their peers over the ads and campaigns they see on media.

Episode Highlights
[05:34] — What is Thrasio, and how do they buy a business?
* Thrasio had humble beginnings. Their office used to be adjacent to a Dunkin Donuts dumpster, but they’re now the fastest-growing profitable company in American history, * Thrasio is an Amazon-based company that buys a business and operates them. They focus on sound operational systems and companies with a small-scale mentality.

[11:05] — Early experiences and lessons
* Their methodology of trying to turn-around declining companies proved ineffective and challenging. * The seminal brand 'Angry Orange' marked their major hit and initial story as a company.

[14:52] — The initial steps in creating a big hit
* To make something go viral, John believes that it has to be attention-grabbing, 'in your face,' and vibrant. * People should pause and 'see light' when they see your creative branding. * John recalls a story of working with Snoop Dogg. Listen to the whole podcast to learn more about it!

[18:08] — Focus on your business instead of your competitors
* The primary goal of the company is operational excellence. * There's plenty of room for other people to come in and build a healthy, thriving market. * An abundance mindset certainly helped their business avoid distractions, evolve rapidly, and create gold rush ecosystems.

[24:42] — Being operationally superior is paramount
* Having expertise in virtually every field, such as supply chain and branding, assures their clients that they will grow an Amazon business. * The sense of security businesses have from being taken care of by them cannot be equaled by most upfront payments. * Their average company grows at a rate of 158% from just the first year of acquisition.

[28:17] — The recipe for a winning product
* Whenever the company does a product launch, they do it with purpose, care, and a differentiation strategy. * To increase your chances of success, you should leverage one asset to send traffic to another product rather than grow something from scratch. * Focus on long-term viability, instead of short-term profit, when launching a product. * Pay attention to "stupid-smart" ideas that seem obvious. Don't always chase the silver ball in front of you.

[37:35] — Stimulating the Amazon system
* The tough nut to crack in terms of product launches is: making the Amazon algorithm believe that people want your product. * You also have to focus on outside traffic to generate traffic from multiple places. * People generally want to find the hack or shortcut around success, but the non-hacky way is usually the best way to do something.

[44:02] — Useful advice for future brand owners
* Build a business for yourself without the perfect goal of being acquired. Focus on excellence. * Don’t look for someone out to buy a business. Instead, ensure that you have relevant expertise and you can optimize your operations. * They buy a business based on products that are boring and stand the test of time. * Brand owners should work on having good creatives and making sure that the product sells.

[49:50] — What is next for Thrasio?
* The company is buying businesses at a rate that is both 'exciting' and daunting. Precisely, they predict a jump from 100 brands to 200 brands in a year. * Their goal is to continue to be the best Amazon and eCommerce operators on the planet. They don't want to rest on their laurels.

Episode Highlights
[03:19] Cameron introduces himself and his entrepreneurial career
* His father highly influenced Cameron in seeking an entrepreneurial life. * He’s the former COO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. * Cameron now coaches CEOs all over the world and founded a new company - COO Alliance.

[04:53] Why build a world-class culture?
* Culture will attract the talent you need in your business. * Culture also energizes your employees to move forward. * For Cameron, culture is a core reason for their growth as a company. Culture provides the means in scaling a business.

[06:13] What is culture?
* It is aligned with your vivid vision and core values. * Culture also entails getting rid of toxic negative energy, meaning getting rid of employees who don't live under your core values.

[09:03] How to build culture for scaling a business
* Step 1: Be aligned with your vision. The vision must not only be held by you but also by your employees and business partners. * Step 2: Have an obsession with your core values. You should understand your core purpose. Focus on four or five core values. * Step 3: Have a big, hairy, audacious goal (BHAG) and commit to fulfilling that goal in mind.

[16:12] What are the keys to executing your vivid vision?
* Let your employees, customers, and even potential employees know your vivid vision. * Use your vision as a guide in your executive meetings.

[18:44] How to avoid common mistakes within the company
* Outsource people who can help you with your tasks. * Outsourcing lets you delegate tasks to other people. * Obsess over revenue-generating projects. Raise your prices and charge more.

[24:50] How can you use technology to lighten your work?
* All of Cameron’s content is either automatically done or outsourced. * Technology helps lighten the work for the team.

[32:08] Cameron shares wise words for every entrepreneur
* There’s so much more in life than making money. Your business and money should not be the reason for your being. * What you do with our friends and family while we are on this planet is far more important than money. * Take a moment in your daily life and be grateful for the things you are having now.

**Episode Highlights

[04:11] — Codie introduces Contrarian Thinking and her background**
* Codie started as a conflict journalist working in Wall Street asset management. * Her experiences led her to create a newsletter dedicated to sharing knowledge with others and help people gain financial freedom. * The newsletter aims always to ask questions about what we think we know about finance.

[08:42] — What are the pros of having a newsletter?
* Having an email campaign is more reliable than social media platforms. Social media platforms can change their algorithms, directly affecting you. * An email campaign ensures that you have a direct link to your readers and consumers. * With more media going for clickbait, there will be a rise in local newsletters and those that have a specific niche. * Newsletters have a great margin for profit.

[12:29] — What are the cons of having a newsletter?
* You have to produce content regularly. Also, newsletters are less scalable than other businesses. * There are also a lot of people who have newsletters and email campaigns. * People often underestimate and are not aware of what can be monetized in this business.

[13:52] — Codie shares her revenue lines
* Codie shares her different revenue lines for Contrarian Thinking: info products, premium membership, mastermind, ads and sponsors, affiliates, ancillary channels, and merchandise. * She encourages people to start first with info products and eventually to build more revenue lines. * For more information about the different types of revenue lines, tune in to the full episode!

[17:44] — How to continuously grow your subscribers
* Codie shares her first time reaching out to immediate contacts about her new venture. * She eventually reached more people through social media marketing. * Cross-promotion is also encouraged — Codie shares how she reached out to other newsletters to do this. * You need to be consistent with your content. * Even if you lose subscribers, don’t feel discouraged. You need to get over the hump and continue producing content.

[23:29] — How to know if you can handle having a newsletter
* Codie advises understanding the 3 C’s before starting a newsletter. These are cash, check, and curiosity. * You need to make sure you have something that people can pay cash for. * Next, you need to check how big the potential market is, and true fans will only make a small percentage. * Be curious about everything. Continuously learn from people and situations around you.

[26:57] — Codie’s reminders about newsletter growth
* There will always be pushback in your success. Your growth can make people in your life nervous. * You will not be able to know what will happen to you. * You cannot answer everyone. There will be times you have to say no to people reaching out to you.

[33:14] — How to buy newsletters instead of building from scratch
* If you don’t want to build a newsletter, you can buy it from someone else instead. * At its core, newsletters are assets and can be sold. You just need to know how to value them properly. * You can also use other newsletters to support and funnel their subscribers back to your newsletter. * There are several platforms where you can buy newsletters. Tune in to the full episode to hear Codie’s discussion.

[39:27] — Where to start a blog
* Codie herself uses several platforms to host her blog, each with different pros and cons. * Now, she is using Substack, MailChimp, and FUB (FollowUpBoss). * Listen to the full episode to hear Codie’s experiences with the different platforms!

Episode Highlights
[04:14] — Nathan shares how he started product sourcing
* His background as a foreign exchange student in China led him to import products from Asia. * Sourcify is a B2B eCommerce manufacturing platform helping hundreds of high-growth eCommerce brands. * Nathan is also the founder of Bubble Hotels.

[05:27] — Launching Sourcify
* They initially charged companies upfront to manufacture products for them. * They have teams all over Asia handling supply chains of over 150 mid-sized eCommerce brands and numerous Fortune 500s.

[06:38] — How Nathan funded Sourcify
* They went through Y Combinator, which is an accelerator program for startups. * Through the three-month program, they raised $2.5 million. * Nathan was one of the only non-technical solo founders to ever go through Y Combinator. Most companies have co-founders and technical teams.

[09:25] — How they acquired their first customers
* Nathan used his content marketing background to put out valuable content. * His approach focuses on providing value and bridging the content space gap instead of pitching. * Within the first few months of business, he was writing in major eCommerce blogs. It was possible because he built relationships with the blog owners and writers.

[15:06] — How Sourcify increased its top of the funnel
* They built a software tool for product management and manufacturing. * Their sourcing teams in Asia do the behind-the-scenes work. * At the same time, they can also sell the project management system to the brands they handle.

[17:50] — Questions Nathan considers when building a business
* Am I going to regret not doing this in the future?” * “Is it going to be fun and enjoyable? Is it something that I want to learn?”

[18:24] — Sourcify’s source of growth
* Sourcify’s growth is all inbound and referral base. * Sourcify comes up as one of the top search results when you search China or Vietnam manufacturing. * They ask for referrals from existing customers after proving their success in their service.

[19:35] — Sourcify’s customer onboarding process
* The company sends their specs and samples, which they send to their main office. * They'll choose a handful of factories and assess which is the best fit to produce samples. * After approval from the customer, they start the production. * They make sure to have third-party inspections before shipping the product. * Customers either already have specs and designs or want to improve an existing product line.

[22:17] — Gotchas and best practices
* The main approach is going to Alibaba and other global sources to find suppliers based on the same products. * Nathan suggests reaching out to 10 to 20 factories and getting samples from two to three factories. * Getting products from other companies or looking at bad reviews of products helps you see how you can improve — and later sell — products. * The 30-70 payment term is the most typical in product sourcing and is where third-party’s importance comes in. The production generally takes 30 to 60 days. * Supplier platforms have their internal advertising platform. Hence, the top search results are not necessarily the best supplier.

[28:44] — Going viral with FU
* During Conor McGregor’s fight with Floy Mayweather, McGregor wore a suit with FU pinstripes. * When it went viral, Nathan had the idea to recreate it in other products. * It was a success as their products went viral in a week.

Episode Highlights [02:28] — Who is Mark Lewyn? * Mark co-founded Sorfeo — an eCommerce company that acquires Amazon private label brands. * Mark was the managing director of JEM Partners. They used data analysis to create and distribute popular consumer products through a global network of eCommerce platforms. * Mark is also the owner of his private label brand that he created from scratch. * Finally, he is the author of a book called The $500 Start-up on Amazon: How a dad of three launched a business on Amazon and escaped the hamster wheel of nine to five.

[03:35] — Coming up with new product ideas that have something to do with the patent office * Mark recalls when he came across a product that costs $80 on Amazon but only $5 on Alibaba. * Out of curiosity, he started researching the product and found out that the patent has recently expired. * He realized that he can compete by charging a lower price and still be making a very nice profit.

[6:08] — Sorting through products on the Patent and Trademark Office website * Like most websites, the Patent and Trademark Office website has a search function you can dig through to find products with expired patents. * Utility patents typically last for 20 years. * Meanwhile, design patents usually last about 15 years.

[7:35] — What’s next after finding an opportunity? * Once you find a product you’re interested in, begin the standard product research. * Nine out of ten times, you’ll see that they are charging a premium for that product. * Check out Mark’s book to know more about how he sells these products on Amazon.

[12:04] — Mark’s advice in starting a business * Get over the analysis paralysis problem — take the first step! * You don't have to spend much money to start a business. You can usually start with a small amount and get the real product going. * Don’t be afraid of failure; flops provide valuable lessons to learn. * Go through a whole bunch of different ideas. It’s a process of going through good and bad ideas. * Mark settled on the Amazon private label model because of the low cost. He saw it as an exciting opportunity.

[17:00] — Amazon FBA brands * Amazon’s private-label ecosystem has been booming recently. * About eight or ten companies are in the business of buying existing Amazon FBA brands. * This is a massive opportunity for people who want to sell their businesses.

[21:04] — Want to sell to a roll-up company, but you don’t want to start from scratch? * One strategy is to buy a couple of microbrands and pool them together. Then streamline operations and grow sales. In 18 months, sell it to a roll-up company. * The research process in finding microbrands can be systematized and handled by a VA.

Episode Highlights
[3:16] — John shares the current trends on how to sell a business
* They analyzed the data on pre-COVID value builder questionnaires last November. * The results showed that the pandemic had made material differences on how to sell a business. * Business owners are looking to sell 20% sooner, and they’re looking to sell to a third party.

[4:50] — John identifies the biggest mistakes in selling a company
* His book's whole idea was to provide a playbook on the best practices in selling a business. * The most common mistake is getting lured into a proprietary deal. * In this kind of deal, the buyer offers lower, knowing that there is a lack of competition. They may also protract diligence, leading to retrading or value diminishing.

[7:00] — Why businesses should create a market for their company
* Creating a market for your company will guarantee that the offer you’re getting is fair market value. * Two to three legitimate buyers are enough to ensure a fair offer.

[9:44] — John shares the effective process of planning and preparation
* He uses the analogy of staging in home selling. * Doing a "renovation" is a valuable strategic process. It is building a transferable business. * Process documentation is a big part of the renovation project.

[11:17] — John explains pre-diligence
* Pre-diligence is having answers to all the questions you might be asked when marketing the business. * Doing a full pre-diligence project ensures that the due diligence goes smoothly. Also, it signals to the acquirer that they have to compete with other potential buyers. * Pre-diligence is having all possibly necessary documents on hand and in one place, such as your leases or employee agreements. * Documenting your processes prepares you for pre-diligence and due diligence.

[20:26] — What’s the importance of having SOPs in how to sell a business?
* Having SOPs eases fears that business buyers have. * Massively-acquired companies have tremendous resources and people, making it easier to run after the acquisition. * Individual investors, who often acquire small businesses, need the checklists and a manual on how to run it themselves upon acquisition.

[22:42] — The three types of buyers
* Individual investors * Private equity groups * Strategic investors

[24:30] — How to gain leverage during the negotiation phase
* Signing a no-shop clause will make you lose your leverage in the negotiation. * Before signing a letter of intent (LOI), ensure that the acquirer is aware of the other competing offers. * Make sure you negotiate any conditions that are vital to you before signing the LOI

Episode Highlights
[3:27] — Max’s background on B2B sales
* Max joined the sales side of Udemy, an online education marketplace. * He wondered how he could generate more revenue with fewer resources, which became the sales hacking foundation. * Max started his company, Sales Hacker, which grew from 0 to 80,000 subscribers. * In 2018, Sales Hacker was acquired by Outreach, where he took over as the VP of Marketing for Outreach and then transitioned to the VP of Sales Engagement.

[5:53] — Why sales have become more difficult through the years
* The number of companies selling keeps growing. * There are now a lot of channels for people to sell on. * Sales became more competitive when SaaS companies started to blow up. * When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, businesses became limited to online channels of selling. This means that the market has become saturated. * If they want to survive in the competitive environment of sales, businesses must know how to experiment and adapt using A/B testing.

[8:39] — Strategies to grow SaaS sales
* Upsell your current base. * Get a list or database of your target market. * From that database, find trends that you can use for lead scoring. * Think about how to reach the different cohorts of that database. * Gather good reviews from supporting customers to help attract future customers. * Collect important information from potential customers like their needs, interests, and resources.

[17:18] — Scaling up your business and building a team
* Sales are not one-size-fits-all. Try experimenting, see what works, and iterate on that. * Understand your customers’ day-to-day. Then design a process for reaching out to them. * Make sure that you are seen as a trusted consultant, not as a salesperson.

[22:29] — How to design your outreach campaign for desktop emails and mobile emails
* You can do longer subject lines for emails your customers will view on a desktop. You can also get creative and send PDFs or images. * For mobile emails, do shorter and more conversational subject lines. * Think about the process of closing a deal step-by-step.

[26:28] — A product-led growth strategy can impact your messaging approach
* In product-led growth, there’s no need to employ as many salespeople. This can mean lower costs compared to sales-led growth. * Sales become more transactional rather than conversational. * You’ll still want to highlight the benefits of your product. * Whether you employ a product-led growth strategy or a sales-led growth strategy, you'll still need to hire salespeople or support to ensure your product's success.

[29:35] — Other mistakes that people make in their B2B sales efforts
* The silver bullet strategy doesn’t allow you to apply the appropriate marketing methods to some of your customers. * False attribution or tying attribution to the wrong metric can mean that you can't accurately measure your progress.

[31:46] — Max’s favorite sales hacking training resources
* In 2015, Max wrote a book called Hacking Sales, which goes over many sales tools and technologies. * Max’s latest book, Sales Engagement, is about engaging with companies in this ever-changing world. * Other books that Max likes include Chris Voss’s Never Split the Difference, Mark Roberge’s The Sales Acceleration Formula, Trish Bertuzzi’s The Sales Development Playbook, Keenan’s Gap Selling, and books by Anthony Iannarino and Jeb Blount. * Max also uses the Outreach software as his sales engagement platform. * He also recommends having net new data sources from companies like LeadIQ, Seamless.AI, and Dun & Bradstreet. * Having software like Bambora, Terminus, Demandbase, and Sixth Sense will tell you which companies you should target.

[34:39] — Sentiment tracking by Outreach
* Reply rates as a metric of success isn’t enough. * It's also essential to analyze reply intent, such as positive replies, objections, and unsubscribes. * Outreach has recently released a sentiment tracking tool that better measures your success using a reply intent metric. * This tool enables companies to understand if certain email sequences are truly working or not.

**Episode Highlights

[03:09] Scribe Media**
* A lot of people needed scribes—people who put other people's thoughts into words. * A woman asked Tucker if he could be her scribe to get a book out without the typical painstaking effort of writing a book. * Scribe Media now has 260 employees and has done 737 books with almost a total of 200,000 reviews on Amazon.

[05:24] Hiring Someone Else to Be Scribe Media’s CEO
* Tucker kept hiring people who were better than him to do his job. * Tucker eventually hired a professional CEO who made his business perform 20 times better than when Tucker was in the position.

[06:51] The Importance of Bringing In Experienced Leaders
* If someone is good at finding needs in the market and figuring out a way to satisfy those needs, then they’re probably not good at all of the other skills of running a business. * Being an entrepreneur is the rarest thing right now. * It’s easier to find people that can take established roles to scale the entrepreneur’s ideas. * If you try and do everything, you’re going to do most things poorly. * You'll be a lot more successful if you focus on the things you love and are good at.

[09:09] Tucker’s Annual Revenue Before Firing Himself
* Tucker’s company reached $1.5-2 million in their second year. * He decided that he wasn’t the best person for the role anymore — he needed real, experienced leaders.

[10:22] Step One: You’re Not the Best Person for the Job
* It's challenging to let go of the position because your ego can get in the way. * Tucker realized that he was suffering and wasn't enjoying how he spent his days. * He valued his company’s mission more than his image, so he needed to get out of his position and hire someone else.

[18:27] Step Two: Understand Who You’re Looking For
* No one’s going to knock on your door and beg for the CEO position. You have to find that person. * Tucker painted an attractive vision of Scribe Media. JeVon, the new CEO, wanted to be a part of that vision. * Tucker offered JeVon the opportunity to be the head of Scribe Media and take the credit. * Scribe Media was JeVon's lowest-paying opportunity, but he was working for more than just money.

[21:54] Evaluating Your New Hire
* JeVon was first brought in as an advisor but soon started running meetings. * Tucker tested JeVon’s honesty by taking appropriate opportunities to be vulnerable around JeVon and sharing personal sentiments, and seeing if he would be vulnerable in that situation as well. * Traveling with someone can also help in getting to know them.

[24:22] What to Do to Find Another CEO
* Create an avatar CEO—think about what type of person you need to run the company. * Then determine how you’re going to sell to that person. * Prepare against the counterarguments to your sales pitch.

[27:29] Compensating Your New CEO
* JeVon was outperforming his contract, and the company was scared of losing him because he was still getting offers from other companies. * Tucker always made sure to know what JeVon wanted. * After a year and a half, they were able to figure out their final situation. * They were open and honest about what they wanted and had an evolving conversation about it. * Business and personal are not separate.

[33:36] Vetting Your New CEO
* Tucker would not only evaluate the prospects in meetings but also in informal events such as dinners, drinks, and dancing, * They also put the prospects in casual situations. The evaluation begins as soon as the new hire arrives at the airport. * Make use of referrals/

[39:18] How Tucker’s Life Changed After Giving Up His Job
* Tucker is doing two new projects. * One is a memoir program. The other is a new publishing arm. * He’s becoming the best version of himself, and no one bothers him.

**Episode Highlights

[03:50] — eCommerce trends in late 2020 and going into 2021**
* There is a decrease in restaurants, travel, and luxury products. * Ten years of eCommerce growth happened in just three months of the pandemic. * The consumer behavior shifted to online shopping with the convenience of fast delivery. * The costs of acquisition right now are much higher compared to 2019. Meanwhile, there is a reduced cost of entry as website building has become cheaper.

[08:51] — Establishing a private label business on Amazon
* Choose the professional account when setting up on Amazon and make sure you have all documents ready. * If you have a product already, you’re all set. However, if you don’t have a product yet, you have to make sure that it is marketable. * Invest money in advertising and growing your brand.

[12:47] — The characteristics of successful and unsuccessful Amazon sellers
* Successful Amazon sellers: They educate themselves, have dedication and persistence, and share their expertise. * Unsuccessful Amazon sellers: They keep their expertise to themselves, and they don't ask for anyone's help. * Unsuccessful sellers also go for trendy products that may not last.

[18:38] — Best practices for sourcing products
* A profitable product has a high demand and low competition. * Avoid products that are easily breakable and have chances of becoming obsolete. * You have to consider factors like profit margin and market depth analysis in identifying preliminary products. * Product matching allows you to evaluate the cost of the product and the return on investment. * Set aside money for marketing, shipping, and other business growth strategies. The average budget for private label sellers is around $2,000 to $5,000.

[26:53] — How did product sourcing change over the past year?
* While there were issues in delivery times when the pandemic started, there were no significant product sourcing changes.

[27:38] — Biggest mistakes and tips in sourcing products
* The first mistake is going all-in without a concrete plan. The second biggest mistake is going after a trendy product. * Before working with a supplier, make sure to see samples, reviews, and prices. * Remember that you have more business elements (marketing and shipping) to spend on other than the product cost itself.

[31:14] — Who is IO Scout?
* IO Scout is an all-in-one tool for Amazon sellers. It includes a product finder tool, product tracker tool, keyword research tool, sales estimator, and FB calculator. * They also offer a Google Chrome extension and inventory management. * Their ideal customers are any Amazon seller, from newbies to experienced sellers. * They go after wholesale businesses, private label businesses and force arbitrage businesses. * According to Eleonora, IO Scout is a one-product-fit-all.

Episode Highlights
[02:54] Scaling Marketplaces with Jason Magee
* Jason is a Senior Director of Sales and Business Development at Teikametrics. * His job involves helping retailers scale on the most valuable marketplaces such as Amazon. * Incrementality answers the question as to whether investing money in advertising isn’t moving the needle in top sales. * According to Jason, incrementality is what Nutribullet wanted. * Once Jason helped Nutribullet rebuild its campaign, the company was able to reach a 134% increase in revenue.

[06:00] Beginning with Advertising
* According to Jason, if you like burning money, advertise right away. * Before going into advertising, the first thing you have to do is to understand the most critical business metrics such as top-line sales, profitability at a company level, and advertising performance. * In addition to business metrics, you also need to understand product metrics. These include pre- and post-advertising profitability, product goals based on its lifecycle, and how people buy your products.

[08:46] Listing Optimization and Best Practices for Images
* A product should convince a customer to purchase based on high-quality images alone. * The first best practice you have to observe is that the image must be on a white background. Images also need to highlight the product’s details. * You can also optimize your listing with a video. Videos should show the actual components of the product. * Videos and images should tell the story of your products.

[13:04] What Comes After Listing Optimization
* The most fundamental way to advertise is through sponsored product advertising. * It is search-based, wherein a keyword would ensure that your product shows up at the customer’s search. * This allows you to leverage advertising even if your product does not rank well organically. * Sponsored product advertising is a blend of automatic and manual campaigns.

[14:44] Segmenting Your Campaigns
* In addition to your own brand terms, you also need to use competitor and generic terms. * You need a strategy for each segment. * Identify where your audience is in their buyer’s journey. * Learn more by tuning in to the podcast!

[17:44] Biggest Advertising Mistakes
* One of the biggest mistakes is advertising without considering your goals and margins. * It is all about context because if you don’t know anything about the product, how could you effectively advertise it?

[19:10] All About Teikametrics and Flywheel
* Looking at the evolution of Teikametrics, it was one of the first API partners of Amazon. They were very ad-focused. * With Flywheel, they’re not only bringing in the advertising component in the app, but they are also incorporating inventory. * Another exciting thing about Flywheel is the ability to understand market intelligence. * Join Flowster’s Teikametrics webinar on February 11!

Episode Highlights
[03:44] — A Launchpad’s Benefits
* Most businesses are not scalable: more customers are offset by needing more employees. * A launchpad business focuses on leveling up and career progression. * After you succeed with your business launch, you can think about products or building marketplaces.

[06:12] — How Eric Bought Single Grain, for $2
* In 2012, Google’s updated algorithms rendered Single Grain's business model useless. * Eric owned 10% at the time, and all the other investors jumped ship. * He bought two 10% stakes from his colleagues at a dollar each. * For the rest of the equity, he negotiated and eventually acquired 100% ownership of the agency.

[09:38] — Tips on Getting Your First Client
* When starting, scour for emails or LinkedIn accounts that can connect you with potential clients. * Catch a client’s attention is by offering free services. * In Eric's case, he offered 20-minute diagnosis videos of the mistakes his leads were doing when managing their websites. * Eric says that a 10–20% response rate is good progress. * Check out the resource section for a list of valuable podcasts and books that helped Eric win his first client!

[11:47] — Attracting the Initial Wave of Customers
* If you have a full-time gig, it would be best to ask for testimonials instead of charging fees immediately to establish social proof. * It is possible to arbitrage the price of marketing efforts offshore, but make sure you have a system set up first. * A mistake many first-time business founders make is not verifying.

[13:28] — The Importance of Specialization
* For Single Grain, they focus on SaaS companies, specifically paid ads and SEO work. * It’s essential to figure out what you are interested in and where you have experience. * If you don’t specialize, you’ll end up doing mergers and acquisitions.

[15:26] — Baby Steps of Building a Team
* Single Grain was left with one employee and had to reset itself. * Outside contractors will never be aligned with the company culture. * His first most vital hire was an account manager that had multiple responsibilities. * The company founder is the visionary; an integrator (or operations person) implements the founder’s ideas.

[18:30] — Finding Online Opportunities
* Amazon is still a leading opportunity, with lots of tools that you can use to jumpstart your online business. * Exploding keywords and influencer marketing are trends that you can focus on. * YouTube and content creation is a big opportunity at the moment. * Gaming is also on the rise.

[19:42] — Biggest Back-Breakers as You Approach the Million-Dollar Mark
* As much as young people need a chance to grow, promoting them too quickly can prematurely cap out their skills. * Experienced, high-level seniors are worth the premiums you pay them. * If you want to lift strategically and have less time taken out of your day, proactive and experienced employees will do the job. * There's still a time and place for hiring rockstars versus having systems run by average employees, and it's all relative.

[25:49] — How to Level Up Your Business After the Initial Business Launch
* It's time to transition to high leverage activities, whether learning new skills, establishing relationships, or creating content. * Ask yourself what you can invest in, whether that's your systems or new small-scale online businesses. * An audience is one of the most prominent forms of leverage that you can have.

[29:39] — The Content and SEO Strategy for a Successful business launch
* Google always tries to fill its index with niche content. * Attacking something brand new allows the algorithm to rank you high. * Any form of content marketing is a long-term journey. * Eric used to bring in guest posts to establish link authority.

Episode Highlights
[3:07] – Brendan Kane talks about how he grew a company from $1M to $100M in revenue
* Brendan was able to grow two companies in just two to three years. * Brendan works with companies first to assess a company’s strengths and weaknesses. * From here, he can determine what aspects you can focus on to scale your business. * Know your media buying techniques, your actual creative, and your conversion mechanism.

[9:53] – Brendan shares his methodology for testing
* Brendan shares that you should look within and beyond your industry. * Look at both positives and negatives — you can learn from failures and successes. * After collecting data, you can form a hypothesis that you can test. * If the strategy you test doesn’t work, that’s where Brendan pivots and moves onto the next thing.

[12:37] – How does Brendan drive traffic into platforms like Amazon?
* Brendan shares that you can use platforms outside of Amazon to drive brand awareness. * This brand awareness, in turn, will increase your brand’s lifetime value. * The visibility from social media platforms becomes transactions on Amazon, which helps you further scale your business.

[13:37] – Brendan talks about choosing the right keyword
* Brendan comments on the bell curve of keywords and how marketing all boils down to choosing the right keyword. * Brendan says every keyword depends on the product, as each product is different. * There’s no hard rule: choose the right keyword, choose the right creative.

[16:10] – How Brendan optimizes his CPA
* Brendan sets a 30% rule for himself to optimize CPA, for example. * It’s not always a guarantee he can bring down CPA even with his rules, but Brendan says the more data you have, the smarter you get.

[17:56] – Brendan discusses how to relate to a consumer
* Brendan shares how to change the dynamic of a conversation. * He describes questions you should ask when you look for strategies to help scale your business. * You should figure out what a consumer wants first, and from there, bring attention to the product you are selling.

[20:35] – Brendan shares how to disrupt patterns to grab a consumer’s attention
* Brendan says that in this digital age, you’re competing with everyone who publishes content, not just your direct competitors. * To grab a consumer’s attention, sometimes you have to take a different route and disrupt the pattern. * One way to disrupt a pattern is to subvert expectations or present an idea that goes against cliches. * Brendan gives an example using meditation and how you can say it hasn’t worked for you to gain empathy and establish a connection.

[24:42] – Why Brendan believes you should master one channel first
* Rather than spreading yourself too thin, Brendan believes you should master one channel first before moving on to the next. * Beyond Amazon, there are limitless ways you can drive traffic and build your brand’s following. * Be ready to pivot off your top-of-funnel awareness strategy

**Episode Highlights

[4:29] — Patrick talks about how he started in entrepreneurship**
* Patrick first started his career in Wall Street, following the usual finance and MBA route. * He left after many team eliminations, with the 2008 financial crisis being the last straw. * During this time, he transitioned to Silicon Valley because it continued to boom despite the financial crisis. * He used to be afraid of full-time entrepreneurship because he didn't have an idea yet, and he was very risk-averse. * With 10% of your time, you can invest in a side venture and build it into something valuable.

[8:58] — The importance of creating different streams of income
* There are many strategies regarding passive income, but the main point is being a shareholder for as many ventures as possible. * Side-hustles and freelancing are okay for paying the bills but not for generating wealth. * Taking ownership and growing your business should be the end goal.

[11:19] — Investing in companies and gaining equity
* Providing labor through having an advisory role can be an excellent method of sweat equity. * Patrick recalls a time where he did consulting work in exchange for a percentage of the company. * Seeing the trajectory of your equity's value raise over time is critical, but don't forget that the end goal is to monetize your share. * Ultimately, your stock certificates won't be able to feed you. Create an exit plan.

[13:23] — How to become an entrepreneur by starting part-time
* Part-time entrepreneurship can be the gateway to full-time entrepreneurship. * Patrick's friend was able to simultaneously work at a bank and launch a successful seafood business. * Entrepreneurs who start part-time are less likely to fail because of the chance to experiment.

[15:22] — The pros and cons of part-time entrepreneurship
* Being a part-time entrepreneur means that you are diversified. * Full-time entrepreneurship is stressful. You can still develop entrepreneurial skills without going through the traditional pressure. * Sometimes full-time entrepreneurs already have the luxury of starting capital either from family inheritances or other existing businesses. * The media often glamorize entrepreneurship, but they don't show the failures and sad endings behind it.

[19:06] — Obstacles to getting started with entrepreneurship
* Not having money and time can be solved by assessing priorities, budgeting, and allocating what you can, even if it's small. * Identify what you're good at and what you want to do by thinking thoroughly and carefully looking at what you do in your day job, such as Excel and PowerPoint. * It's essential to know how to deal with the office policies in your work regarding entrepreneurship. * Confident business leaders who provide flexibility to their employees can be a retention tool that will make them value their job more.

[22:21] — Patrick's advice to his younger self on how to become an entrepreneur
* It takes a lot of time and patience. Entrepreneurship is a lifestyle and commitment. * Finding the first business investment is the hardest part of learning how to become an entrepreneur. It gets less complicated once you get the hang of it. * Take more calculated risks to make the initial process easier.

[24:34] — Initial concrete steps to start your entrepreneurial journey
* Pre-pandemic, Patrick would advise aspirants to go to as many conferences as possible to network with many people. * Now, they can simply go online and make connections there. * LinkedIn is a powerful tool to expand your network, gain knowledge, and get recognized. * Figure out your topic of expertise and unique selling proposition. * Ensure that you also overlap the things you love to do, as having a passion will give you the drive to go for it.

Episode Highlights
[3:35] — Ryan's background and business growth on Amazon
* Ryan is the CEO of Recom Brands, a company focused on buying and growing businesses on Amazon. * In their second year on Amazon, they made $15 million through wholesale trading of footwear and apparel. * Although Ryan's background is in physical commodities trading, he saw Amazon as an opportunity, and this led him to the eCommerce path.

[8:03] — Recom Brands' business growth and shift of focus to acquisition
* Amazon's Terms of Service used to make it difficult to own more than one Amazon account. * As Amazon loosened their policy, Recom Brands was able to buy and acquire businesses. * The company raised $2 million in debt financing from an investor to boost its growth. * eCommerce has so much opportunity that they changed their model a few times before finding their sustainable niche.

[13:07] — Why buying and acquiring is better for business growth
* Building a business from scratch is extremely difficult. * The risk-to-reward ratio for buying existing and functioning businesses is better than launching one yourself. * It is easier to take over and keep the business afloat from a risk-adjusted point of view. * On the other hand, Amazon has made it easy for third-party sellers to start a business. * Online businesses are faster but riskier. It is not as straightforward and can be tricky.

[19:47] — Identifying the right company to buy
* The primary criteria they look for in brands are great reviews from a solid product. * They tend to prefer mature products that have been in the market for at least two years instead of new products that have been available for a few months. * Favor sustainable products with stable sales instead of trends and fads that only had a surge in demand. * Their company is open to any product category. * For more information, tune in and listen to the podcast.

[23:03] — Valuing a company's purchase price
* The math behind the purchase price is from a multiple of the seller's discretionary earnings. * A business with a lot of skews will be valued less because it is more difficult to manage. * Another factor is the competitive landscape of the business and whether there's room to improve.

[25:00] — Managing the risk of having a single channel
* They manage separate accounts just in case. * If your product is authentic and you follow the rules, your account will get back up even if you get suspended for some reason. * Amazon will not be getting rid of the third-party marketplace anytime soon as it constitutes most of the platform’s volume.

[26:43] — Recent progress for Recom Brands
* They currently have ten acquisitions. * The company is starting to gain momentum, with as much as acquiring three brands a month. * In the following weeks, they expect more financing and funds raised to expand further. * With the abundance of competition, they just focus on themselves and being more efficient every day. * They are taking a long-term approach by building their reputation and network.

Episode Highlights
[02:56] — Jimmy introduces his work
* Jimmy has been a real estate agent for 15 years in the state of Utah. * He also developed a coaching program. To this day, he runs the Jimmy Rex Show podcast. * He has also written books in real estate and entrepreneurship.

[03:28] — How Jimmy began learning social media strategies
* Jimmy relied on traditional calls for the first five years in the business. * Garrett Gee and Charly Jordan inspired him to look into digital marketing for his business. * His social media strategy built a consistent lead generation that works faster than one-on-one calls.

[08:05] — Jimmy shares how he built his following
* At first, Jimmy tried to use different platforms but eventually focused on Instagram and his podcast. * Jimmy was able to get guests on his podcast that attracted people to his social media pages. * His social media focused more on building a platform for his voice rather than just selling all the time.

[10:22] — The importance of reaching out
* Jimmy reached out to people for his interviews, even the high profile guests. * The more his podcast grew, the more he could use it as a presentation card for potential guests. * Developing relationships requires providing value. * Work with your existing circles and continually expand.

[15:37] — How does Jimmy view his podcast?
* Jimmy makes sure that he studies his guest before the interview. * Being prepared allows him to get into details about the topics he discusses with his guests. * Getting good guests is more important to him than getting sponsorships.

[19:11] — Social media strategies from Instagram
* He talks about the importance of consistency. * It is essential to understand how a platform works. * Focus on five things that make you interesting. * Partner with others. * Choose your target followers.

[25:08] — On practicing authenticity
* When people build their pages, there is a tendency to focus on selling all the time. * Use the page to track and attract people first. * Jimmy wanted to show who he is behind the real estate agent.

[26:45] — On content planning
* When he was first building his platform, he planned to post once a day. * He does not post as regularly as before since he is not trying to grow his following anymore. * Instead, he focuses on providing value to his current followers.

[28:03] — Different platform, different social media strategy
* All social media platforms have different purposes. * Jimmy curates his content depending on which platform he's going to post it on.

[29:09] — Discussing common social media mistakes
* Do not sell all the time. * Before posting anything, ask yourself if this is something you will share with your friends. * Maintain consistent quality. * Take your social media strategy seriously. * If one platform does not come naturally, find others that will.

[33:06] — Jimmy's social media strategy
* Pick five interesting categories to post about. * Have a system to post once a day for 60 days, cycling between categories. * If the system works for you, stick to it. But it's okay to abandon it if it doesn't. * Know that this takes effort and time. You need to take it seriously.

Episode Highlights
[3:16] — Brian introduces himself and his company, Posted Social
* Brian is the CEO and owner of Posted Social. * Posted Social is a digital marketing company specialized in eCommerce sales through social media advertising and B2B lead generation.

[4:25] — Brian introduces their recent product launch, the Hurt Skurt
* The Hurt Skurt is an ice pack sleeve that has compression built into it. It can easily slide onto your arm or leg and stay in place. * People can use it for postoperative rehabilitation or everyday knee or elbow pain. * The Hurt Skurt’s 30-day trailing sales after its product launch was $130,000. Currently, the product’s trailing 30-day sales already increased by 20%.

[6:54] — How did Posted Social and Hurt Skurt start to collaborate?
* Brian's partner in another business held a pitch event, where the inventor of Hurt Skurt pitched a wine bottle cooler. Brian's partner suggested using his items on people's bodies instead. * Posted Social focused on building traction through advertisements and Amazon before the product launch of Hurt Skurt on social media. * The leading demographic of Hurt Skurt is 45- to 55-year-old females.

[9:06] — Creating an eCommerce campaign for Hurt Skurt
* Posted Social did not have a previous customer history with Hurt Skurt, so they had to start from the ground up. * The best-performing assets for their ads are ten second-long cellphone videos. * Posted Social collected data and tested different audiences on Facebook to find their buyer. After that, they used that look alike data from purchases and tracked them. * Currently, their highest return is on ad spend, where they are working on retargeting audience. * Hurt Skurt is not the type of product that takes time to decide a purchase. Nonetheless, Posted Social still tried a funnel.

[17:39] — What are the best practices in scaling up the ads for an eCommerce campaign?
* They duplicated their ad campaign after they hit a plateau with their previous ads. * The offering was hindering the performance of their ads.

[20:31] — Learning opportunities from Hurt Skurt's eCommerce campaign
* Focus on selling to a specific demographic, your sure-paying customers. * They learned that you have to spend a little money to keep learning.

[22:08] — Channel expansion
* This month, Hurt Skurt is finally going to be on HSN. Thanks to having one all-star entrepreneur for HSN partner and to having a product that fits HSN's crowd of 58-year-old females is that they were able to get in. * Expanding to Instagram is not fruitful, so they are focusing on Facebook through the holiday season. * They created an Amazon account three months prior to the Facebook product launch. Instead of going to their website, people search for the product on Google and buy on Amazon.

Episode Highlight
[04:13] – Jeremy gives a background of his business
* Jeremy started a product distribution company online called Swag.com in 2016. * He discovered a problem with antiquated catalog presentations. * His solution was to streamline the entire experience allowing buyers to personalize their products.

[05:20] – What is so special about Swag.com?
* Swag.com is different because of the product personalization and distribution platform. * What is being distributed is an experience. * Sales talk is not always required to sell products.

[07:21] – How Swag.com gained traction
* Initially, they targeted big brands to build strong client portofolio. * A catchy name was essential. For Jeremy, Swag.com says everything about the business without having to say anything explicitly. * With consistent content creation, they built a strong SEO strategy to increase their organic visitors. Their main focus is not on making viral posts but on getting to their target customers.

[8:25] – Getting the domain and starting up the business
* Jeremy got the domain from day one with no funds thanks to a deal they made with the owner; they eventually paid $200,000 for it. * An outbound strategy works in the initial stages of startup businesses. * Starting from top to bottom is not disadvantageous contrary to what other entrepreneurs believe. * Rise above the challenges, get in the door and do everything you need to do.

[14:48] – Strategies to control traffic
* Using Google is too expensive to focus all your strategy based on it. * One content strategy is creating consistent content to catch the attention of potential customers. * From an SEO perspective, using longtail keywords in blog posts is effective when it´s focused to a specific target audience. * Using traction channels or joining partnerships is a strategy in growth hacking.

[24:29] – Best conversion hacks
* The first conversion hack is to label products with Swag’s tagline “we made this”. * After expansion, they started adding shipping labels saying “powered by swag.com” to every package. * To gain more organic buyers, conducting giveaways is useful. * Reciprocity helps solve the problem of cold outbound emails. * The best way to raise money is through the press.

[30:58] – Jeremy’s number one goal for the year ahead
* Jeremy intends to push hard on the Swag distribution platform. * The platform will have unbelievably new features by then. * The next phase is for the platform to allow people to automate Swag distribution by themselves.

Episode Highlights
[3:45] — Mackensie shares how she got into Messenger chatbot marketing
* Marketing and business were the last thing in her mind upon graduating. * She has a bachelor’s degree in biology and worked as a clinically-certified psychogeneticist for a decade. * She decided to find a job that didn´t get her stuck in the lab with her outgoing personality and allowed her to work from home and be with her family. That’s when she found out about digital marketing and chatbots.

[7:02] — The current landscape of chatbot marketing
* Because of the user complaints on pages who are spamming messages, Facebook created the 24-hour rule. With this, carriers can only message users who engaged within 24 hours of their previous message engagement. * However, there are some ways to reach subscribers outside those 24-hours like:

+ Message tags
+ Confirmed event updates
+ Account update
+ One-time notification
+ Paid ads

[12:23] — Navigating the one-time notification (OTN) settings
* When users opt into OTN, they will get a message from your page. Every time they click the 'Notify me' button, you get a token. * Once the 24-hour window opens up, you can send another message and a follow-up. Make sure to make your message template conversational.

[16:04] — Why you should use a multi-channel communication
* If your traffic is not yet in a chatbot and SMS, you can include a link called Ref URL Growth Tool. It is a tool in ManyChat which will take them into Messenger. * Once they're in Messenger, you can ask them to opt-in for SMS notifications. * You can use ManyChat to accomplish all of these.

[17:49] — Mackensie shares the most effective strategies to get people into your bot funnel
* Getting people into your funnel would mainly depend on your type of offer and business. * You can use paid ads, organic strategies like email, and engaging strategies like quizzes, giveaways, and coupons.

[20:47] — What are the best customer engagement strategy practices?
* Segment your users. You have to make sure that your messages are relevant to your users. Otherwise, they will ignore your promotions. * Ask people about your message and get their feedback. * Provide them with your latest offers.

[24:23] — The importance of the 24-hour window
* Even a button click counts as an engagement. You have to make sure that the attention is back and forth. * Don't be spammy. Remember that you won't keep the 24-hour window opened repeatedly. Make sure to get your engagements' contact information within the initial 24-hour window. * You have to re-engage engagements both outside and back into Messenger to reopen the 24-hour window.

[26:39] — What are the most common mistakes in chatbot marketing?
* Not setting up your foundational bot * Copy-pasting messages out of email campaigns * Not utilizing reminders or follow-ups

Episode Highlights
[2:56] — Brent introduces his business, uGurus
* He runs a company called uGurus. They do business training and coaching programs for digital agency owners and entrepreneurs.

He founded the company in 2012 after he sold his successful web agency that ran for 13 years.

[3:55] — The most significant threats for agency owners today
* The reliance on referrals and word of mouth is the biggest challenge of agencies.

Most agencies are busy working with their clients; they don´t take the time to work on their own business.
Due to the pandemic, many agency owners got caught up and had to pause or delay projects for not having strong lead generation and marketing engines.

[6:13] — The importance of selecting a niche for your business
* A generalist motto is saying yes to every business.

If you choose a specialization, you will have to turn down clients that don´t align with your niche.
In choosing a niche, it should directly relate to your level of expertise.

[8:48] — Finding solutions for your chosen niche
* Finding your niche or specialization might not work on the first try.

Define your target audience and figure out where those people hang out.
Create awareness about your business.

[10:35] — Brent shares how to test ideas and see what works for the business
* To know the language that his market responds to, Brent uses ad platforms to run ad tests.

Advertising is an excellent scale platform when you're ready to scale in your market.
Go slow, go smooth so that you can go fast. Find inroads with people who have embedded in your target market with trust and credibility and do customer development interviews.
Create more exciting marketing opportunities, such as publishing your niche, content, and webinars. Use ads as an amplification and leverage tools in the market.

[14:47] — Know your target audience and talk to your customers to know how to grow your business online
* Ask your clients about their experience using your products or services and how you can better market your products. By building a relationship with them, you can grasp how to grow your business online effectively.

Through conversations with your customers, you can generate a marketing strategy for your business.
Brent shares that they used their customers' language, quotes, and phrases as content and marketing strategy.

[21:11] — Why should you niche down?
* Some companies that serve broad audiences today were once very niche. Going from specialized to a more general market has helped some companies gain clients.

Brent saw that service companies, once they specialized in a niche, they tend to stay in their domain and become even more experts in their space.
The specialization provides a better path to generalization than generalization does the specialization.

[24:46] — Get Rich in the Deep End
* Get Rich in the Deep End is a book where Brent tells his and his client's stories.

The five A's in the book are: Audience, Awareness, Attract, Authority, and Acquire.
Ensure that when you publish content, you do it where your target audience will listen and read. Don't fall into the garage band trap by not taking risks

Episode Highlights
[03:16] — Who Gene is and his work as a business coach
* Gene is a Leadership Executive Coach, working with fast-growing company’s founders and CEOs, some of which are part of the Inc 5000. * The podcast will be in a coaching format where Gene will be the interviewer and ask questions to Trent. * As a coach, Gene doesn’t focus on just accountability but more on helping leaders figure out the significant insight that will help them grow and evolve.

[05:37] — The podcast discusses how to be a better leader for your team
* Trent listened to an audiobook about being a better leader and a multiplier before recording the podcast. The problem with books is that they don’t talk back to you; it requires a caring, understanding, passionate coach to make those words come to life. * The big idea of being a better leader, according to this podcast, is to trust your team and put them first. * Employees aren’t as replaceable as customers, and employees can take care of many customers.

[11:30] — Current stressors and frustrations when it comes to business and leadership
* Trent is currently pursuing a different market, but he doesn't know this customer segment as well. * At the moment, they are at risk of having no traction and effectively wasting time and money in marketing efforts. * Trent’s biggest fear is not losing money, but losing time and the frustration that comes along. But he learned that failure is not to be avoided but to be managed and understood. * Most of the time, we focus on the things that might not work out instead of the favorable scenario of it working out. * Companies that embrace failure as part of the process grow more than risk-averse companies.

[19:18] — The vision of both the better leader we aspire to become and the team we should have
* Trent believes that a better leader has confidence in his team and empowers them to perform their best in bringing a vision to reality. * It is essential to include a team of talented individuals with extensive experience and strong collaboration skills in your leadership vision. * For Trent, it’s about letting employees do their own thing and trusting they will aim for the team’s best interests. * Setting expectations is crucial in building trust and knowing how to become a better manager.

[24:22] — Communication and the science of having insightful relationships with your team
* In one on one conversations and meetings, try to learn more about the other person's past and interests, and build trust by letting them do their job. * As a leader, you provide the vision, and after that, you trust your people to do their best to get there. Create a culture where the best ideas win.

[31:48] — Radical transparency and the need for honesty
* Business is a game. It's essential to give the employees all the rules and explain to them how to score so they know whether they're winning. * Let your team solve their problems instead of doing it for them and create a culture of collaboration and empowerment.

[35:33] — The podcast tells what to focus on to become a better leader
* Get a clear vision not just for the company but for the entire team as well. * Don’t micromanage work. Lead the people to become self-confident. * Coaching is not just telling them what to do. It's empowering people to take the next step. * Pay attention to the history behind their motivations. Support your team by helping them address their underlying fears. * Take the time to have conversations with your team and build relationships with them. Slow down to speed up.

Episode Highlights
[03:37] — John introduces Ignite Visibility
* Ignite Visibility is a mission-driven digital marketing agency that uses a multi-channel digital marketing strategy. * They use the systems and strategies they learned from scaling their own marketing efforts for their clients.

[05:16] — Doing one big thing per year and writing a book
* Having a quarterly or annual big marketing campaign will help keep your brand at the top of people’s minds. * So far, he has made two movies and two books for this one big marketing push. * He uses his books as a learning experience and an opportunity to share his own experiences.

[10:48] — The know-hows of Google Analytics
* The mediums are the buckets of traffic, while a source is a specific piece of traffic. * Google Analytics provides a space for PPC management to increase your conversion volume and build an entire business model around your ad spend.

[13:34] — How Ignite Visibility’s PPC management volume works
* They figure out where your customer spends time online as well as the ad activity of your competitors. * They then project a cost per acquisition framework to get a customer from every network. After that, they would build the business model for you.

[15:29] — The importance of landing pages and remarketing
* The top-to-bottom funnel approach works well on custom landing pages. They nurture them further and further down. * They also remarket specific strategies by ad network, introducing them in a positive, non-conversion way.

[17:55] — Why John never takes his foot off the brake for marketing
* It is what led them to become a four-time Inc. 5000 company. * When you consistently reinvest 10% in your marketing budget without any changes, it would drive growth. * What follows is making sure you’re set up operationally to follow that up.

[19:48] — Using great data to make good business decisions
* Ignite Visibility has an analytics team, a big data team, and people who do custom analysis. * There are a lot of attributions and different ways to track conversions. Every business needs to figure out its attribution. * Multi-channel funnels show you every assisted conversion with the attribution process. * View-through conversions require a brand lift or conversion lift model.

[22:39] — The best practices in figuring out your attribution
* Use your multi-channel funnel report and look at your assisted and last click conversions. * Tag every single one of your URLs using Google Tag Manager. * Set up a custom dashboard for yourself.

[25:54] — Landing major clients
* John has worked with clients such as FOX Movies and Tony Robbins. * He landed Tony Robbins as a client by sending him a tweet and getting an RFP a year later. * A lot of the content in The Forecaster Method came from the multi-channel marketing framework they’ve done for Tony Robbins. * With around 180,000 followers on Twitter, he gets a fair amount of visibility on his tweets.

[29:22] — Accumulating a social media following
* John worked on his personal brand doing digital marketing. * Writing for major magazines and publications has also helped in accumulating a following. * To follow this path, you have to build a following, good author profile, and portfolio after starting your blog.

Resources
* Ignite Visibility — Learn more about John’s mission-driven digital marketing agency and how it can help you reach your business goals. * Digital Influencer by John Lincoln * The Forecaster Method by John Lincoln * SEO: The Movie * Social Media Marketing: The Movie * Pathmatics * Google Analytics * Google Data Studio * NinjaCat * Google Tag Manager * Creative Planning * Entrepreneur Magazine * Forbes * Inc. Magazine * Search Engine Land * Marketing Land * Search Engine Journal * Cox Residential Services * 5-Hour Energy * The General Auto Insurance * Know more about John Lincoln through his Twitter. You may also subscribe to Ignite Visibility’s YouTube channel.

Which of John Lincoln's bright ideas sparked something in you? And what new things about PPC management to increase traffic and conversion volume did you learn? Feel free to comment below and share your thoughts with us.

Enjoyed the podcast? Subscribe to the Bright Ideas Podcast for more insights by successful e-commerce brands and the daring entrepreneurs behind them.

The Forecaster Method: The Modern System to Accurately Evaluate, Forecast, and Scale Your Digital Marketing

Digital Influencer: A Guide to Achieving Influencer Status Online

Episode Highlights
[03:42] — Ethan introduces Amify
* Ethan McAfee is the founder and CEO of Amify, which helps medium- to large-sized brands sell directly on Amazon. * Through their service, they help brands manage their listings, optimize their supply chain logistics, analyze data, and take charge of customer experience, among other things.

[04:25] — Pros and cons of selling on Amazon
* When Amazon came about, brands thought of it as another retail distributor or seller. * Ethan comments that brands need to think of Amazon as a platform and extension of their websites, not as a retail distributor. * Most brands are still using middlemen or 3P (Third-Party) sellers on Amazon in this day and age. * When brands begin to think of Amazon as another channel for direct sales, they gain an advantage over data and customer experience.

[07:00] — Why controlling your customer experience matters
* When you sell directly, you can control how your brand looks and your customer’s experience. * You get data that tells you about who your customers are, what they’re buying, and how likely they are to buy again using Amazon FBA. * FBA gives you real-time data, which also allows you to adjust your logistics promptly. * The data you get from FBA should only be used for analytics, not to reach out to customers directly for ratings, for example.

[09:45] — 3 main ways to sell on Amazon
* Brands can sell via Amazon 1P, which means they sell directly to Amazon, and Amazon will sell to the end-customer. * Third-Party Retailers, or 3P, is another option. Wholesalers can partner up with retailers to sell their products. * The last option is to sell directly, and the pros of this are getting more money since you’ve removed middlemen out of the equation. * Brands who sell directly don’t usually know how to implement strategies correctly, so they hire Amazon consultancies like Amify.

[13:00] — Who benefits from selling via Amazon 1P?
* 1P is excellent for huge brands that are already household names. * If a brand sells products at a low price point and doesn’t care too much about resellers taking a dollar off a product’s price, then Amazon 1P might suit them. * Low-price products are difficult to sell outside of 1P, because you need to consider the shipping and handling costs that come with it.

[16:10] — Pros and cons of 3P retailers
* Ethan states that selling via Amazon 3P is an easy way to get on Amazon. * A brand can authorize select retailers, creating a valuable wholesaler-retailer relationship that benefits both sides. * However, this may unintentionally lead to partnering with retailers who don’t give you any value. * The vast majority of Amazon 3P sellers are not value-adding, and can rather act like “leeches.” * Having too many resellers might be detrimental to your time, health, and the growth of your brand.

[22:00] — 3 reasons why most brands do direct selling
* According to Ethan, one main advantage of direct selling is cutting out the middle man–this means more money going into your pockets. * During COVID times, it makes more financial sense to be earning more after cutting out the cost of paying third-party retailers. * The second reason is it lets you have more control over your customer experience. * When you sell directly to your end-customers, you get to know what’s selling on a day-to-day basis. In short, the third reason is about having data that will save you more time.

[28:15] — Compromising with your 3P partners when switching to direct selling
* Your brick-and-mortar partners will likely be upset if you were to switch to direct selling. * To soften the blow, you can still allow them to sell via FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant). * Finding this compromise allows you to have a backup, for example, during holidays when Amazon FBA warehouses become crowded.

[29:10] — Amazon and the marketplace
* It seems Amazon would rather be a marketplace than a retailer. * Ethan shares that Amazon is trying to move away from being a 1P seller for a lot of brands in the last few years. * One reason why Amazon wouldn’t prefer direct selling is because of prices, and Amazon aims to be the lowest price in the entire market for products. * The downfall of being an open marketplace is the great numbers of counterfeit and unauthorized sellers, which then affect customer confidence in platforms like Amazon. * Amazon, over the last few years, has made changes such as showing seller information to make the Amazon experience more beneficial to customers.

[34:00] — What does an outsourced Amazon management team do?
* Amify helps brands with things like supply chain management and inventory forecasting. * When consulting with a client, Ethan shares that Amify assists with the “three little pigs.” * The first is managing inventory levels on Amazon and ensuring a brand doesn’t have too much or too little in stock. * Ethan also analyzes data to forecast demands. * With such data put together, the brand can adjust its supply chain and logistics.

[37:25] — The importance of having a strategy
* Ethan says that deciding on a strategy is the most important thing you should keep in mind. * It’s crucial to have the basics down. * Foremost, be clear on who is in charge of your Amazon brand management.

**Episode Highlights

[04:15] — About AMZ Advisers**
* AMZ Advisers is an Amazon brand management agency based in Guadalajara, Mexico. * They help brands and manufacturers increase their on Amazon by creating a marketing strategy that covers Amazon SEO and on- and off-platform advertising and traffic.

[06:00] — How AMZ Advisers attracts clients
* Mike saw the need for them to build authority. * They regarded themselves as an individual contractor in UpWork, a website for freelancers. * Their team created as much content as possible—from articles to answering queries, talking about specific features on the Amazon platform. * They worked their way up and now have 20,000 unique visitors per month on their website.

[07:41] — Finding and closing leads
* They have lesser leads on Upwork because people from the platform invest small. Many of their clients are from big multibillion companies. * Majority of the leads they close come from their website and from cold emails.

[12:18] — Content creation as a marketing strategy
* They started with blog articles because it was less challenging than doing video content. The company gradually moved to do video content. * Their videos feature and interview eCommerce experts and are maximized through breaking each question down into separate videos. * These videos also provide new topics and ideas for more blog posts on their website. * To expand their audience, Mike also writes for other business platforms. These secondary sites are used to link specific content back to their website.

[14:56] — Selecting keywords
* They spend a lot of time doing keyword research and competitor keyword research. * Looking at what their competitors are writing about enables them to improve their own content and make changes where necessary.

[18:26] — Updating your content
* They go through their website every six months to audit content and monitor performance. * Their posts are updated for recency. Articles that don’t generate traffic are unpublished.

[25:36] — On content promotion and distribution
* Content creation has two challenges: first is creating content and the other is distributing it. * Social media, partnerships, blog exchanges, and weekly newsletters are a few good ways to reach people. * For the services they offer, Reddit, LinkedIn, and YouTube have been effective platforms for distribution and promotion. * Video is more effective than written content.

[25:36] — Building links
* Build more networks through outreach. * It is important to write the best content for your website. But writing good content for other websites that rank well may also be an opportunity to make people notice your brand.

[36:16] — Working with and across cultures
* Mike has experience working with diverse teams with different cultures. This includes Asians, Americans, and Mexicans. * They initially worked with freelancers but realized that it would be more cost-effective to hire and bring his Mexican team in-house. * Some challenges in working with Asian freelancers include timezone and language differences. * They are focusing on hiring more people from Guadalajara. He noted that they are more productive than the American employees they had in the past.

[43:30] — Life in Mexico
* Health care and insurance is cheaper. * In the short term, Mike does not see himself moving back to the US. * Guadalajara is a very diverse place. It is a melting pot of different cultures.

Episode Highlights
[05:12] — Rich’s role in SEMrush
* As a pre-sales engineer, Rich is in charge of training and onboarding new sales representatives. * Used by 6 million marketers worldwide, SEMrush has made solutions for numerous businesses ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.

[07:22] — Keyword research and finding SEO quick wins 2020
* Keyword research is a central factor in digital marketing. * Don’t start from scratch. Build from the benchmarks you already have. * Understand what’s working for your competitors. * Focus on your audience and consumers. * Utilize long-tail queries, preferably in question form.

[11:08] — How SEMrush helps digital marketers
* SEMrush gives you next-level analytics and makes it easier to filter and find opportunities. * They have reports that give you insight into how you can better rank for different keywords.

[12:36] — How to spy on your competitors
* In the keyword gap analysis, you can enter up to five domains. * You can find the keywords your competitors are ranking for and you’re not.

[13:24] — The intricacies of building links
* Avoid gray-hat SEO like paid backlinks. * Employ the skyscraper technique for an SEO quick win. * Utilize directories.

[16:55] — Is posting on online forums a valid backlink?
* Rich assures that any type of social signal is a ranking factor. * However, posting content on online forums isn’t a traditional way of gaining an SEO quick win. * Listen to the full episode to know all about SEMrush's user interface and backlink analytics!

[19:59] — Monitoring once you have results
* You should always monitor your progress and ensure the work you put in is paying off. * SEMrush has daily updates to track your competitors and your own progress.

[22:35] — Key performance indicators in terms of tracking
* Average position and visibility are important key performance indicators (KPIs). * The payoff metric is also vital in understanding your traffic. * Evaluating user experience also helps. * Backlinks and social shares are the third KPI you have to take note of. * The content analyzer dashboard and report section directly measure your KPIs.

[27:57] — The right approach to digital marketing for SEO quick wins in 2020
* Amazon would predictably rank first for almost any keyword. But all other organic results are from valuable content creation. * Focusing on content pays off for your SEO. * The trend is going toward linking your product within your blog.

Episode Highlights
[04:05] — John introduces The Bouqs Co.
* The Bouqs Co.’s name comes from “bouquet,” and they are a simplified approach to the floral industry. * As an online retailer for flowers, they ship flowers directly from sustainable farms around the world to the customers, eliminating the middlemen. * They started off with $13,000 and now raised $75 million. * John realized that we now live in a world where manufacturers no longer need to go through extra hoops to get to the consumer.

[08:44] — Direct-to-consumer retail and The Bouqs Co.’s initial marketing
* They sell retail and get the flowers directly from suppliers. They also cover the shipping fee. * They first validated the concept before pushing through. * The company started small and low-cost, eventually building up enough equity.

[11:56] — Hustling and telling a compelling story
* Telling the benefits of your product may be informative but not exciting. * John used pure entrepreneurial hustle to sell their intriguing volcano story to everyone. * At a certain point, the company even advertised the story more than its service. * Listen to the full episode to learn more about The Bouqs Co.’s volcano story!

[16:12] — John tactics in selling a story
* You don’t have to be a great storyteller. All you have to do is test repeatedly. * Consumers will show you through their reactions if they are interested. * Your story can come from lots of places, and make sure it has that “wow factor.” * Once you have a story, the challenge is putting it out there. * Start with people you’re close to who can give honest, detailed feedback.

[20:48] — Figuring out your golden nugget and developing it
* Step one is to brainstorm for ideas and test them. * Figure out the angles of your potential stories, and create the most compelling version. * If you have no idea who your target audience is, check your current and potential clients, make a hypothesis, and find them. * Over time, your story will evolve and become broader.

[28:53] —The Bouqs Co.’s sales channels and traffic source
* Their company is 100% direct-to-consumer. * Their biggest channels are organic and direct: SEO, brand awareness, and SEM.

[30:54] — Identifying potential partners and connecting with them
* John worked the personal angle, found common ground, and exchanged favors with partners. * A swap of brand equity is a great way to use your network. * Having an interesting story leads to more press, and potential partners will come to you instead of you begging for their attention. * If you don’t have enough press yet, work in concentric circles. * It will take time, but it will be easier to partner with secondary connections than strangers.

[34:08] — E-commerce startup funding flop and learnings
* They were initially rejected because they didn't know how to make a convincing pitch. * John didn't do enough research, and his timing was wrong. * The external factor of e-commerce fatigue and hangover at the time was also severe. * The company had to prove itself first through accelerating revenue growth, milestones, and the initial clamor of some investors. * Don’t be too concerned with the impact of short-term dilutions.

[40:55] — Bootstrapping vs. venture-backed financing
* Founders will often face two extremes. Either raise a lot of money or raise only a little. * A small budget only works in the short-term, as problems with customer service and technology inevitably arise. * A small budget will take a toll on the energy of the founders and other full-time employees. * Once you get on venture-backed financing, you’ll have to raise the bar, go big every time, and lose more control. * Evaluate whether you need to rely on venture capitalists or you can raise money somewhere else.

[50:11] — How they manage peak flower seasons
* They effectively utilize 140 farms with about 100 farmhands on holidays with high demand. * The Bouqs Co. also has a dedicated team that believes in the company's mission.

Episode Highlights
[03:40] — Marcel talks about Parakeeto
* During their consulting work, Marcel observed that service businesses don’t put enough emphasis on estimating work properly. * His SaaS app allows information from past projects and historical data to drive realistic estimates for new projects. * They target boutique agencies because they are an underserved market.

[05:53] — Parakeeto’s SaaS debt funding, developments & expenditures
* The SaaS start-up would have spent a lot more if not for the sacrifices internal founders made to reduce expenses. * They raised money by offering consultations to their initial customers and helping them through their problems. * They also noticed that podcasts often talk about how to get new clients, but there was a gap when it comes to talking about operations and profitability. * Creating the podcast allowed them to generate inbound leads and transition the bottom of their funnel into customers of their new product.

[08:30] — How Marcel promoted and launched Parakeeto
* They stayed away from paid advertisements and focused on generating an organic following. * Most of their traffic comes from the audience of their show guests. They have about 1000 subscribed to their email list, but their podcast has about 3000 subscribers. * You don't need a lot of following to launch a product. You need the right connections and an engaged audience. * In solving a niche problem in a niche market, you have to focus on quality over quantity.

[10:54] — The SaaS application’s price point and cash flow
* They would do productized offerings on the front end, priced at about $1500. * There was a lot of testing and trial and error involved in determining the price. * They handled longer-term recurring engagements on retainer, and the podcast generated leads for them.

[12:00] — Technical aspects & challenges
* Fortunately, the founders were technically skilled in programming. * Their major challenge was they over-engineered it and made it too large and too complex too soon. * They realized they needed to start from a place of estimation.

[13:33] — Coding strategy
* In the company’s early days, they only had a few developers writing the code. * They eventually brought in their technical co-founder, and he now writes and manages the entire code base.

[14:37] — Most challenging aspects of a SaaS company
* There is a trade-off between features and speed. Therefore, you need to balance and evaluate your priorities. * When serving customers, it’s easy to fall into the trap of continuously adding features. * Every new line of code makes the application complicated, slow, and increasingly difficult. * It is important to be conscious of whether or not it makes sense to add more features.

[16:53] — Attracting Parakeeto users
* They have about 50 users on the platform, but most of them log in every day. * Their biggest focus is to get more active users who reengage and reuse their software. * They are niched into a time tracking tool called Harvest, so they run specific pay-per-click campaigns for its users. * They also run Facebook campaigns and use SparkToro to have a comprehensive understanding of their leads’ interests. * SparkToro has an interesting SaaS funding method other companies can learn from.

[19:35] — Marcel’s tips for SaaS start-ups
* The most common mistake software developers make is that they neglect what the market needs and wants. * Test your assumptions about the market continuously and as early as possible. * An internal want is a great place to start a company, but it sets you up to make software without a product–market fit. * A low-tech initial product is the best way to generate potential customers and get paid while gaining experience.

Episode Highlights
[03:59] — Brett introduces OMG Commerce
* OMG Commerce is a digital marketing agency working exclusively with e-commerce companies. It has ranked twice on the Inc. 5000. * Their agency has two divisions: Google/YouTube and Amazon. * The Amazon advertising platform is rapidly growing in terms of digital advertising.

[05:53] — The evolution of Amazon’s advertising platform
* Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands are still a staple and the foundation of most Amazon advertising strategies. * Sponsored Display ads and Sponsored Brand Videos are a few examples of new ways to advertise on Amazon.

[08:33] — The first aid for clients struggling in Amazon advertising
* Figure out your advertising cost of sales goals and your total ad cost of sales. * Find out which products you are willing to spend more on to advertise.

[10:58] — How ad campaigns help your product rank higher
* Search bar-sponsored products are the most efficient initial ad campaigns. * Conversion rates are high, and the cost is manageable for Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brand Videos. * Display ads can reduce the conversion rate and hurt organic rankings. * Discounted sales count in your sales velocity only if they’re at a normal range and not reaching 90 to 100% discount.

[14:35] — Ranking a product organically
* It all depends on a client’s ad cost goals. * Know your budget and your tolerance. * You can take a slow and steady approach to ad spending. * You can also take an aggressive initial approach and then narrow it down once you gain velocity.

[17:00] — The benefits of Sponsored Display ads and Amazon DSP
* People have wanted to try Amazon DSP because it allows sellers to remarket to their product detail page viewers. * You have more control and flexibility with Amazon DSP than with Sponsored Displays because of its rich behavioral data. * You can also target the Google Display Network and reach people across the web. * To measure the effectiveness of your Amazon DSP, compute the ROAS or return on ad spend (conversion value divided by cost).

[23:10] — How to sell on Amazon & the value of retargeting
* Any business needs to focus on retargeting, be it through remarketing, loyalty campaigns, or competitive conquesting. * Target people who viewed your competitors’ products but did not buy. * If Amazon shoppers see your ad and it's clear it's an Amazon listing, that boosts your click-throughs and conversions.

[26:28] — How competitive conquesting works
* Once a shopper looks at a competitor’s product but does not purchase it, you may target that shopper throughout Amazon’s advertising platforms. * These platforms range from the Amazon app itself, the Amazon website, and even Amazon-owned sites such as IMDb.

[30:48] — Sponsored Brand Videos, CPC & PPC advertising
* Videos capture a shopper’s attention immediately. * Sponsored Brand Videos are better scroll-stoppers compared to static ad images. * Some people animate their images to make them into videos. * The click-through rate of videos is three to ten times higher than that of sponsored ads. * The cost per click is also 10 to 40% lower.

[34:16] — What makes a video ad great?
* Making great videos doesn't need high production value. * Get into the mindset of the shopper. * Think of it less like a TV commercial and more like a product demonstration. * Optimize for mobile applications, and keep it 15 to 30 seconds long. * Make sure to highlight the features and benefits even without sound.

[38:48] — How search engines are connected to an Amazon listing
* Amazon is the largest advertiser on Google; therefore, Amazon's number one traffic source is Google. * The traffic comes either organically or through Google advertising. * If someone searches for the brand, they are redirected to the company website. But if someone searches for a category, they are redirected to the Amazon listing. * Amazon attribution can track URLs. The platform sees it as external traffic and converts well.

Episode Highlights
[02:36] — Who is Peter Yared?
* Peter is the founder and CEO of InCountry. * He founded six other software companies.

[05:55] — What is Flowster?
* Flowster is a SaaS company that provides workflow management software. * It is a tool for businesses to document repetitive processes and subsequently delegate them to the team. * It currently has around 5,000 users, and about 10% of them are paying customers. * Most users are e-commerce entrepreneurs who previously purchased Trent’s product, WEBS.

[09:16] — Types of Amazon sellers
* Most brands on Amazon either sell their products to Amazon or have third-party resellers. * Businesses who directly sell to consumers using an Amazon Seller Central account have more control. * Often, brands who want to shift to direct selling don’t have enough people and knowledge on procedures to do so. * Flowster aims to solve this problem by providing e-commerce entrepreneurs all the necessary procedures to operate an Amazon Seller Central account.

[11:08] — E-commerce, the latest trend
* Take a step back and identify what’s the underlying trend. * Right now, e-commerce is a huge trend. However, there is also a resistance to it as it can be complicated.

[12:50] — Peter suggests a marketing strategy for Flowster
* Peter equated Flowster to a checklist that’s easy to follow. * Let potential users know that the software eliminates the complications attached to e-commerce by following the checklist. * Flowster’s message should be aspirational. Share success stories of existing users and show their “before and after.” * Quantify the message. Specify the period it takes to set up a store on Amazon.

[14:04] — The growth of e-commerce
* E-commerce has been steadily developing the past few years, with a sudden accelerated growth due to COVID-19. * There is a rush of new entrants in the market. * There are now more buyers, including older people who didn’t like to shop online before.

[17:31] — Direct sales outreach program
* Peter suggests making a list of top 10,000 brands in North America and have a virtual assistant or intern go through it for Flowster. * Subsequently, narrow the list down to 2,000 companies that don’t sell on Amazon. * Personalize the messages for the top 100 and make aspirational ones for the other 1,900. * Reach out to the decision-maker of the company and talk about the “before and after” of using your product.

[22:42] — Flowster’s initial ad campaigns
* Trent will be working with an ad agency. He expects that the first two months of ad campaigns will not be profitable. * However, it will allow them to collect data that they can use to refine messaging, tweak their landing page, run more experiments and split tests, and eventually drive toward profitable campaigns that will allow them to scale. * For Peter, an effective way to target the said 2,000 companies is via LinkedIn. * Experiment on what gets the brands to click and figure out the people who are converting.

[25:09] — The best data sources
* Find trade organizations where your target market belongs. * For instance, Peter sells privacy and data hosting software, so he looks into the members of the Industry Association of Privacy Professionals.

[27:02] — Buyer vs. champion
* The buyer would usually be the person in the company that signs the check for what you’re selling. Most of the time, the buyer is not the decision-maker. * Reach out to both the decision-maker and buyer. * Transitioning to direct selling on Amazon is a massive decision for any brand. Flowster becomes the facilitator of this change. * Everyone in the organization has to be convinced and aligned on the move. Present case studies and success stories of using Flowster. * A customer becomes a champion when they recommend the software to more people.

[34:15] — Reaching out to champions & buyers
* There’s no checklist for reaching out to brands because every industry is different. * The hard part about breaching a market is figuring out what’s unique about it and learning what motivates them. * Talk to your existing customers. Ask them how decision-making happens in their organization or how they can be best reached. In exchange, promote them.

[35:34] — Keeping up with the competition
* Most of the time, competitors have more cash. * It's helpful if you're not doing the same thing as them. * Specialize. Reach locations not tapped into by your competitors.

[37:58] — The nature of VC-backed companies
* VC-backed companies operate on different metrics. * They blow through a lot of money to make a lot of money. * They experience a lot of internal problems with their people. * Peter does not fear VC-backed competitors because they usually have a high failure rate.

[40:13] — Raising capital
* Present to potential investors the potential vertical and horizontal growth of your company. * Show what the company can do to get the numbers up. * Early in Peter’s career, friends and family funded his ventures. Eventually, his companies were self-funded or backed by venture capitalists.

Episode Highlights
[03:46] — Steven introduces his Amazon agency, My Amazon Guy
* Steven is the founder of My Amazon Guy, an Amazon seller consulting agency helping clients grow their sales. * He started the company two and a half years ago and has already grown to 22 employees. * Steven describes his primary work as consultancy and has been involved with five failed startups.

[05:16] — Steven’s methods for success
* He attributes his success to using processes and systems efficiently. * Having a system in place allowed him to hire relatively inexperienced college graduates and still function effectively. * You need a good model that works and you can replicate to all of your clients.

[06:32] — How My Amazon Guy attracts clients
* Content generation is crucial to client acquisition. * Steven created a free YouTube channel with videos that answer any question clients would have. * They are a thought leader in the platform and have answered potential problems clients can encounter in advance.

[11:49] — Content generation
* Being authentic and sharing your trade secrets for free attract customers to you. * Podcast circuits and masterminds also help them in client acquisition. * Penetrating ecosystems will gather high-quality, long-term clients.

[14:11] — How to boost sales in Amazon
* Focus on traffic generation and conversion improvements. * Source more products. * Diversify your portfolio. * Focus on your SEO.

[16:15] — SEO for Amazon
* SEO is a long-term matter; additional traffic will translate to sales eventually. * A+ content is essential in your SEO. It can triple your index keywords. * Implement the best practices for SEO and regularly matriculate and index additional keywords. * Improve and hyperfocus on high-ranking keywords.

[20:17] — A+ content and best practices
* Take up more space to push down competitor ads. * Write more copy for better SEO. * Utilize all six modules, and make the most of the product grid. * Add a lifestyle element to your photos.

[25:54] — Growth hacks for traffic generation
* Advertising is the easiest way to grow traffic, but be prepared to pay the costs. * Private-label sellers should spend at least 10% of their gross sales on advertising. * Invest in hot ads such as videos and custom-brand headline images. * Humans still outperform robots in advertising, but having a bot can be profitable.

[31:29] — Amazon advertising tips
* Utilize display advertising. * Don’t incentivize product reviews. * Try search-find-buy to increase your SEO ranking externally.

[41:22] — The future of the Amazon marketplace
* There will be more focus on US manufacturing, backlash on China-made products, and an increase in localization. * People will be willing to pay a premium on higher-quality goods.

Episode Highlights
[03:57] — Ron & Dovi explain the mission of CuraLife
* CuraLife creates solutions for people living with chronic conditions to help them lead healthier and happier lives. * Their main product is CuraLin, a supplement for diabetics. * The company started when Ron’s father was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. * They help tens of thousands of diabetics with their product.

[05:14] — What are the sales channels of CuraLife?
* CuraLife has a D2C business model, so their website is the main sales channel. * They are also exploring partnerships with professionals such as clinics and retail pharmacies.

[07:14] — CuraLife’s B2B Facebook advertising best practices
* The company spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on Facebook ads. * They use a mix of static images and videos. * They let a specialist agency manage their social media campaigns. * At first, they focused on the R&D aspect of the product to develop a base they can scale.

[08:57] — How their top funnel works
* The first ads aren't about diabetes and the product itself. * They focus on content that will pique curiosity and funnel traffic toward the long-form sales letters. * Essentially, they perform click-baiting and pay-per-click advertising by writing about unrelated topics that lead you to their product. * The company is currently experimenting with static one-image ads.

[11:41] — CuraLife’s unicorn ads
* They use Harmon Brothers’ formula for Facebook video ads. * They are currently looking at metrics to see if video sales letters are effective. * Testimonial ads create organic engagement and social validation. * They have seen plenty of success coming from both these B2B Facebook advertising best practices.

[14:26] — Dovi’s lessons on video advertisements
* Their video sales letters last 30 minutes. * Their ad landing page has only about 30 seconds of video for variety and impact. * Authenticity and organic testimonials make an ad more powerful. * Test variations of your content to find the best one. * Their calls to action focus on people who can commit to an upfront sale, but they don’t have one formula for it.

[19:24] — CuraLife’s sales & order strategy
* Their average order price is $133, and they are profitable on the first purchase. * CuraLfe wants to improve how they upsell products. * The company is currently exploring partnerships with related products to generate more sales.

[22:26] — Practical advertising advice for D2C companies
* Know what you are doing; otherwise, you will be wasting money on social media. * Learn how to generate and convert traffic using advertisements. * Hire experts instead of doing in-house advertising work. * Don't go cheap; the low-quality output will cost you more in the long run.

[24:33] — Content marketing for CuraLife
* Their blogs are a central part of the value they provide their customers. * Their organic content marketing is mostly educational. * They advocate for easily applicable lifestyle changes to improve health quality. * They work with both internal and outsourced writers.

[28:21] — Finding the right freelancers
* Test the freelancers to segregate the good ones from the bad ones. * Freelancers can surprise you with how effective they are. * The amount of direction you give to freelance writers depends on what your goals are.

[31:33] — Advice for hiring writers
* Don’t get starstruck with “A-list” copywriters because they might not be worth it. * Give small writers a chance to prove themselves.

[33:51] — CuraLife’s buyer persona and other marketing strategies
* To create a buyer persona for the company, they had to understand the goals, hopes, challenges, and fears of diabetics. * If you own a D2C company, ask yourself: “What drives your customers to a decision?” * CuraLife gathers information from surveys, interviews, and online communities. * CuraLife currently has 50,000 subscribers on Facebook and 12,000 members in their private community. * Their group has been experiencing tremendous growth, and they provide information, emotional support, and peer networks for customers to live a healthier life.

[40:28] — CuraLife’s structure & processes
* Curalife recently tripled in size, so they need more structure to support such rapid scaling. * They adopted a more project-based structure with agile marketing to provide individual ownership and ensure accountability. * They automated more processes using business software. * Figure out the best practices, especially when you’re a start-up.

[44:06] — Future plans for CuraLife
* As a consumer healthcare start-up, they aim to build their clinical position by strengthening their roots in the healthcare markets. * Their biggest challenge is how to scale and find the right price point for their product.

**Episode Highlights

[04:39] — Richard introduces Sellgo**
* Sellgo is an e-commerce catalog tracker. It started as a wholesale tool to help Amazon sellers find profitable products to sell. * It has transitioned into an intelligent data platform to provide better catalog experience to maximize Amazon sellers' growth.

[06:04] — Sellgo’s unique selling proposition
* Its core feature is automating the process of filtering and sorting out a seller's products and tracking their profit potential. * With a software like Sellgo, sellers can look into which products could work now that didn’t work before. * The goal is to help sellers grow their market dominance on and outside Amazon.

[13:04] — Other Sellgo features
* Sellgo is working on presets that can filter by sales velocity, sales equity, and number of sellers.

[13:55] — Selling on Amazon is tactical
* Sellgo provides automation that sellers can leverage to apply tactical strategies in their business. * They are trying to build supertargeting and “The Wholesale Formula” into their system so that sellers can find their niche product at the inventory level. * They can process millions of data, introducing a new way of doing product research.

[17:10] — Starting a SaaS company
* Sellgo is a bootstrapped company. * Before Sellgo, Richard was an Amazon seller who wanted to expand his wholesale business. * Although he could have just physically expanded, he had a bigger idea of providing software that gives value to other sellers.

[18:11] — Raising capital
* To get funding, he presented the idea of Sellgo to a group of angel investors. He was able to raise a million dollars. * While living in the Bay Area, Richard learned to tap into the right startup investor community. * He formed a team, built a prototype, and pitched to investors. * He found that investors tend to invest in the same company types.

[20:00] — Making the prototype
* Rather than spending so much time on coding the prototype, he instead developed the business concept. * He focused on the wireframe and did little coding. * Richard says you only need to make sure the prototype works.

[21:08] — Developing the software
* He has been developing the software for less than a year. * The core functionality of the app has developed since then. * Competitor analysis affects Sellgo’s positioning. * Initially, Richard was thinking big. He only wanted to build a product that can scale. * However, he realized it was better to start small and focus on a specific audience.

[22:57] — Has Sellgo achieved product–market fit?
* Richard meets Amazon sellers at conferences. * He informally interviews them to ask about their problems and needs. * Through these conversations, he gets an idea of their product–market fit.

[24:14] — On tapping other audiences
* The other segments of Amazon sellers are the private label sellers and those who do retail arbitrage. * Sellgo is focused on Amazon resellers first. * However, private label sellers can use Sellgo’s product tracker. They’re not serving arbitrage and dropshipping at the moment.

[25:29] — Competitor analysis
* Everyone has the same solution in the market, and Sellgo wanted to come up with a different approach. * You don’t want to come to the market late and offer the same thing. * Richard can evaluate the products of competitors through the eyes of an Amazon seller. * Richard also learns about the competing team because every founder brings their DNA to the product.

[27:55] — On testing the product
* The company has not aggressively launched Sellgo in public. * Sellgo is working with a core group of about 30 beta users who were selected organically from their internal network. Some were sourced from past conferences.

[28:28] — Content marketing
* Sellgo has started blogging and copywriting. * They used both gut and data to compose their first few pieces of content. * Sellgo emphasizes the importance of analyzing data to make business decisions.

[31:30] — Creating a strong SOP
* Richard quotes James Clear: You don't rise to the level of your goal, but you fall to the level of your systems. * Flowster provides users an easy way to manage SOPs through documentation of processes, task delegation, and KPI tracking.

[32:58] — How Flowster helps SaaS companies
* Flowster aims to get SaaS users up to speed so that they get the maximum benefit of the software in the shortest period. * This allows quick revenue expansion because the companies can add other users. * Rather than sending training videos, workflows are provided to make it easy for new users to learn their software.

**Episode Highlights

[03:53] — Joe Welstead introduces Motion Nutrition**
* Motion Nutrition sells organic protein powders and natural nootropic products. * The benefits range from managing stress and helping customers sleep to improving their daytime energy. * It has been four years since Joe started the company. * They are currently only based in the UK, but they are interested in expanding to other countries.

[05:23] — How did Motion Nutrition 10x its revenue?
* The company first specialized in organic sports supplements, but they were not capturing their target audience. * Without altering the ingredients of the product, they rebranded their company's identity by making changes in packaging. * Instead of emphasizing the technicalities of their ingredients, they employed simple designs and messaging to highlight the benefits of their products. * Over the past 18 months, their online sales have grown to $1.5 million without launching on Amazon.

[07:33] — Motion Nutrition’s D2C marketing strategy
* Joe used in-store sampling to get raw feedback from customers. * They made their packaging more environmentally friendly and improved the convenience of their products. * Their D2C marketing strategy yielded results, to the tune of 4x to 5x online sales, in three months.

[12:49] — Motion Nutrition’s sales channels
* Approximately 40 to 50% of their sales come from their website, 20% from Amazon, and another 20% from other retail stores. * They launched on Amazon only a year ago. * Their D2C marketing strategy directs their customers to make purchases on their website. * Joe views retail stores as passive acquisition channels. * Their sleep score quiz, coupled with Facebook advertising, entices people to buy from their website.

[16:39] — The role of partnerships in Motion Nutrition’s growth
* Their most profitable partnership is with Thrive Magazine. It landed Joe a speaking gig, where he met a student who would later work at a challenger bank with 10 million customers. * Establish relationships with people whether they are in a position of power or not. You’ll never know what benefits you will get from it. * This practice got him connections in big magazines without advertising with them.

[22:35] — Tips to build human relation skills
* Human relations is not about extraversion. * Give people your full attention and actively listen. * Start a conversation in a non-threatening way.

[27:07] — Motion Nutrition’s website traffic acquisition
* They have a static ad on Facebook promoting their sleep score quiz. The data comes from the National Sleep Foundation. * After the quiz, an offer to purchase an Unplug trial pack for six nights will come up. * They also send daily emails based on your answers.

[29:22] — Using unicorn ads and brand ambassadors
* Their unicorn ad for Unplug has 15,000 comments and over 1,000 shares. * A unicorn ad is an ad you use without changing it. It picks up engagements over a long period. * Because of the post’s high organic engagement, more people are discovering Motion Nutrition. * As the unicorn ad generates more social proof, the company’s cost per click and cost per mile decrease. * The company also works with real-life influencers, such as nutritional therapists.

[37:59] — Motion Nutrition’s top funnel
* The company’s competitors are mass-market products, but the way they market themselves is too niche. * To differentiate themselves, Motion Nutrition doesn’t use jargon in their messaging. * They create long-term brand equity by being benefit-focused and emotionally driven.

[40:39] — Converting leads into customers
* 1 week to 10 days — daily emails with tips based on the quiz answers * Then, they tell the leads how they will feel in the long term if they buy their products. * They’re also careful to manage their leads’ expectations.

[45:12] — The Motion Nutrition team & processes
* The company has seven full-time employees and three freelancers. * Their most repetitive processes concern fulfillment. Their biggest issue at the moment is providing tracking information for customers abroad. * Joe says delegating repetitive tasks can free up a quality of work that you wouldn't acquire by hiring someone. * They use Capsule as their funnel tool. * Joe advises to be careful in working with an outsourcing agency.

[50:31] — Future of Motion Nutrition
* Their priority is to reach a $2 million run rate and raise significant funding at Series A. * Their products will focus on energy, stress and sleep, and longevity.

**Episode Highlights

[03:45] — Kent introduces himself and Neuro**
* Neuro was formed in 2013 and officially launched its first product in 2015. * Neuro turns supplements into gums and mints you can carry around wherever you go. * Their product is the ideal solution for mid-afternoon drowsiness without the undesirable side effects of energy drinks and coffee. * The company has sold close to 15 million pieces now.

[09:32] — What’s the revenue split of Neuro?
* Brick-and-mortar sales used to make up about 20% but dropped to 10% because of COVID-19 restrictions. * Sales from Amazon account for 60%. * Affiliate sales contribute to 8%. * The rest comes from their website.

[10:25] — Kent explains how they sell on Amazon
* They work with an Amazon Launchpad manager and their in-house manager. * The company is seller-central, meaning, they ship from their manufacturing plant to the Amazon fulfillment houses. * If they run out of products, they could easily switch to merchant-fulfilled from their third-party logistics. * This setup gives them flexibility they wouldn’t have if they had a vendor-central account and inventory runs dependent on Amazon.

[14:14] — The importance of product images
* A lot of brands don’t shoot enough images. * Pictures are valuable in the mobile shopping experience. * Convey critical information such as product size, ingredients, and social proof to build credibility.

[17:02] — How does Kent build momentum for new products?
* Funnel reviews from existing products to new ones. * Provide samples. * Build your own customer base on your website; develop a brand outside Amazon.

[18:32] — How do you leverage your email list?
* Neuro segments its email list. * After reaching a threshold of repeat purchases, customers are invited to go on Amazon and leave reviews. * Some customers are lost to Amazon, but many come back to buy on the website. * Reviews on Amazon have long-term benefits of increased visibility compared to the short-term advantage of extra margins from website sales.

[21:19] — How does Kent steer customers from Amazon to Neuro?
* Incentivize purchases on your website. * Neuro offers limited-edition stickers, prizes, and better unboxing experience. * Previously, they used Facebook ads to drive customers into a messenger bot sequence that promised them a rebate or refund for purchases on the website. * The messenger chat flow strategy brought Amazon to the losing end. As a consequence, Amazon slashed Neuro’s reviews from 1600 to around 1200.

[26:06] — PR as the best source of traffic
* Kent and his co-founders started sending emails to every media outlet that talked about consumer packaged goods. * Currently, Neuro has automated the process of sending emails through Mixmax. * Neuro now works with a PR firm, which helps them reach out to high-level influencers and magazines.

[30:18] — What’s the most effective call to action?
* Social credibility is essential. * Being featured on media outlets like Time, Fast Company, BuzzFeed, Shark Tank, and New Yorker has significantly increased their conversion rate.

[31:29] — Neuro’s conversion rate optimization
* Neuro uses Hot Jar, which allows the company to see how visitors are navigating the website. * A digital operations employee manages optimizations on the website and Amazon.

[32:27] — Do you have documented procedures for your processes?
* Everything is a systemized process in Neuro, such as using Google Data Studio for tracking KPIs. * The company also implemented a “rise score” to determine the amount of effort and costs needed for maximum impact. * They also work with a digital ads agency to evaluate the company’s performance, study CPA and CRM, and optimize conversions.

[34:39] — Neuro’s SEO
* SEO is not as effective for Neuro because no one is directly searching for energy gum. * They would try targeting within the energy drink sector or people looking into brain health, but SEO won't drive the same traffic as directly targeting someone. * Search engine marketing, coupled with PR and direct ads, has instead been performing well for Neuro. * Kent estimates their website has an average of 250,000 visits per month.

[36:32] — Kent explains how to get press coverage
* Most start-ups are not connected with any PR agency. * When Neuro was just starting, the founders religiously emailed every media outlet they could. * Dr. Oz reached out two weeks after their launch. Shark Tank, on the other hand, reached out to Neuro three months into the business, after their appearances on Time Magazine, CNN, and Dr. Oz. * Eventually, they hired virtual assistants and automated the process of sending emails.

[40:42] — Venturing into podcasts and vlogging
* They have two podcasts. One is a personal project of Kent and Tyler, Neuro’s CEO, called Rethink Everything. The other show aims to destigmatize mental health as Neuro offers products that enhance the mind. * On YouTube, they reached out to fitness influencers to create workout videos with them. * Podcasts and YouTube are great avenues for finding people who can potentially be a lifetime-value customer or a brand ambassador.

[45:22] — Creating an email funnel
* There’s an exit-intent email pop-up on Neuro’s website. * Emails are also captured when someone makes a purchase on the website. * They also acquire emails during sampling programs like Wodapalooza and Expo West. * For email segmentation, they use Retention Science. The platform smart-categorizes people based on their open rates. Once categories are established, customers are not bombarded with unnecessary e-mail.

[48:56] — Are there changes to Neuro’s business plan as a result of COVID-19?
* All changes are based on how Neuro pushes toward digital optimization and digital operations. * The budget for physical sampling programs was reallocated to influencer programs and digital marketing campaigns.

Episode Highlights
[03:30] — David introduces ScreenCloud
* ScreenCloud is a SaaS digital signage company launched in 2015. They help companies control their content across multiple screens. * Digital signage is both advertising and content. * From being a side project of their previous agency, they funded it to become a start-up.

[06:52] — How they established the product-market fit
* Before they got to a point where people were buying the software, they launched a series of side projects. By doing so, they were able to gauge customers' feedback better. * Instead of being hardware vendors, they completely went the other way by focusing on the software aspect. * Their initial product didn't work because they didn't consider how it would work outside their studio. * They created a basic first version of their product to know where they needed to make adjustments.

[12:08] — ScreenCloud’s biggest challenge
* ScreenCloud's biggest challenge is moving upstream. It is because a lot of their current customers are small and medium businesses. * However, for them to clinch more prominent companies, they have to increase their ACV. * To get to a million dollars, they have to reach 100,000 customers. Looking at their cohorts’ behavior, they found that what would help them achieve this feat is their bigger customers who are more likely to expand and less likely to churn.

[15:41] — ScreenCloud’s niche
* Their niche is spread over different industries. * They’re making inroads into companies who use screens for “internal comms.” What ScreenCloud does is provide them with an effective means of sharing dashboards.

[18:54] — Filtering out customers
* Self-serve — They are pushed down the funnel through webinars. * Big customers — They are pushed to a sales team.

[19:07] — ScreenCloud’s marketing route
* They haven’t found success yet in outbound marketing. * Their enterprise customers had come in through inbound content marketing. ScreenCloud makes sure they’re producing content specific to them. * What works for them is speaking to the right people and giving them an easy way to sign up. * Their products primarily require people to be in the office. * They have come up with different use cases of getting information. For example, they created a version called Embeddable Channels that you can embed on the intranet or open as a tab on your browser.

[25:31] — Finding success in inbound content marketing
* Right from the very start, they have invested in content. * They use long-tail content that incorporates smaller details. * They also use video marketing to showcase various use cases.

[28:34] — Building a matrix of use cases
* Keyword research * Guesswork * Talking to customers * Automation

[31:51] — Driving leads down the funnel
* They first introduce the idea of a digital signage solution. * Then, they do lots of retargeting and make them understand what ScreenCloud is. * At the bottom of the funnel conversion, they explain how companies have used ScreenCloud to engage their people. * They have a hybrid approach in their funnel conversion through a newsletter, free trial, and email sequence. * The biggest focus is on making free trials a success.

[33:59] — ScreenCloud’s sales process
* They split the sales process into three depending on the customer size.

+ Small customers — website content
+ Middle group — semi-automated
+ Large customers — sales teams

They document and automate these different sales processes.

Episode Highlights
[03:13] — Phil introduces himself
* He is an email marketer. * He helps companies grow their audience and build their email lists. * Phil is the founder of Tetra, an email marketing consultancy.

[04:08] — 2 challenges on digital marketing funnels for Trent
1. He wants to categorize his Bright Ideas audience to provide relevant content for each category and drive them to try out Flowster. 2. He needs to come up with new strategies to make more people sign up for Flowster’s services.

[09:04] — Self-segmenting Bright Ideas audience
* An email asks the user to pick and click one out of the three links that’s most applicable to them. * After self-segmenting, a follow-up email is sent to offer free resources that are specific, useful, and relevant to the user. * Self-segmenting provides more relevant content for the audience. * For Phil, self-segmenting does not have to be complicated.

[14:52] — Breaking down the digital marketing funnel for Bright Ideas
1. Self-segment through email links 2. Provision of specific and targeted free resources 3. Offer to try out WEBS (Wholesale eCommerce Business System) and gain freemium users.

[16:12] — Activating people to avail paid services
* Flowster’s freemium model allows users to make up to five templates, hoping they would pay for more templates. * Trent shares their struggle with user engagement and getting users to pay for their services. * Phil comments about the threshold of five templates for freemium users. It might be too much.

[22:50] — Designing Flowster’s user experience
* You want people to keep using your app until they upgrade to paid features. * For Phil, you have to ensure that your actions will lead to getting users active on the app itself. * Including new users in a community group can help build a relationship with them. However, ensuring that they are actually using the different features in the app should be the priority.

[27:46] — Phil’s tricks on activating people
* It is best to ask users why they are using your product or app to know how to serve them better. * Find out the features or services users gain value from. * Curate a clean user experience to get people more involved.

[31:42] — Prioritizing digital marketing funnel efforts
* Phil suggests that Flowster prioritize efforts on the 20% that are actually using the app. * Watch out for the completely unengaged audiences who have probably checked out. * A win-back email campaign may work to get them to reactivate. If they don’t, Phil suggests cleaning these unengaged audiences from the list and moving on.

[33:12] — Tetra’s business model
* His company’s model is agency style, where they conceptualize a strategy and build and run it for their client. * Tetra can also work alongside their client to teach them how to conceptualize and strategize themselves.

[34:46] — Some advice from Phil
* When sending email campaigns, especially with marketing messaging, don’t use something as generic as info@domain.com or support@domain.com. * Come up with an alias or avatar to make it sound like it comes from a human, not from a computer.

Episode Highlights
[3:47] — Brian introduces Dozuki
* Dozuki is a content management system primarily focused on manufacturers. * It is a purpose-built tool that serves as a replacement for Word, PowerPoint, and other related software. * Founded in 2011 as a spinout company of iFixit, Dozuki now has 55 employees. * The corporate spinout occurred because of the difference in company goals and overall mission.

[6:56] — Tips on developing your product
* Find a niche and be specific. * It’s hard to market a generic product that tries to meet everyone's needs. * Create a tool that your customers can't live without.

[8:33] — How Dozuki took advantage of iFixit’s user base
* Being a content management system for engineers, iFixit allowed engineers to notice Dozuki. * Manufacturing companies such as Tesla reached out and became one of their early customers. * Dozuki leveraged the large user base of iFixit in marketing and advertising. * Dozuki eventually scaled its marketing and sales team, albeit at a much slower pace than a traditional VC-backed company would.

[14:41] — Brian’s SaaS marketing examples
* Content marketing built Dozuki’s brand to the point that some are interested solely in their content. * Referrals from customers are also vital to them. * Dozuki uses SEO and SEM as well. Around 50% of their efforts are organic. * The company focuses on writing about the current industry challenges and how companies are solving them.

[17:52] — How Dozuki establishes relationships through free services
* Dozuki has a free SOP template with calls to action that entice the user to dig deeper. * It creates an entry point for them to begin a conversation with the potential customer. * The goal of the free service is not to pitch a demo right away. It’s to build and nurture goodwill.

[21:11] — Dozuki’s pricing strategy
* Pricing starts at $200 a month. It's based on their experience selling to the industry and what the market can bear. * Dozuki has a per-user model; the larger the company, the more expensive it gets. * They are trying to find ways to use the trial period as a way to generate leads. * They serve a broad spectrum of companies in terms of size. Sales cycles tend to be longer in large companies given their strict IT policies around security.

[24:34] — Why Dozuki hasn’t done much partnership
* Brian found that partnerships have become a little bit of a distraction. * Nonetheless, there are a lot of opportunities there, particularly amid the COVID-19 crisis.

[29:37] — Tips on converting leads into sales
* Marketing-qualified leads are scored based on the actions they take. * For example, SOP templates weigh more compared to blogs. * Sales reps should try to be helpful from the very start. * Dozuki uses sales engagement software such as Outreach and Salesloft to assist the sales representatives in structuring the follow-ups.

[37:35] — Onboarding & churn
* Dozuki segments customers according to company size. The larger ones get more attention. * There is a 30-day structured pilot for the users to understand the software better and for the decision-makers to find value in it. It costs less than the monthly subscription. * Dozuki converts 75% of the pilot users into paying customers. Those that did not convert did not have the top management onboard. * Churn rate is unexpectedly low even for smaller manufacturers.

[45:03] — Why SaaS companies should practice dogfooding
* Dogfooding is using our own product for quality control and marketing. * Dozuki documents every single sales process so that they can build a training curriculum from it. * This also builds accountability among the employees.

Episode Highlights
[02:25] — Justin introduces Boostopia
* Boostopia is a software for customer support managers that come up with ways to improve eCommerce customer experience. * Three of the four co-founders worked with Justin at an eCommerce company he founded before Boostopia. * At first, the company relied on the first batch of customers and their referral networks. Now, they’re developing a lead generation program through cold sales and business development. * Their focus has been companies with one full-time agent and between 1 and 20 customers.

[09:45] — Boostopia's positioning
* Their processes improve support operations so that it’s not only a cost center but something that creates revenue. The end goal is to improve the overall customer experience. * As a result, the solution they found was in enterprise products requiring multi-year contracts. * They designed the software to have an accessible modern design that is intuitive and easy.

[13:40] — The #1 problem that Boostopia solves
* Boostopia helps companies scale and grow without spending money and hiring people more than they need to. * Boostopia’s tools and add-ons help scaling organizations understand how they can improve their support department system. * On average, Boostopia helps companies decrease their support volume by 30% and make the existing team 20% faster. * By improving their processes and treating their teams better, companies serve their customers better as a result

[16:43] — The job of a support team role
* One of the highest turnover roles in an eCommerce company is the support role. It’s because oftentimes companies are not engaging the team. * Without improving the processes of the support operation, customer experience will suffer. * Customers prefer not to have problems in the first place instead of talking to people about the issues they have.

[21:10] — Boostopia’s customer acquisition categories
* Outbound or cold sales development * Customer referrals * Paid advertising campaigns

[25:09] — Justin explains how they pull leads
* They create an outbound sequence of email varieties to start conversations and eventually get customers on an initial call. * They clinch two to three appointments from about 300 emails per week, a 1% ratio.

[27:29] — The bottleneck in the system
* They were having intermittent deliverability challenges, and they couldn’t get out of that slump. * The solution they’re testing for this is bringing a third party to improve their domain reputation.

[28:49] — Justin shares what their messaging looks like
* Boostopia cites some of the hallmark brands they have worked with. * They then give a preview of their support operation solution when it comes to scaling. * They offer free in-depth support operation audits. * They’re also stacking around intent, signal-based programs.

[35:00] — What their referral program looks like
* They're intentional about asking existing customers to refer other potential clients to them. It is a 100% manual outreach. * Concerning their partnerships, their clients send them referrals who have questions about ticketing systems. If they close the deal, Boostopia gives the referring client a referral fee.

[38:02] — A look into Boostopia’s processes
* The initial work — build the process, optimize, and figure out what the best process is. * The next is to identify what the best tool or resource is for automating that process. The goal is to minimize the amount of human input. * Boostopia is in the spectrum of automating to outsourcing. Their onboarding specialists handle all the onboarding work with customers, which is a checklist-heavy and well-documented process.

[43:08] — Ways to improve eCommerce customer experience
* Customers want advisors, not problem-fixers. They care the most about customer experience. * Hence, it is crucial to focus on the operation side of things to free them from answering repetitive customer questions. * More and more companies are moving their support operations from a cost center to a profit center.

Resources
* Boostopia — Learn more about Justin’s all-in-one support operations platform and how it can transform your team and customer experience. * Flowster — Discover the platform that will make hiring, delegating, and training your team an absolute breeze. * ConvertKit * Zendesk * Allbirds * Pumba

Episode Highlights

[02:39] — Aki talks about MarketMuse
● Aki launched MarketMuse, a SaaS company using AI to help content marketers, creators, and strategists to optimize their content and make better planning decisions.
● He started working on it as a science project around 2014. It eventually became a commercial enterprise in 2015 when his co-founder Jeff Coyle joined him.
● They raised around $10 million to launch the company.
● MarketMuse's ideal customers are marketing managers, content strategists, SEO specialists, managing editors, and publishers.

[08:04] — How AI helps you make a content marketing plan
● AI can be used to automate or semi-automate the research behind your content strategy.
● Content strategy involves the new articles you need on your site and the existing articles you can improve, optimize, or repurpose.
● Machines are good at reading a lot of information quickly; humans are better at analyzing, storytelling, and opinionating.
● You can get the essence of a topic using AI, but it’s up to you to inject your expertise and create better content.

[13:33] — MarketMuse’s customer growth
● MarketMuse currently has about 200 paying companies and 5,000 new and trial customers.
● Originally labeled as an enterprise platform, they lowered their price point to start servicing startups and SMBs.
● Making the product free for 3 months during the pandemic helped the company gather more user data.

[15:51] — Influencer and content marketing
● Getting their first customers were challenging because they were describing a concept and service that do not have much terminology. It eventually got easier as time went by.
● Influencer marketing significantly contributed to attracting users. Aki reached out to influencers who, in return, gained value from MarketMuse and referred to them for a time.
● They eventually hired a content strategist who wrote articles for and about MarketMuse.

[24:55] — Leveraging partnerships for lead generation and customer acquisition
● Aki uses both referral and agency partnerships to gain more customers.
● Referral partnerships have no cost and no risk.
● Agency partners use the software for attracting prospects and generating better in-house content marketing plans.

[31:46] — Why inbound marketing is a better fit for MarketMuse
● Outbound marketing, such as cold-prospecting and email blasts, does have its place, but not for customer acquisition in their industry.
● Most of their customers are content specialists who are inbound-oriented.
● They also avoid paid marketing as they see no value in it at the moment.
● Aki and his team focus mainly on conferences as they provide deeper conversations and connections.

[36:41] — How Aki determined his pricing model
● Initially, he got random inputs.
● Customer feedback is essential to determine your price.
● MarketMuse moved on to a more data-driven pricing model in 2018.
● They realized they would need varying prices catering to companies of different sizes.

[41:19] — Reducing churn rate
● For VCs, a low churn rate is a better indicator of a successful SaaS company than a high revenue. It means that you have a good retention rate and expansion.
● With an inbound-led funnel, you end up selling to various types of customers. Outbound, on the other hand, allows you to focus on your ideal customer profile.
● Track customer success (CS).

[46:09] — Revenue expansion
● In terms of revenue expansion, MarketMuse tracks product usage to look at the ROI and value.
● They also recently came up with data-driven CS health scores.
● They use a model to analyze categorical data. If the score is too low, they conduct a remediation.

[49:12] — MarketMuse’s systems & processes
● They are currently hiring at a slower pace.
● To streamline their recruitment process, MarketMuse utilizes an applicant tracking system. They also post ads on Stack Exchange to attract engineering talent.
● They use various tools to document their work processes. As much as possible, Aki tries to experiment and learn from remote companies.

Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/content-marketing-plan/

Episode Highlights

[00:23] — Rand introduces SparkToro and gives a brief background about himself

● Rand started a new SaaS company called SparkToro that helps with audience intelligence and market research.
● He co-founded a company with his mom called Moz. He worked there for 17 years before putting up SparkToro with his long-time friend Casey Henry.

[03:28] — How Rand views SaaS debt funding

● The SparkToro funding method does not follow the usual path to venture funding.
● He wants to raise funds without the expectation of becoming a unicorn startup and without giving full control to investors.
● He thinks the venture model is unhealthy and detrimental to the survival of many small and medium businesses.

[10:19] — Tips before looking for SaaS debt funding

● Build your expertise.
● Help a lot of people and build your network through that.
● Once you’ve established a good network, start your SaaS debt funding.
● Prepare a pitch deck with the necessary information.

[16:41] — Rand shares how they determined valuation

● Before SaaS debt funding, they set a structured valuation and picked a number that is standard for a company at its early stage.
● They had conversations with their lead investors to determine a comfortable price range for both parties.

[24:22] — Rand explains the LLC as his chosen business structure.

● As an LLC, the investors own units of distribution, not units of ownership.
● This gives founders more control over decision-making in the company’s operations and growth.
● The management team can choose whether to distribute profits or reinvest those profits.
● They get a fixed salary until they pay back their SaaS debt funding.

[29:43] — How did Rand make sure his investors are accredited?

● He mentioned in his email request that he could only take money from accredited investors.
● He also sent a link to the US rules for accredited investors.

[30:47] — Rand shares some takeaways on SaaS debt funding

● Think really hard about what you want to build in the long term.
● There are intense hours and relaxed hours as a startup founder.
● You can achieve what everyone would consider a financial success and not have a successful outcome.
● Think small and sustainable.
● Only a few founders realize how unlikely exits are.

[36:25] — How did you build the business after fundraising?

● There was no real prototype, but they had a proof of concept and some information that could produce some results.
● The first year of development involved a lot of market research through a medium-scale survey and face-to-face interviews.

[42:01] — How the pandemic has affected SparkToro’s survival and growth

● They had to come up with new strategies to make up for the setbacks brought by the pandemic.
● They saw fewer subscriptions, and the bounce rate was high.
● However, they continue to find new ways to thrive.

[44:51] — What are your business strategies during this pandemic?

● Make the free account more generous and promote it more.
● Build future demand to have a more successful business in the long term.
● Believe that there will be future demand for the product.

Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/saas-debt-funding/

[00:34] — Matt shares how he and his team came up with Bonjoro
● Matt used to be an industrial designer.
● One day, he and his team decided to try a new marketing strategy. They sent out personal videos to customers.
● In twelve hours, their response rate tripled.

[03:43] — On funding and bootstrapping
● At first, the company raised some money for their funding.
● Presently, they bootstrap their own funds.
● They plan to bootstrap in the near future.

[05:21] — Customer base
● Bonjoro is used in three ways: lead conversion, activation in SaaS and online courses, and reactivating lapsed users or getting in touch with satisfied customers. They identify their clients on the funnel based on this.
● The company works with entrepreneurs and small and medium businesses.
● Consolidate your leads.
● Identify your best customers with the highest lifetime value. Focus your marketing on them.
● Bonjoro has 45,000 customers with about 10% monthly growth rate.

[09:26] — How to deal with competitors
● Look at the more unusual competitors.
● Be aware of those who serve the same needs despite having a different product.
● Look at where you are now and where you want to be.

[11:48] — Using different channels for marketing & customer acquisition
● Make a product-driven strategy.
● Do long-form content marketing.
● Work with micro-influencers from your customer base.
● Integrate CRM and other web services to your product. Partner and co-market with them.

[16:16] — Working with micro-influencers
● Build a relationship with your customer base. Create trigger points and set goals.
● Know if they have a community or group that you can engage with.
● Spend time with your customers. Identify the micro-influencers and create an echo chamber.
● From a smaller niche, expand the size of your target audience.
● Use the same process repeatedly.

[22:21] — What works best for Bonjoro
● With the product-driven strategy, the numbers are lower but the conversions are huge.
● Working with influencers is its second most successful customer acquisition method.
● Content marketing drives traffic but has the lowest conversion rate.
● Partners convert really well, especially with bigger companies.

[26:13] — On SaaS partnerships with big companies
● The good thing about large companies is that they already have partner programs running.
● They also have a lot of channels.
● Matt’s SaaS partnerships with big companies such as Patreon and Zapier made their company one of the top ten fastest-growing apps.
● Invest in your partner and vice versa.

[34:04] — How to build a fun brand
● Find unique differences in your customers.
● The good thing about small companies is you can always go overboard.
● Get a warm introduction.
● Find and hire the right people.
● Get to know people to learn more.

[39:55] — Developing processes
● They started with a manual approach to figure out what works.
● The team works from different places, which made things challenging.
● Blog writing follows a process.
● For their products: ideation, design, build, release, testing, reiteration.
● Tools like Slack are effective to consolidate their work.

Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/saas-partnerships/

Episode Highlights

[00:13] — Pete talks about his background and JazzHR
● Pete has been the CEO of JazzHR for four and a half years.
● He used to be in a startup called Carbonite, a company focusing on online backup.
● JazzHR was founded to help small businesses recruit more effectively.
● Most small businesses have relationships with major job ad boards. However, they have no real efficient process to manage candidate flow through all the steps of recruiting.

[03:23] — Product–market positioning
● The primary focus is not the competitors, but the customers
● Dwell on the five customer-facing questions.
● Strong competitors push the company to innovate, but customer experience is still the priority.

[05:19] — 3 things that drive customer acquisition & retention
● A really good product
● Reliable customer support
● A competitive price

[09:45] — Funding for JazzHR
● The company is backed by venture capitalists and has now finished fundraising.
● The business is breakeven, and they spend their income on growing the company even more.

[10:53] — 2 ways of selling software and bringing customers on board
● Direct customer acquisition is selling the software directly to end-user customers.
● Indirect selling makes use of channel partners who resell the software to their own customers to strengthen relationships.

[15:10] — The most effective customer acquisition system
● JazzHR uses an inbound model. The goal is to first introduce the software to the customer before you even sell it.
● Many companies have homegrown recruiting solutions, which means most are unfamiliar with Pete’s software niche.
● JazzHR educates and helps small businesses understand that they may have a recruiting problem and introduce them to an affordable solution.
● They offer a free trial or demo and focus on customer support to improve conversion rates.
[18:11] — Average order value & lifetime value
● JazzHR’s AOV is $2400 annually, and their LTV is $11,000.
● The most critical metric JazzHR has is retention because it drives the company’s lifetime value and enterprise value.

[19:19] — 3 JazzHR plans
● JazzHR has three plans. Hero is a lightweight solution for small businesses with under 60 employees.
● Plus is for companies that have hiring teams that need more HR functionalities and features.
● Pro is a full-function solution for larger companies with 150 or more employees.
● The company’s annual retention rate is 85%.

[21:32] — Marketing for selling software
● Being inbound focused means more webinars, content marketing, and blogging.
● The entire website is search engine optimized.
● Nurture customers who have raised interest even if they haven’t purchased yet.
● Social media is also a significant factor in marketing.
● JazzHR has 20 people on its sales team.

[24:00] —The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
● Most companies have a culture of having everyone physically in the office
● A completely remote work setup has an impact on productivity and processes.
● The downturn of small businesses and rising unemployment has affected the HR industry tremendously.
● JazzHR’s team shifted its focus on catering to industries that currently need it most, such as healthcare, technology, and logistics.

[33:17] — Deciding prices and selling software upgrades
● Be frugal to be able to offer low prices.
● Customer feedback is essential in market research. Trial and error is part of the process.
● JazzHR understands that increasing their pricing plans may be too much for small businesses. Thus, they constructed the software to be modular.
● Earn more income through expansion revenue.
● Selling software upgrades is a combination of in-app, email, and newsletter marketing.

[38:31] — Lessons learned from onboarding customers
● They don’t charge for onboarding, unlike some competitors.
● They look at utilization metrics regularly to check if the customers are having a great product experience and getting their money’s worth.

[42:06] — JazzHR’s process
● For software with unique clients, companies prefer to be flexible and have a general flowchart instead of a rigid process.
● Not having proper processes in place has gotten the company in internal friction and conflict.

Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/selling-software/

[00:12] — Suneera introduces her company, Fattmerchant

Fattmerchant deals with integrated payments for small to medium-sized businesses. It takes the various ways businesses can accept payments and brings them into a single and unified platform.
She was a part of a processing company before launching her own. She was disappointed in the lack of transparency in the marketplace, particularly on fees.
*Suneera had been selling merchant services before and handling payments for a variety of large companies for a long time.

[02:00] — Fattmerchant launch & customer profile

Suneera launched Fattmerchant in 2014. In the same year, it made $5 million in payments.
In five years, they were able to reach as high as $5 billion in payments.
The company was self-funded, with Suneera getting the company up and running for a year. They’ve raised about $20 million in venture capital with a big growth trajectory in sight.
Their ideal customers are small- to medium-sized businesses processing $100,000 to $20 million annually.
*Currently, they have over 6,000 US-based customers.

[05:42] — How did they attract more customers?

Fattmerchant used what its competitors lack and innovated ways on how they can make online payments possible and more efficient.
They focused on their marketing strategies, starting with building an incredible website and spent a considerable amount on paid advertising.
*They went online and established a pioneering payment system.

[10:24] — A precise and powerful ad campaign

Fattmerchant's ads say “Unify your payment experience.”
They included a savings component to their model.
The value proposition is in Fattmerchant’s products and price.
The company uses different campaigns. Aside from text ads, they employ dynamic videos and also use review sites.

[12:43] — What does their offer look like?

The offers are dependent on the campaign and the platform used. For example, their Google AdWords campaign is on the low funnel.
The goal is just to be visible regardless of the platform.
*The call to action varies depending on where the funnel is.

[17:58] — Building the team

When you need experts but can’t afford them, you have to learn and implement on your own.
Fattmerchant initially enlisted the help of an agency to assist them with their marketing approach. The company eventually started to bring in experts.
*They invested in more experts as they continue to grow.

[21:02] — Engaging in partnerships

At first, she was not a fan of this idea. She wants to be in control of who sells their services.
Now, integrated partnerships became one of their fastest-growing divisions.

[24:12] — Integrated partnerships & reaching out to potential partners

You need a great API that a potential partner can understand easily.
Fattmerchant’s sales cycle with partners takes nine months.
According to Suneera, the sales part is easy. On the other hand, the implementation takes skill to ensure the partnerships are fruitful.
Have a great ABM strategy on the partnership side.
*They have SDRs, but you can leverage email campaigns and setting appointments.

[30:30] — How can you do inside sales better?

You can automate many things but you can’t replicate the human touch when closing the deal.
Understand your customer.
Tell them why the solution is an excellent fit for the needs of their company.
Close the deal with that customer.
*Fattmerchant’s payment consultants are their closers. Their close rate is 40% of SQLs.

[39:21] — Why company culture is crucial to your SaaS success story

The core values behind Fattmerchant's SaaS success story: One Team, Create Joy, and Get Shit Done.
In their case, their core values came out organically. This culture and core values became their anchor in every challenge that they face.
This also led them to not be hasty in hiring their employees.
They made sure their new hires fit both the job description and the company culture.
Your company must be intentional and deliberate in implementing your core values.
Don’t lose your culture as you continue to grow.

[46:28] — Fattmerchant’s hiring process

Applicants submit a video application.
The HR team screens them and interacts with them via phone interview.
If the applicant is a good fit, the HR team invites them for a two-part face-to-face interview.
A random peer is always included among the panelists. This is to ensure the process is not limited to a managerial or executive standpoint.
*They conduct personality testing on some roles to keep teams diverse and balanced.

Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/319/

[00:07] - Cynthia gives a background about herself and her company, Raika Technologies.

They help build start-ups or SaaS companies.
Her goal is to help SaaS companies in the most time-efficient and budget-appropriate manner.
*Cynthia has been in the industry for 25 years, and she started by building websites at 15 years old.

[06:03] - For entrepreneurs who are thinking about creating their own software company, ask yourself these questions:

What do you love?
What’s your passion?
*Where is the largest market for your passion?

[09:33] - 3 questions on how to start a SaaS company:

What problem are you solving?
Who are you solving it for?
*How many are there in your niche?

[14:28] - After identifying the problem and the market, what are the things to consider for your MVP?

Determine what should be in your MVP.
Determine what kind of people you need on your team.
*Is there capital available to hire a software development firm?

[16:21] - The value behind blue-sky thinking

This is the brainstorming part of building your MVP.
For Cynthia, writing everything on sticky notes is helpful.
*Blue sky allows you to visualize and organize your thoughts and ideas.

[18:02] - Taking the next steps after identifying the problem and the market

Talk to people for customer and product validation.
Collect all data and consider these guide questions:
What is the right pricing model?
What is your go-to market strategy?
*Does that strategy fit in with your MVP?

[23:15] - Developing the tech specs of the MVP

Look at existing SaaS options and figure out what they provide and where they fall short in terms of your needs
Research your idea might be existing already. Check your competitors.
*If you narrow your scope (concerning competition), you get a better cost.

[26:29] - On developing a software development budget

Think long-term. The budget does not end when the software is done.
Allot 20% reserve as a buffer for future remodeling and maintenance.
*Put money in active development.

[29:56] - When it comes to vetting developers, what are the essential things to consider?

For offshore developers, look at their “on-time and on-budget” track record.
Always do background and gut checks.
*Look into referrals and ask about others’ experiences with those companies.

[35:36] - What is your rule of thumb for when the marketing of an MVP should start?

12 months before your launch
-Start your SEO.
At least 6 months before launch
-Create your social media content strategy, generate blog posts, put out content, and establish your expertise.
2 to 3 months before launch
-Tap on PR media, news channels, and blogger influencers.
Not until your launch month
-Do online advertising or traditional advertising such as Google AdWords, Facebook, LinkedIn, TV, and radio.

[39:44] - Cynthia’s advice on fundraising

Find friends, family, seed, or angel investors.
Look for people who have done work in the same industry and consider a partnership with them.
Get creative. You need investors who have a good understanding of your industry and believe in you as a person.
Know your business plan and work thoroughly on your pitch deck.

Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/318/

Episode Highlights

[03:01] About BabelBark
Babel Bark is the world's only technology platform connecting the entire pet ecosystem in one application.
It is an all-in-one place for pet parents, pet businesses, and veterinarians.

[03:44] Who Is BabelBark for?
The first target customers are millennial and Gen Z pet parents because they are tech-savvy.
The second sector is pet services, which include walkers and groomers.
*The third sector is the veterinarians who can provide telemedicine services.

[04:47] Pricing Model
Pet parents can download their free app. The paid app, Alpha Pack, costs $2.50 a month.
Pet service providers and veterinarians save a lot of money with BabelBark’s cloud-based client management.
*Their users pay an average of $54 dollars per year.

[06:43] Brief History of BabelBark
The company started five years ago.
BabelBark now serves 300,000 pets, 900 pet businesses, and more than 300 clinics.
*Listen to the full episode to discover the challenges Roy and his team faced when they started developing the app.

[09:40] Growth Rate & Employees
The company has 16 employees and operates on a work-from-home setting.
They have raised over $9.5 million in five years.

[11:06] Advice for SaaS Founders
Keep your eyes on the market. Learn to adjust to meet the market’s needs.
Hire by talent. Nobody wants to invest in a company that might blow up because of internal politics and lack of professionalism.

[13:02] User Acquisitions Systems
They focus on millennial pet parents.
Target your marketing efforts to the specific market you're going after.
*Listen to the full episode to learn which digital platforms give them the greatest ROI.

[16:47] BabelBark’s Success on Instagram
Carousel ads, connected with target words people are interested in, work well.
An external marketing team works on BabelBark’s digital marketing.
*The combination of visual and marketing assets built for a specific target market gets the best return.

[18:31] Where BabelBark Directs Traffic
Clients may be directed to BabelBark’s home page or a specific landing page.
Informative ads about the value of the BabelBark app have no landing page.

[20:06] Customer Lifetime Value
Utilizations over a lifetime per user hasn’t drastically dropped off.
The usage on the platform is way higher than the amount of users joining the platform.
*The COVID-19 pandemic is an outlier and skews statistics.

[22:17] Onboarding Experience
BabelBark’s growth is product-led. They utilize marketing cloud systems to update their users about the app’s features.
They use their product capabilities to push the users to complete their profiles and use the system more often.
*BabelBark owes its virality to pet businesses and vets who ask their clients to join the portal.

[26:39] BabelBark’s SOPs
BabelBark is a start-up, and Roy found that you’re more likely to get slapped when you stay inside process lines. It’s the opposite for large corporations.
On the development side, they have very clear development processes, and they document a coding of everything that's happening.
On the operational side, they also have clear account management procedures.
Their processes are documented on Google Drive, Jira, and Salesforce.
*Listen to the full episode to know how their company of 16 employees works.

[29:48] How to Share a Press Release on LinkedIn
Apart from word of mouth, LinkedIn is the most effective recruitment tool for them.
They work with an account manager who knows how to share a press release on LinkedIn. LinkedIn charges them $700 for the service.

[32:13] Interview Process
Listen to the full episode to know the interview process of the company.
The company relies on instinct, chemistry, and management experience when assessing applicants.
*The senior executives are always involved in the assessment.

[34:01] Advice for Start-Ups
As a manager, your job is to let your team soar.
Trust the people you hired.
*Remove all roadblocks to free up the runway for your team’s takeoff.

Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/317/

[03:52] About Graphic Rhythm Designs

Graphic Rhythm Designs is a design agency focused on working with sellers on Amazon listings to improve the Amazon images they post.
It arose out of other people’s interest in Amazon images, after his own experience with the e-commerce platform. It grew organically from there.

[04:49] Issues with Amazon Images

Sellers are aware they have to optimize their images but are not unconscious of their other mistakes.
Most sellers want to use all the image slots to post pictures of the same product from different angles. They miss the opportunity to use the slots to advertise their product.
Another mistake Amazon sellers make is heavily focusing on features and benefits instead of the unique selling proposition.
The Amazon customer is a distinct part of the marketing funnel.
*Don’t waste time educating the customer. Convert them into buyers instead.

[06:48] Creating Optimized Amazon Images

Start with your keywords to find out the stage of the marketing funnel.
Look at the voice of the consumer data. Check reviews of what people love and hate.
Figure out the USP of your product.
The goal of Amazon images is to make your customer either learn something or feel something.
*Every product creates customer transformation.

[11:11] Amazon Images Design Tips for Sellers

It’s not just about pretty photos. Your image is all about customer conversion.
Focus on the words and the copy first before the design. Words are more important than design.
*Connect with your customer through emotional hooks.

[13:09] The Importance of Your Unique Selling Proposition

If you know your unique selling proposition, you should always put that in the second image.
An excellent way to figure out your USP is to see what your competitors aren’t talking about in their product.
*Competitors talk about the features and benefits. You should focus on the transformation.

[16:20] Win More Businesses with Amazon Images

You can leverage your knowledge in optimizing Amazon images to business owners and add value to their product.
You can use the great results you get for brand owners as case studies.
*Lastly, you can monetize the service, just as Graphic Rhythm Designs does now.

[19:48] The Services Offered

If you want more liberty in your customer transformation, you can work with the company on a monthly subscription basis.
If you want everything done for you, you can get the benefits of the subscription service, plus graphic design and photography, on a per-listing basis.
*The agency also offers various branding services.

[23:12] Brand vs. Visual Identity

Your visual identity includes your logo, your colors, and other images.
Your brand is what customers say about you and how they feel about your company.
Graphic design can shape how customers feel towards you through visual cues.
You can leverage Amazon images to create feelings of confidence and reliability in your customers.

Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/316/

[04:30] About JivoChat

JivoChat is a messenger tool helping you communicate with customers and your inside team.
With this tool, you can connect all channels to your messenger tool—your phone, your email, your live chat widget, your Facebook account, and all other possible ways of communicating with your customers.
*It optimizes your means to handle customer support and drive revenue growth.

[06:54] Launching the Company

The company started in 2012. They currently have 130 people in their team.
Tim built the company through bootstrapping because of his predisposition to investors.

[08:02] Customer Acquisition for Revenue Growth

When they launched their product, Tim started engaging with his friends who have e-commerce businesses and had them try the software for free.
His team used guerilla marketing techniques. They spammed forums for web developers and went to conferences to look for potential partners.
They also went to marketing agencies and offered them an affiliate revenue share.
Because of their financial situation, they took actions that do not require considerable investment in marketing.

[09:30] Guerilla Marketing for Revenue Growth

Times are changing, and what worked before may not work now.
You can still try guerilla marketing when beginning a business. But Tim believes the window of opportunity is closing because businesses now offer much better products at a much cheaper price.

[11:06] Marketing Strategy Behind Revenue Growth

Tim thinks they can do better with content marketing like social media and building communities.
JivoChat’s initial growth is due to organic traffic through “Powered by JivoChat” links and word of mouth.
They have an effective freemium model.
Their goal is to get as many free users as possible and then show them the value of the premium version.

[15:07] Live Chat Software for Revenue Growth

JivoChat is more than just about communications. It helps business owners facilitate revenue growth and support processes through a CRM system integrated into their messenger.
They can do follow-ups, set reminders, monitor funnel statuses of the customers looking at the CRM reports, and assign leads to their sales or support team.

[17:29] JivoChat’s Call to Action

The Powered by JivoChat link serves as a sign-up button. It goes to the sign-up page directly without any other distractions.
On the front page, it just shows what the product is and what solutions it can offer.
*When potential customers enter their email address, they will get a premium trial followed by a limited-time free version. They have two weeks to try out the premium version, and then they get switched to the free version.

[20:22] How Jivo Chat’s Email Funnel Drives Revenue Growth

After the sign-up, subscribers will get three or four letters telling them about the different features they can use.
The 14-day trial aims to get them to use the product. They remind users to install the code on their site, as well as download and install the app on the user’s computer and phone.
On the 14th day, they usually get the peak of payments.
JivoChat’s sales team contacts users with activity on their accounts, installed widgets, downloaded apps, and chats with customers five to seven days before the trial period finishes.

[20:48] Working with an Inside Sales Team

Tim ran an experiment where he got a group of six people to only call prospective accounts.
They sorted the prospects using metrics like the number of site visitors, chats, agent accounts they have on their system.
His team noticed the speed of growth of paid accounts has doubled since then.
They ask people to leave their phone number during the sign-up process. But they did not make it a mandatory question. For the rest of the customers, their inside sales team just went to the prospect’s website and got their numbers.

[24:36] Building An Inside Sales Team for Revenue Growth

He asked someone who had experience in building such teams. It started as a project.
He entered into a contract with him and paid him, but the amount was not substantial. They just agreed that he would receive a bonus based on the increase in sales.
The project ran for 4 to 5 months. The guy he hired built a model for the sales team and gave them the tactics and the exact scripts to follow.
Currently, his inside sales team is dispersed around the world.

[31:21] Compensation Structures for Sales Teams

They have a formula with three coefficients: K1, K2, and K3
The first coefficient is the conversion rate from the leads assigned to a manager.
The second one is the conversion rate by the revenue per lead.
The third one is the average number of seats sold to customers.
*Listen to the full episode for more details on how to compute the compensation!

[37:21] Managing His Teams Remotely

Tim’s employees are spread throughout the globe. He believes they need not be in the same room to be effective.
He puts his trust in his employees. When they saw that he trusted them, they trusted him in return.
They organized processes for their remote teams to work with and introduced a couple of rules to follow. They also have a basic hygiene of working remotely.
He also has a Tech Bonus Program where programmers receive prizes for giving exciting presentations for the team about the technology they have learned or a problem they solved.

[42:36 ] Results-Oriented Productivity

They don’t use any remote screen control tools. Tim thinks it's not very productive because they are easy to trick.
The only reliable way to measure effectiveness is to measure the result.

[44:10] Recruitment Strategy Behind Revenue Growth

Working remotely is one of their wild cards. It’s their way to compete with big tech companies who hunt the best programmers.
It allows them to hire from any city in any country.
*They post jobs and get most of their candidates in LinkedIn and Upwork.

Part 1: Product overview + stats

[02:06] What does your company do?
[04:40] Who is your ideal customer?
[05:07] What does the pricing model look like?
[05:25] What is the average customer paying per month?
[06:49] What year did you launch?
[10:14] How many customers do you have? How many paid?
[10:20] What is your MRR range?
[11:47] What is your YOY growth rate?
[13:00] How many employees do you have?
[13:05] How much have you raised?
[13:46] What advice would you give to others that are raising capital?

Part 2: Growth Strategies

[17:14] Tell me about your customer acquisition systems?
[18:50] What is your best marketing activity?
[26:35] What is your CAC?
[27:43] How many months to get your money back?
[28:16] What is the average LTV?
[28:21] What is your churn per month?
[30:01] What systems are you using for customer success?
[30:49] What systems are you using to reduce churn?
[31:05] What is one actionable item that a listener could put into action tomorrow?

Part 3: Leadership & People

[32:18] How have SOPs played a role in scaling your company?
[34:29] Tell me about the systems you use to attract talent?
[36:17] How many employees do you have?
[36:21] How many are in sales & marketing vs engineering?
[39:49] Tell me about the interview process?
[43:40] Tell me about the systems you use for employee retention?

Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/314/

[00:00] Who are you and what do you do?
[00:55] Tell me about any amazing result? (Took a 16hrs/week process and reduced it to 2hrs/week)
[07:18] How should someone determine if they should automate, delegate, or eliminate?
[11:45] Give me some examples of you are automating now?
[21:15] Why aren't more people automating now? (roadblocks)
[28:10] How can I establish a culture around automation so that my team doesn't get stuck?
[33:10] What is the most important thing to do if you want to increase automation in your company?
[34:50] Lets talk about Alexa automations for the home.

Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/313/

Are you looking for a proven formula to attract customers using Facebook Ads? Would you like to hear the nitty gritty details of a company that has used Facebook ads to attract their first 10,000 customers?

On the show with me today is Aditya Nagrath is the founder and CEO of Elephant Learning.

To see if this interview is for you, I recommend that you read the list of questions below to get a quick overview of the questions that I asked Aditya during our conversation. When you do, I think you'll quickly see that this episode is jam-packed with knowledge-bombs for bringing a new idea to market and rapidly scaling a company.

Watch the video above, read the transcript, or listen to the audio file below and benefit from the knowledge that Aditya shares...and then leave a comment or question for him to answer.

Questions I Asked Aditya:

[01:30] What does your company sell?
[01:40] When did you start the company? [01:50] How many customers do you have? [02:10] What made you pick the niche you are in, and how did you research it? [05:12] What has been the most effective method for acquiring customers? [05:22] When did you start on Facebook? [05:50] How did you identify your target audience [07:44] How why did you narrow the 1% audience down from 2M to 600K [09:36] How did you come up with the creative? [10:40] What kinds of micro-tests did you run to verify that your creative was going to resonate with the target audience? [12:38] What is Tapcast.io and why do you use them? [15:51] How did you structure your campaigns/adsets? [16:54] Did split testing play a big role? [19:24] Once you validate the CR of a adset, how did you scale it without killing the CR? [21:02] CAC is $60 now. It was $35 back then. LTV is about $160 [22:58] What other ad channels are you using? [25:22] Tell me about your Customer experience initiatives 5 Quick Facts [30:16] What is your favorite business book? [30:46] What is your favorite online tool for growing your business? [31:32] Hours of work / week? [31:49] Family situation? [32:32] What do you wish your younger self knew Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/312/

Are you planning to launch your own digital marketing agency? Are you struggling to attract clients? Are you wanting to better understand how to scale up your business using paid ads? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this interview is for you. On the show with me today is Nsensi Salasini; founder of High Demand Marketing, a consulting agency that teaches a proprietary “Commissions Accelerator System” which generates booked appointments for real estate agents with pre-screened buyers and sellers on demand. To see if this interview is for you, I recommend that you read the list of questions below to get a quick overview of the questions that I asked Nsensi during our conversation. When you do, I think you'll quickly see that this episode is jam-packed with knowledge-bombs for scaling a company using paid traffic. Watch the video above, read the transcript, or listen to the audio file below and benefit from the knowledge that Nsensi and I share...and then leave a comment or question for him to answer. Questions I Asked Nsenzi: [00:45] What does your company sell? [02:28] When did you start the company? [03:05] How much revenue did you do last in December 2019? [04:00] How much was that up from Jan 2019? [04:32] Where you always in the real estate niche? [05:34] Why did you niche down? [10:58] Tell me about your marketing and lead gen to attract your clients [12:14] Tell me how you are using Facebook? And were you initially doing the type of campaign that is working for you now? [17:13] Tell me about the funnel you were using in the last half of 2019? [19:50] How are you using Active Campaign? [22:30] What kinds of ads are working for you? [30:50] Tell me about your plans for 2020 if they differ from 2019? [31:28] Do you have a special offer for my audience Resouces links can be found at https://brightideas.co/311/

As the host of the Bright Ideas podcast, I have the privilege of interviewing a large number of SaaS founders and without a doubt, the #1 strategy they all tell me they rely on for growth is SEO, and today's interview is no different. My guest on today's show is Vincent van Scherpenseel; co-founder of Content King and over the last few years, Vincent's company has been growing by 3X per year; all thanks to their focus on publishling epic content that is optimized for SEO. Not surprisingly, they tool they have created is one that actually helps their customers to conduct real-time SEO audits and in today's interview, not only are you going to learn about the very clever ways that they are using their online academy to drive an ever increasing volume of organic traffic, but you are also going to learn about a unique tool that will help your organization to further it's own SEO efforts. How well are their content marketing and SEO efforts working, you ask? To find out, just take a look at the screenshot below and notice two things: 1. The steady increase in their Ahrefs Rank (Ahrefs Rank shows the target website's position among all other websites in our database rated by the "strength" of their backlink profiles. The website with the strongest backlink profile is ranked #1) 2. The steady increase in Referring domains (backlinks to their content) Questions I Asked Vincent: Part 1: Product overview + stats [00:50] What does your company do? [02:18] How did you get started and what made you pick this idea to start a company? [06:57] Who is your ideal customer? [08:29] What does the pricing model look like? [09:28] What is the average customer paying per month? [09:52] What year did you launch? [10:16] How many customers do you have? How many paid? [10:29] What is your MRR range? [10:52] What is your YOY growth rate? [11:09] How many employees do you have? [11:50] How much have you raised? [12:52] What advice would you give to others that are raising capital? 5 Quick Facts [13:46] What is your favorite business book? [13:56] What is your favorite online tool for growing your business? [14:09] Hours of work per week? [14:15] Family situation? [14:25] What do you wish your younger self knew? Part 2: Growth Strategies [15:26] Tell me about your customer acquisition systems? [18:49] What is your best marketing activity? [23:24] What is your CAC? [23:36] How many months to get your money back? [23:45] What is the average LTV? [25:14] What is your churn per month? [25:25] What systems are you using for customer success? [29:33] What systems are you using to reduce churn? [30:45] What is one actionable item that a listener could put into action tomorrow? Part 3: Leadership & People [33:35] How have SOPs played a role in scaling your company? [35:30] How many employees do you have? [36:41] How many are in sales & marketing vs engineering? [37:14] Tell me about the systems you use to attract talent? [38:12] Tell me about the interview process? [40:27] Tell me about the systems you use for employee retention? [40:57] What haven't I asked you that I should have? [43:16] What is one actionable item that a listener could put into action tomorrow? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/310/

Are you on the marketing team at a SaaS company? Are you looking for proven methods to generate more booked calls with qualified prospects? Would you like to tap into the "hidden gold" that systematized email prospecting has to offer? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this interview is for you. On the show with me today is Geoff Atkinson; founder of Huckabuy; a 5 year old SaaS company that is working on revolutionizing the world of SEO. In Geoff and I's discussion, you are going to hear him share the story of how they have strategically used cold email to land the lion's share of their new enterprise clients. Listen now, and discover exactly how you can replicate their process. Questions I Asked Geoff: [00:38] What does your company do? [00:46] When did you start the company? [01:31] Why did you decided to start an SEO firm? [05:48] How are you attracted clients? [06:35] Tell me about your outreach program. [08:35] Have you raised money? [10:20] What are some of the more favorable terms that you got because you raised when you weren't desperate for cash? [14:28] How many clients have you landed? [15:28] How did you target your audience? [20:00] How valuable is display advertising? [21:30] What tools did you use for email? [22:20] How did you craft the messaging in the emails and on the website? [27:44] What was the CTA? [29:04] How many did you send per week? [29:50] Tell me about some mistake you made early on in your outreach? [33:30] What is your cost per booked call? [34:00] What is your booked call conversion rate? [35:21] When someone booked a call, what was the flow of that call? [37:04]Do you have a special offer that you'd like to make available to my audience? Resources Links can be found at https://brightideas.co/309/

How do you keep your customers? That’s a million dollar question for most businesses. There are other business providers who can offer better rates than yours or better services than yours, so what makes yours different? In this episode, listen as Casey Gauss, Founder and CEO of Viral Launch, discusses how customer experience changes the game when it comes to retaining and expanding your customer base. Viral Launch offers innovative software and creative services to Amazon sellers. Viral Launch originally catered to third party sellers on Amazon when it was launched in 2014. Now with 70 employees, they’ve expanded their scope of service and began providing a suite of tools, software, and services to Amazon first party sellers who serve Fortune 100 clients worldwide. The SaaS solution helps sellers figure out what market to after, optimize listings, and manage overall Amazon advertising to name a few. Viral Launch offers these services in monthly or annual terms, and customers can personalize which feature they want to have for their business. Casey shared that while it’s good to initially bootstrap your business from ground up, nothing beats having access to capital to accelerate your business sooner. This allows you to have more resources allocated for the things that really matter for your company to grow. While Casey mentioned that having a long term goal is a great common practice, one also needs to pay attention to their company’s short term goals as it then has a ripple effect when it comes to measuring how far along are you on hitting your long term goals. In terms of marketing, Viral Launch were able to grow their customer base organically through word-of-mouth and sole website-sales conversions. Despite this, Casey recommends investing in a marketing team and a good marketing strategy to make sure that your team is developing products that are really needed and demanded by your chosen niche. This way, you’re sure that all your invested resources are well spent. Hiring people who can really do the job and those that are the best of the best in their fields is always a good practice as you strive to reach your goals. Taking a non-conventional approach to interviewing candidates can help you assess them as a person and not as a job-hunting individual. “I will walk into Starbucks. Which is like two blocks away. We'll grab coffee and we'll talk.. And you know, you get to learn a lot about the people that complain about having to walk two blocks.. And sometimes that's great because you really get to see, wow, this person isn't an amazing fit.” Having a really good support team and customer success team who’s there to take care of your customers 24/7 can really make you stand among your competitors. Closely monitoring your customer service metrics and hiring the right people to lead your customer service team are two important factors to help a business keep their customers. There are many tools and solutions you can use out there for this. You can never go wrong with providing a great customer experience! Listen to the podcast to hear more tips. Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/308/

In today's episode, we are joined by Greg Mercer, the founder of the wildly successful Junglescout application for Amazon sellers. Junglescout was originally started as a market research tool for Amazon sellers, and over the last few years; thanks to some smart decisions in the areas of product development and marketing, Junglescout has become something of a swiss-army knife for Amazon sellers. Questions I Asked Greg: Part 1: Product overview + stats [01:06] What does your company do? [01:51] Who is your ideal customer? [01:56] What does the pricing model look like? [02:09] What is the average customer paying per month? [02:14] What year did you launch? [02:26] How many customers do you have? How many paid? [03:14] What is your MRR range? [03:30] What is your YOY growth rate? [04:10] How many employees do you have? [05:53] How much have you raised? What advice would you give to others that are raising capital? 5 Quick Facts [12:45] What is your favorite business book? [13:39] What is your favorite online tool for growing your business? [14:26] Hours of work per week? [15:07] Family situation? [15:11] What do you wish your younger self knew? Part 2: Growth Strategies [15:43] Tell me about your customer acquisition systems? [18:17] What is your best marketing activity? [19:07] What is your CAC? [19:34] How many months to get your money back? [19:47] What is the average LTV? [23:14] What is your churn per month? [25:50] What systems are you using for customer success? [20:48]? What systems are you using to reduce churn? Part 3: Leadership & People [28:58] How have SOPs played a role in scaling your company? [00:35] How many employees do you have? [31:41] How many are in sales & marketing vs engineering? [32:43] Tell me about the systems you use to attract talent? [35:10] Tell me about the interview process? [37:26] Tell me about the systems you use for employee retention? [38:49] What haven't I asked you that I should have? [30:23] What is one actionable item that a listener could put into action tomorrow? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/307/

Have you ever thought about selling products on Amazon, but aren't sure if the opportunity is real? Are you curious as to how to get started and how much revenue can be produced? Today's episode is a little different than the norm in that yours truly is actually the guest on the show, and my "guest" Ian Paterson, is actually the host and the one interviewing me! Ian is the founder of a SaaS company called Plurilock and when Ian and I were introduced, the original goal was to have me interview him. All that changed however, once Ian learned about my story of how selling supplements on Amazon ultimately led to my founding a software company called Flowster that Ian now uses. Questions Ian asked on the show: [01:46] When did you get started on Amazon? [02:42] How did you find profitable products? [03:02] How did creating SOPs and hiring virtual assistants affect your results? [04:03] What happened after you spoke on stage at the industry conference about your success? [04:51] How did you start Flowster? [06:22] What did it cost you to develop the software to the point where you could launch? [10:19] What problems does Flowster solve and how big is the market for this? [18:52] How did you attract your first 1,000 users? [30:59] What are your plans for the future of Flowster? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/306/

Are you looking for a viable business to pursue as a side hustle? Would you like to have your side hustle have the potential to replace your job? Would you like to avoid putting any significant money at risk to get started? If you answered yes to these questions, then this interview is for you. On the show with me today is Davis Siksnans; CEO of Printful, one of the industry's largest print-on-demand drop shipping businesses with more than 800 employees and five fulfillment centers in North Carolina, California, Mexico, and Latvia. The company has fulfilled almost 16 million items since it launched in 2013. People absolutely love custom apparel and with print-on-demand combined with the ease of getting custom graphics created for you on sites like Fiverr, getting into the print on demand business could be just the thing for aspiring entrepreneurs in 2020. Curious to know more? Watch or listen to the episode below. Questions I Asked Davis: [01:26] Who are you and what do you do? [04:25] Why do you think someone looking for a side hustle should consider starting a print on demand business? [06:42] What is the best way to come up with ideas for some products? [11:42] How should they test/validate their products ideas? [14:17] What software should sellers use to generate the sale? [15:23] Can you tell me about a success story from your customer base? [16:36] How did leveraging social help this customer to become successful? [17:29] Can you tell me about another success story? [18:41] What are some of your most successful customers doing to continue to grow? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/305/

Do you offer consulting services of any kind? Are you struggling to generate leads? Would you like to attract more high ticket clients? If you answered yes to these questions, this interview is for you. On the show with me today is Dr. Travis Zigler; a recovering optometrist turned ecommerce entrepreneur. He is the founder of Eye Love, https://eyelovethesun.com and also is a partner in an Amazon PPC agency. In our discussion, Travis shares with me how he is using a super simply advertising strategy to attract high ticket clients to scales is rapidly growing PPC agency. Everything that Travis and I discuss in this episode is easy to replicate, so if you are struggling to generate leads and land new clients, be sure to check it out! Questions I Asked Travis: [01:04] Who are you and what do you do? [01:19] What made you decide to start an agency? [01:42] What does your agency focus on? [02:07] Tell me about your client attraction strategy? [11:49] How are you generating leads? [11:49] How are you driving traffic to the course? [13:21] What is your cost per booked call? [13:49] How many email address are you getting a day? (calls) [14:09] Walk me through the experience that a lead gets once they enter your funnel? [30:31] How are you growing your Youtube Channel? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/304/

Are you struggling to generate qualified leads and fill your calendar? Would you like to learn how to accurately send 2-3 thousand emails a week to your prospects and automate the vast majority of the work? On the show with me today is Darwin Liu, founder of X Agency; a digital agency serving eCommerce brands that sell B2C. In this interview, Darwin breaks down his cold email outreach strategy into a step by step formula that you can replicate. The results his company has achieved using this approach have been nothing short of incredible. In just their second year, revenue exceed $2.2 million. Want to scale up your outreach, listen to this episode now. Questions I Asked Darwin: [00:37] When did you start and what niche did you pick? [01:44] What was your revenue in the first year? [02:19] How do you attract clients? [02:54] Tell me more about your cold outreach program? [03:22] How do you create your email lists? [05:05] How do you verify the email addresses? [05:52] How do you protect your domain reputation? [06:29] How many subdomains do you use? [07:26] How many email addresses do you use? [07:53]What does the email content look like? [08:14] How many do you send? [10:24] What is the call to action? [12:41] What tool are you using to create and send the emails? [14:36] How are you handling replies? [17:24] What parts are automated or outsourced? [19:19] How many appointments per week does this approach get you? [22:03] How many clients do you get using this? [23:05] Walk me through your Linked outreach and explain how it differs from cold email? [28:45] Tell me about how you are using partnerships? [29:15] Tell me about how you are using SOPs? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/303/

Are you running a SaaS business and looking for proven strategies for B2C lead generation? Do you have an idea for a SaaS business and are looking for proven strategies for fundraising? Would you like to better understand how to use Facebook and Google ads? On the show with me today are Cody Barbo (CEO) and Katie Fellenz (Head of Marketing) for a VC-backed SaaS company by the name of Trust and Will, and in our conversation, we talked about all sorts of the strategies they have used to grow to 65,000 customers in just a few short years. Want to know the details of what we covered? Check out the questions I asked them, and then start listening to this episode today. Questions I Asked Cody and Katie: [02:15] What does your company sell? [03:38] When did you start the company? [03:46] How many customers have you signed up so far? [03:54] What made you pick the niche you are in, and how did you research it? [07:38] Once you decided to proceed with the idea, how did you attract your first 1000 customers? [11:01] How did you convince these folks to use your product? [13:08] For people that don't pay for your software, are you able to monetize them on the back end? [14:50] Let's talk about what is working really well in customer acquisition in the last year. What is working the best? [16:36] Tell me about what you are doing on Google. [18:19] Tell me about your marketing funnel; what did you think that was going to work but didn't, and now what is working well? [20:53] Tell me about your tech stack? [22:42] What is the next best channel? [27:54] Tell me how you are using Facebook. [31:19] Do you have a special offer for my listeners? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/302/

Are you struggling to generate leads for your company? Are you looking for a proven methodology for uncovering exactly what your target audience wants, and the words they use to describe it? Would you like to put lead generation on autopilot so you can focus all your time and energy on closing deals? On the show with me today, if John Whiting; a successful entrepreneurs who, for the last 12 years has focused all his energy at becoming an expert in the area of lead generation. In John and I's discussion today; we focused on answering four important questions: 1. Why do most lead generation programs fail to produce the desired results? 2. What can be done to fix this issue and speak in a way that resonates with your target audience? 3. How to quickly establish authority in your niche so that your target market wants to work with you? 4. How to drive traffic to your offer? Watch the video above, read the transcript, or listen to the audio file below and benefit from the knowledge that John shares...and then leave a comment or question for him to answer. Questions I Asked John: [01:38] Who are you and what do you do? [03:40] Tell me about your background? [06:05] How did you get started in lead generation? [07:39] When you started you own agency, how well did it work and what type of results did you get? [14:46] Why do you think most lead generation programs fail? [36:39] Give me an overview of how to drive traffic to your offer, even if you don't have an ad budget? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/301/

Do you run a business that requires B2B selling or relationship building? Are you struggling to fill your calendar with appointments with new prospects or suppliers? Would you like to show up to work each day with 3-5 pre-qualified appointments in your calendar so you can focus solely on presenting and closing? What I have just described is not a pipe dream. It's real, and if you implement the strategy discussed in the interview, it is completely achievable. On the show with me today is Ravi Abuvala; a B2B lead generation wizard who is well known for the success he's had scaling his own digital agency, as well as helping other digital agency owners to grow their revenue faster than they ever thought possible; all thanks to Ravi's brilliant combination of leveraging systems and virtual assistants to fill their calendars with 20-30 pre-qualified appointments every week. Whether you are an Amazon wholesale seller looking for new supplier relationships, a digital agency owner looking for new clients, or virtually any other B2B business owner looking for an effective way to generate a steady stream of qualified appointments for your sales team, this episode is for you. Watch the video above, read the transcript, or listen to the audio file below and benefit from the knowledge that David share...and then leave a comment or question for him to answer. Questions I Asked Ravi: [01:25] Who are you and what do you do? [03:24] When did you start the agency? [04:03] Did you have a lot of success initially? [06:06] What did you realize you were doing wrong? [06:27] What was the big aha? [07:08] How long did that take? [07:37]What kind of results were you able to achieve afterward? [09:36] How many VAs did you hire? [09:49] Give me an overview of how the Vas were so successful in getting appointments for you? [30:13] When did you decide to start hiring employees? [31:18] How are you finding pure commission salespeople? [36:00] Did your management style for employees differ much from Va's? [37:05] How do the tasks you assign to employees differ from the ones you give to Vas? [38:03] For anyone listening who wants to get started creating systems, what advice do you have? [42:55]Do you have a freebie to offer? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/300

Do you ever wonder how people make all that money on Youtube? Would you like to join them and put yourself on the path to financial freedom? On the show with me today is Travis Marziani; founder of Performance Nut Butter and Youtuber on the rise. To see if this interview is for you, I recommend that you read the list of questions below to get a quick overview of the questions that I asked Travis during our conversation. When you do, I think you'll quickly see that this episode is jam-packed with knowledge-bombs for success on Youtube. Watch the video above, read the transcript, or listen to the audio file below and benefit from the knowledge that Travis shares...and then leave a comment or question for him to answer. Questions I Asked Travis: [01:17] Who are you and what do you do? [01:37] When did you get started on Youtube? [06:40] Why did you pick Youtube vs other social channels? [08:01] How often do you publish? [08:37] How do you come up with the ideas and titles for your videos? [10:42] Walk me through you video production process? [14:13] Do you use a script? [15:47] Tell me about your filming process. [16:19] How are your videos edited? [21:26] How important are titles and thumbnails? [22:22] Where are you getting the thumbnails? [23:24] How many views do you get on average? [24:50] Comments? Subscribers? [27:34] How do you promote your videos? [29:51] Who answers your comments? [32:32] What are the key metrics on Youtube that you pay attention to and try to improve? [37:17] Are there any other activities that you do on a regular basis to help you succeed on Youtube? [37:55] Have you ever talked to a human at Youtube? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/299

Are you looking for a new product idea? Do you already have an idea that you'd like to bring to market? Do you love hearing inspirational stories from successful entrepreneurs? On the show with me today is Chris Meade; Co-founder of Crossnet - a company that is revolutionizing the sport of volleyball with their new 4-way volleyball net. To see if this interview is for you, I recommend that you read the list of questions below to get a quick overview of the questions that I asked Chris during our conversation. When you do, I think you'll quickly see that this episode is jam-packed with knowledge-bombs for bringing a new idea to market and rapidly scaling a company. Watch the video above, read the transcript, or listen to the audio file below and benefit from the knowledge that Chris shares...and then leave a comment or question for him to answer. Questions I Asked Chris: [01:49] What does your company sell? [02:30] What made you pick the niche you are in, and how did you research it? [03:57] Did you do any market testing before going into production? [04:55] How is your product sourced/made? [06:27] What do your gross margins look like? [07:03] Have you been able to improve your gross margin over time? If so, how? [08:16] What software do you use for the store? [08:22] What are some of your favorite store apps? [08:58] What software do you use for email marketing? [10:24] Where are you getting all the website traffic from [10:44] Does word of mouth contribute to sales? [11:15] Tell me about your advertising [12:26] How did you get into the school catalogs [12:56] How did you manage all the LinkedIn outreach? [14:10] How are you automating email outreach [14:50] What are some of the areas that your using VAs [15:50] What is your YOY growth rate? [16:50] How did you make the company grow so fast? [17:40] Who is your target customer? [18:30] What percentage of your sales are online vs off? [19:10] How did you learn that moms were your buyer? [19:34] What percentage of sales are coming from cold traffic ads vs retargeting? [20:11] What is your CAC? [20:52] How did you find the agency you are working with? [21:08] Are you in any mastermind groups? [22:11] Are you on Amazon? How? [23:00] How did you find your amazon seller? [25:50] What percentage of your sales are on Amazon? [26:57] How big is the team at this point? [27:10] What types of things do you use freelancers for? [28:15] Tell me about the systems that you are developing? [31:15] What are some of your plans for 2020? [33:07] How are you raising cash for inventory? [36:30] Are you ever going to take investors? Resources Links can be found at https://brightideas.co/chris-meade-interview/

Is your company not growing as fast as you'd like? Are you struggling to create profitable ad campaigns on social media? Would you like to tap into the brain of a proven expert? On the show with me today is Erin Corn, founder of Shorebird Media. Prior to launching her agency, Erin worked for Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon; the ultimate trifecta for online advertising and commerce. Watch the video above, read the transcript, or listen to the audio file below and benefit from the knowledge that Erin shares...and then leave a comment or question for her to answer. Questions I Asked Erin: [02:11] Who are you and what do you do? [03:13] Tell me about an incredible result that your expertise played a role in achieving? (Dudley Stevens - seeing 30-50% ROAS) [04:30] What was the first step you took to create this result? [07:58] Tell me about the retargeting campaigns you created for them? [13:48] Tell me about your use of dynamic ads? [14:25] What is an Instagram collection? [15:41] Do you use FB Ads Manager? [17:31] Tell me about your cold traffic campaigns? [17:50] Did you use interest targeting? [19:36] How did you build out the personas you tested? [21:52] Tell me about exclusions from your campaigns? [22:14] How did you uncover the language the their target market uses? (Understand which organic content got the most traction) [25:00] Tell me about how you create and manage split tests (test headlines first) [26:38] How many ads should be in a ad set? [27:45] How long did it take the campaign to break even? [33:46] How did you scale up ad spend without breaking the campaigns? [38:57] How does a brand find the right agency to work with? [41:11] How should a brand expect to compensate an agency? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/298

Are you planning to launch your own brand of products to sell on Amazon? Do you already source products from China and looking for proven methods to improve your sourcing efforts? Would you like to better understand how to become a master product sourcing professional? On the show with me today is David Hoffman; CEO of international trade powerhouse Global Regency (shipping products over $200m to over 40 countries). If you read the list of questions below to get a quick overview of the questions that I asked David during this interview, and you will quickly see that this episode is jam-packed with knowledge bombs for sourcing products from China. Watch the video above, read the transcript, or listen to the audio file below and benefit from the knowledge that David share...and then leave a comment or question for him to answer. Questions I Asked David: [01:07] Who are you and what do you do? [02:06] What are some of the biggest mistakes you see people making? [03:05] Is Alibaba the way to go? [04:24] Should someone work with a buyer's agent? [06:51] How should buyers plan and execute a trip to China? [09:54] How often are their trade shows [10:50] How do you determine if you are dealing with a manufacturer or a trading company and why should you care? [12:50] What is the best way to find trade shows to attend? [14:30] What are the most important things to do prior to attending? [17:20] Are there some clever ways to make a good first impression when talking to vendors? [19:30] What are some of the important things the new buyers might forget to ask? [20:18] Why is product compliance so important? [21:50] What type of follow up do you suggest after the show? [24:00] Tell me about some best practices for ordering samples [25:40] Do you have an SOPs for the sampling process? [28:00] So how do people work with your company as their team on the ground in China? Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/david-hoffman-interview/

Are you struggling to grow your small business as fast as you'd hoped? Do you feel that you are working too hard; yet still not getting the results you need? If you answered yes to either question, this podcast episode is for you. On the show with me today is Ben Fewtrell; creator of the Business Acceleration Blueprint. As the founder of several startups, Ben knows a thing or two about getting a business off the ground, and his programs have helped many business owners to build the business they imagined. During today's interview, I asked Ben to walk us through the blueprint, step by step. If you are struggling get the results you deserve, this interview is for you. Questions I Asked Ben: [01:44] What is this Business Acceleration Blueprint? (5 stages and 5 critical areas per stage) [02:43] What are the five steps of the BAB? [06:10] Tell me more about the foundation phase. [15:45] Tell me more about the KPIs that make up your foundation. [19:50] Tell me about the issue of time management. [21:50] How do you suggest people figure out what activities they should delegate? [24:20] How important is it to have documented systems for your various activities? [26:30] Tell me about the growth phase (lead gen, CRO, AOV, LTV) [27:54] Which of these four is the one to focus on first? [31:45] Can you share some examples to underscore the importance of what we have discussed so far. Resources links can be found at https://brightideas.co/ben-fewtrell-interview/

On the show with me today is Stephan Aarstol; founder of Tower Paddle Boards and a number of other direct to consumer brands. Back in 2010, Stephan was barely 6 months into his venture when he received a call from a TV producer for a show he'd never heard of. It was called Shark Tank - and it changed Stephan's life. After hearing Stephan's pitch, Mark Cuban decided to invest $150K in Mark's company, and that company wen on to become one of the biggest success stories in Shark Tank history. Since then, Mark has been a partner in virtually every business Stephan has started. In Stephan and I's conversation, we talked about what it was like to start a company in a highly competitive market, what it was like to work with Mark Cuban, and why he eventually implemented (and wrote a book about) the 5 hour work day in that company. If you are an entrepreneur looking for ways to make your company stand out, this episode is for you. Questions I Asked Stephan: [02:20] How did you come up with the idea for Tower Paddle Boards? [03:19] Did you know anything about making paddle boards? [05:44] How long had inflatable paddle boards been around when you launched? [06:44] How did the level of competition back then compare to now? [10:16] Why did you feel that you could be successful entering this market? [11:30] How long did it take to get the first $100K in revenue? [12:15] How did Shark Tank play a role? [14:35] What was it about your pitch that appealed to Mark [19:18] What was it like working with Mark as an investor? [22:44] Of all the things you've learned from Mark, what was his greatest lesson? [26:41] When and why did you decide to convert to a 5 hour workday? [29:31] Why did you choose to make this shift to a 5 hour work day? [32:24] Tell me about some of the productivity hacks that your team discovered? [33:45] Why did you shift to 5 hours days in the summer only? [34:20] What was the impact on recruitment and retention? [35:30] How has it evolved since and why? [36:51] What advice would you give to others thinking of trying it out? [39:10] What is your best advice for today's entrepreneurs interested in building a direct to consumer company? Resources link can be found http://brightideas.co/stephan-aarstol-interview/

If you are building a business to sell, having an exit plan should be a critical component of your overall strategy, and depending on the kind of business you are building, deciding whether to hire a business broker or an M&A advisor could make the difference between getting a few hundred thousand (or million?) dollars extra or not. There are significant differences between a typical business broker and an M&A advisor, and in today's episode, I'm joined by Chris Shipferling and Jason Sommerville; two of the partners at an M&A advisory firm that specializes in selling digitally-based businesses. In our discussion, we talk through the differences between the services one can expect from a typical business broker, and that of a firm like theirs, and, as you will hear when you listen, the differences could results in a significant difference in the value of your company when you sell. Questions I Asked Chris: [04:10] What is the difference between a business broker and an M&A advisor? [06:30] What is the difference between a financial buyers and a strategic buyer? [11:00] What market segment do you deal with? [13:25] What is the minimum size of a company that you generally work with and why? [14:50] How does your view of exit valuation compare to that of a business broker? [18:50] How does the background of an M&A advisor generally differ from that of a business broker, and why should the seller of a sub $3M business care? [22:39] How do the fees differ between working with an M&A advisor and a business broker? [25:23] What is your process vs a broker process to sell a business? [28:38] Who defines the portion of the deal book that speaks to opportunities for growth? [34:00] How does your buyer network differ from that of a business broker? Resource links can be found at https://brightideas.co/chris-shipferling-interview/

Have you ever thought about expanding your online sales to international markets but have hesitated to do so because you thought the process would be overly complex, time consuming, and expensive? In today's episode, my guest is Kevin Sanderson; owner of a private label brand that generates about $400K per year while selling in a total of 9 markets around the world. When you listen to today's interview, you are going to hear Kevin explain how to expand internationally, and you are going to discover that it is a lot less complex than you might think. In Kevin's case, international sales have added 30% to his revenue and have been a valuable addition to his business. Questions I Asked Kevin: [02:40] Who are you and what do you do? [03:50] Is it worth the investment of time to sell internationally on Amazon? [05:04] Is it difficult selling internationally? [06:25] How should someone get started selling internationally? [10:11] Which warehouses do you send your product to? [11:25] How does someone manage the foreign currency? [14:30] Why shouldn't use pay for PPC in a foreign market with a credit card [15:14] How will this affect someone’s taxes? [16:50] How does all of this differ from selling in the EU [18:22] Where are you responsible for VAT? [22:40] When it comes to VAT, what are the compliance issues a seller is responsible for? [23:47] What is the flat rate scheme? [25:00] How do you deal with language translations on your listings? [27:50] What haven't I asked you? [32:00] Do you have a freebie for my audience? Resource links can be found at https://brightideas.co/kevin-sanderson-interview/

When you decide to start selling on Amazon; especially if you are a wholesale seller, one of the very first decisions you are going to have to make once you land your first account is how you are going to handle product prep. Should you do it yourself or work with a 3PL? In today's episode, my guest Taylor Smits shares with me how a seller should find, and then evaluate a 3PL company so that they can make the most informed decision possible on the best route to take. Questions I Asked Taylor: 1:30 Who are you and what do you do? 3:20 One of the very first questions I get from new sellers is, "do I need a warehouse" and I generally tell them that they would be better off using a 3PL? 7:18 How does the new seller find them? 9:34 What questions should they ask? 13:06 What are the services that one should expect? 17:56 How will the 3PL communicate with the seller and what types of systems should the seller expect the 3PL to have to accomplish this? 22:34 How do 3PLs normally charge sellers? 24:20 What are some of the ways that sellers get screwed by 3PLs? 29:21 What are some of the ways that a prep center can add value to a seller in ways that they might not have expected? 32:48 Who are you good for, and who shouldn't work with you? 35:30 Do you have an offer for my listeners? Resources links can be found at http://brightideas.co/291

Looking for more information on content marketing and SEO for eCommerce websites? Want to discover proven strategies to help your store generate more organic traffic? In today's episode my guest is Dave Chaffey, co-founder and Content Director of Smart Insights; a very popular site that provides education and information for digital marketing professionals. Since founding my software company, I have become increasingly interested in SEO and so far the results that we have been able to produce have been very promising. In my conversation with Dave about content marketing, we talked specifically about some of the ways that eCommerce websites can use it to generate more organic traffic - that will ultimately lead to increased conversions and revenue. If content marketing and SEO is on your radar screen, you are going to love today's interview. Questions I Asked Dave: [01:06] What does your company do? [02:20] When did you start the company? [03:09] What is your YOY growth rate? [04:42] Who is your target customer? [07:33] How are you segmenting your visitors on your email list? [10:20] What have been the drivers of growth? (Content Marketing, SEO, CRO, and Email) [12:17] Tell me about why and how you focus on conversion rate optimization [13:40] Tell me about one of your CRO tests [16:00] Tell me about how you are using email [17:00] How often do you send your newsletter? [18:50] Why do you send twice a week? [20:04] How much of your content is curated vs original? [20:29] Tell me about how you are using curated content? [21:55] Are you making use of humor in your emails? [24:50] Tell me about your SEO strategy [25:30] Tell me about the keyword list you advise your clients to develop? [28:05] What is your favorite keyword research tool [29:32] When and why do you use the Google Search Console [31:32] How often do you republish older posts? [35:18] Tell me about your link building strategy? [36:14] Tell me about your proactive link building strategy? [37:15] Tell me about how you are involving influencers into the creation of your posts [38:15] Tell me about your content promotion strategies [39:21] Tell me about your guest posting strategy? [41:36] What is your CAC? [43:21] Tell me about the point at which you wanted to hire your first employee for content production? [45:10] Tell me how you used the content editor when you first hired them [46:50] Have you ever made use of contract writers? [48:10] Tell me about some of the systems and processes that you used to manage your content marketing [50:50] What haven’t I asked you about that I should have? [53:00] How much of your use of Intercom can be automated Resource Links: https://www.smartinsights.com https://in.flowster.app/marketplace https://optinmonster.com http://ahrefs.com https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/historical-blog-seo-conversion-optimization https://www.buzzstream.com https://www.intercom.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/davechaffey/ http://smartinsights.com/membership/toolkits-overview http://avechaffey.com/digital-marketing-glossary/race-marketing-planning-model https://www.smartinsights.com/ecommerce/ecommerce-analytics/ecommerce-conversion-rates/ Show Notes: https://brightideas.co/dave-chaffey-interview/

When it comes to product research for eCommerce, most entrepreneurs invest a significant amount of time, money, and effort - all in the hopes that they get it just right and their product is a runaway success. Sadly, for many entrepreneurs, an outcome like this is often the exception and not the rule. As a result, these would-be eCommerce business owners, end up wasting months of time, losing thousands of dollars, and often giving up entirely. What if there was a better way? What if you needed to only spend $1,000 and invest a few days to know if your product idea was going to fly? Well...I have good news! Such a way does in fact exist. In today's episode my guest, Colin McIntosh, founder & CEO of Sheets & Giggles - one of the fastest-growing direct-to-consumer bedding brands in the US. In this episode, Colin shares with us exactly how he was able to quickly and inexpensively validate his product idea in less than a week. Furthermore, you'll also hear Colin break down the exact steps that he took to raise $300,000 for his new company via Indiegogo. After having interviewed hundreds of entrepreneurs over the years, it is rare that your humble host is really blown away by the raw smarts of a guest. Today is one of those epic days, and my interview with Colin is nothing short of a Masterclass in product research for eCommerce entrepreneurs. Don't miss it! The questions I Asked Colin: Company Overview 3:30 What does your company sell? 5:37 What made you pick the niche you are in, and how did you research it? 8:35 Tell me about the landing page you created 11:46 How did you do the targeting on Facebook 13:00 How many emails did you capture? 13:20 What was your cost per email? 14:15 How many emails do you need to make a sale? 15:00 How did you figure out if the business was going to fly based on this first week long test 16:50 Tell me about how to be successful on crowdfunding 19:04 How did succeeding with crowdfunding affect your company in the early stage 21:18 How did you end up raising $300K on the crowdfund? 23:30 Tell me about the product and what you have done to make it unique and memorable 24:58 What do your gross margins look like? 26:35 How much money did you raise? 27:17: How did you raise the money? 29:40 Why did you shy away from institutional money? Marketing Related 30:51 What is your YOY growth rate? 34:07 Why did you launch the throw blanket 34:50 How did you do the keyword research for search term frequency 35:30 Where are you getting most of your new customers? 37:29 What are you doing to engage in direct dialogue with your customers? 39:55 What is your best marketing activity? 40:20 What other activities do you do? 41:40 How many people do you have in the marketing department 45:19 What is your CAC? 47:08 Are you profitable on the first sale? 47:21 What is your AOV? Process Related 50:55 How much effort have you put into creating SOPs so far? link Resources: https://sheetsgiggles.com/ Show Notes: https://brightideas.co/colin-McIntosh-interview/

On the show with me today is Mark Daoust, founder of Quiet Light Brokerage and in today's interview, Mark and I spent about an hour discussing how to buy or sell an online business. Quiet Light is one of, if not the leading brokerage for online businesses, and Mark and his team have seen it all. Unfortunately, most buyers and sellers haven't, and as a result, they are often very poorly prepared to engage is such an important transaction. If you are thinking of buying a business and want to learn the right way to buy an online business - or you are thinking of selling yours - you are going to love all the knowledge bombs that Mark shares in this episode. The Questions I Asked Mark: Company Overview [04:29] What does your company sell? [08:10] What made you pick the niche you are in and how did you research it? [10:23] Tell me about the landing page you created [11:46] How did you do the targeting on Facebook? [13:00] How many emails did you capture? [14:20] What was your cost per email? [15:15] How many emails do you need to make a sale? [16:13] How did you figure out if the business was going to fly based on this first week long test [18:03] Tell me about how to be successful on crowdfunding [19:04] How did succeeding with crowdfunding affect your company in the early stage [22:31] How did you end up raising $300K on the crowdfund? [24:41] Tell me about the product and what you have done to make it unique and memorable [26:01] What do your gross margins look like? [27:48] How much money did you raise? [28:30] How did you raise the money? [30:53] Why did you shy away from institutional money? Marketing Related [32:02] What is your YOY growth rate? [33:07] Why did you launch the throw blanket [34:50] How did you do the keyword research for search term frequency [35:30] Where are you getting most of your new customers? [37:29] What are you doing to engage in direct dialogue with your customers? [39:55] What is your best marketing activity? [40:20] What other activities do you do? (SEO, Social, influencer marketing, paid traffic, etc...) [42:40] How many people do you have in the marketing department [46:32] What is your CAC? [48:08] Are you profitable on the first sale? [50:21] What is your AOV? Process Related [53:20] How much effort have you put into creating SOPs so far? 5 Quick Facts 1. What is your favorite business book? 2. What is your favorite online tool for growing your business? 3. Hours of work / week? 4. Family situation? Resource Links: https://www.quietlightbrokerage.com/ https://centurica.com www.ecommercelending.com/ https://amzn.to/2pMyi05 https://ahrefs.com www.marketmuse.com/ Show Notes: https://brightideas.co/mark-daoust-interview/

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World [Paperback] [Jan 01, 2016] Newport, Cal

On the show with me today is Dave Chesson; the guy behind Kindlepreneur, a website devoted to teaching authors about book marketing. Recommended by Amazon KDP as the place where you can learn how to “optimize marketing for your books,” Kindlepreneur has grown to be one of the largest book marketing websites on the web....and when it comes to sharing best practices for book marketing, Dave did not disappoint. If you have ever wondered about the feasability of writing business books, children's books, or fiction books of any kind for the Kindle platform, you are going to absolutely love today's interview! Questions I Asked Dave: Company Overview [04:30] When did you start? [08:30] What kind of book did you write? [10:20] How did you do keyword research for the book? [11:45] How long did it take your book to rank well on Amazon? [12:20] How big is your business today? [14:06] What are your favorite tools for the book writing process? [16:59] How do I find an editor and a cover designer? [18:03] Are there podcasts for kindle publishers? Marketing [18:56] Walk me through how you actually write a book? [19:16] When you are ready to publish a new book, what does your launch process look like? [24:53] How important are book reviews? [25:49] How can an author get an advanced reviews? [26:10] What does a book launch plan look like? [29:33] Are they any gray hat strategies for launching and ranking a book? [32:42] Do new book promotions work much the same way as they do for new physical products? [34:06] How do you get reviews for a book? [36:57] Should authors use King Sumo? [38:45] What are some of the strategies that authors should avoid? [39:47] How do Amazon book ads play a role and how do they differ from ads for physical products? People and Process [41:45] Tell me about the people on your team? [44:06] Should author's rely on SOPs? [45:04] Tell me about Dave Chesson's Top 10 5 Quick Facts 1. What is your favorite business book? 2. What is your favorite online tool for growing your business? 3. Hours of work / week? 4. Family situation? 5. What do you wish your younger self knew

On the show with me today is Agie Sihotang; founder of Indo Trading USA. Agie started his company back when he was 25, and since then, he's grown it into a multi-million dollar supplier of wholesale products for online sellers. Think Costco for Amazon sellers. If you are a newer seller, or an existing seller looking for more products, this is an episode you are going to love! Questions I asked Agie: 1. What does your company do? 2. What made you pick this business model? 3. Who is your target market? 4. Tell me some effective ways for wholesalers to source products? 5. How do you predict an uptrend in sales? 6. Why is building relationships so important in wholesale? 7. What are some keywords people can use to find companies like yours? Resource Links: https://indotradingusa.com/ https://in.flowster.app/marketplace?category=Amazon-Specific Show Notes: https://brightideas.co/agie-sihotang-interview/

On the show with me today is Amana Bond; owner of The Ad Strategist and the creator of The StrADegy System. In her career, Amanda has been responsible for directly and indirectly spending millions of dollars on Facebook ads and in our conversation, she shares with me how one of her clients used Facebook ads to help them sell $1.5 million worth of a daily planner. Questions I asked Amanda: 1. Who are you and what do you do? 2. You said fb ads are dead: wtf? 3. How does Facebook ROAS compare to Google shopping? 4. Tell me about the campaigns you create for the company that sells the daily planner? 5. What did the launch look like? 6. What other assets did they use to assist in driving traffic? 7. Did split testing play a role? 8. What types of ads did they run? 9. How did retargeting play a role? 10. Tell me about the systems you have developed to make this a repeatable process? 11. Can you tell me about some of the biggest mistakes/lessons learned along the way? Resource Links: http://theadstrategist.com https://in.flowster.app/marketplace?category=Amazon-Specific Show Notes: http://brightideas.co/amanda-bond-interview

On the show with me today is Warren Carter. Warren Carter is a serial entrepreneur and his favorite sales story came from his 12-year run with his voicemail company. In 1989 he jotted a short script which included the standard sales line of “What’s the best day for you, Tuesday or Thursday?” He picked up the phone, dialed the number of a billion-dollar corporation and asked to speak to the President. That phone call led to an appointment the following Thursday which led to the addition of 300,000 subscribers, worth over $60 million. That call taught Warren to be fearless in picking up the phone to call prospects. These days Warren is focused on leveraging the sales skills that he's accumulated over his career to grow his recently launched Amazon wholesale business. If you aspired to build your own ecommerce brand and are looking for actionable tactics and strategies, this is the interview for you. Questions I asked Warren: 1. What was you revenue over the prior 30 days? 2. Tell me when you got started selling on Amazon? 3. Why did you start selling on Amazon? 4. Tell me about your business model? 5. How did you find your first 10 products? 6. How many emails do you send in your first campaign? 7. How many got opened? 8. How many replied? 9. How many accounts did you win from this send? 10. Did you pick a category in advance? 11. How did you overcome the objection "we don't want any more Amazon sellers" 12. What plans do you have for the future of your business? 13. What advice would you give someone who wants to get into this business? Resources links: http://brightideas.co/amazon-sops Shownotes: http://brightideas.co/warren-carter-interview

On the show with me today is Google advertising pro, Mike Rhodes. Mike has been running Google paid traffic campaigns for over a decade for his clients and has generated some impressive results along the way. In today's interview, I asked Mike to share with me some of the best practices and advanced tactics for getting the highest ROI possible from Google shopping, so if you are an eCommerce store owner looking for proven methods to increase traffic, you are going to love this interview. Questions I Asked Mike: 1. Who are you and what do you do? 2. Most store owners are running Facebook ads and ignoring Google. Do you think this is a mistake and why? 3. Tell me about an incredible result that your expertise played a role in achieving? 4. What are the steps and best practices for trying to replicate to this result. 5. Tell me about campaign structure? 6. Tell me about the systems you have developed to make this a repeatable process? 7. Can you tell me about some of the biggest mistakes/lessons learned along the way? 8. What advice would you give when it comes to hiring an agency? 9. Tell me about the future of Machine learning and how it is going to affect advertisers? Resource Links: https://www.datafeedwatch.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/websavvy/ https://agencysavvy.com Show Notes: http://brightideas.co/283

On the show with me today is Mike Michalowicz; the entrepreneur behind three multimillion dollar companies and is the author of Profit First, Clockwork, The Pumpkin Plan, and his newest book, Fix This Next. Mike is a former small business columnist for The Wall Street Journal and regularly travels the globe as as an entrepreneurial advocate. If you ask Mike, he'll tell you that he has one mission in life, and that is to make entrepreneurship simple. I'm a huge fan of Mike's work and in our discussion today, you are going to hear Mike share some pretty sage advice on how to make growing your business easier!

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the show with me today is John Ghiorso, founder and CEO of Orca Pacific, a Seattle-based agency focused exclusively on helping brands sell on Amazon. John founded Orca Pacific over 10 years ago and now manages over 100 mid- to large-sized brands in a variety of product categories. He uses his in-depth understanding of Amazon to help brands maximize their potential on the platform.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

In today's episode, I interview Josh Lucas - an entrepreneur who has managed to build a $2M Amazon business without quitting his full-time job in the banking business. If you are still employed full-time and are looking for a proven business to use to put yourself in a position to eventually quit your job, this is the episode for you.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

In today's episode, you are in for a real treat! My guest on the show is an eCommerce entrepreneur by the name of Abby Walker; founder of Vivian Lou Inc, a single-product company with multi-million dollar annual sales dedicated to helping women look and feel better in high heels. As you might expect in an interview like this, Abby and I spent a great deal of time talking about the tactics and strategies that she has used to achieve her success...but what you might not expect is the portion of the interview where Abby and I started to talk about the mindset that is necessary for the level of success she currently enjoys. Having now recorded several hundred interviews, I have no reservation in saying that the portion of the interview where Abby and I talk about mindset make this one of the best interviews I have ever recorded.

In today's episode, I interview Nathan Bradshaw - a full-time Amazon seller and eCommerce entrepreneur. In our discussion, Nate and I talk at length about how he has implemented a large number of documented business processes in his organization and how doing so has allowed him to massively increase his monthly revenue. (he doubled it in just 5 months). If you aren't yet a full-time seller, or you haven't even got started, you will find this interview as jam packed with actionable golden nuggets that you can implement in your business today.

In today's episode, I'm joined by Mike Jackness of eComCrew. Michael Jackness is a serial entrepreneur, who has been working in the eCommerce space for the past 4 years. He's launched multiple 7-figure eCommerce brands and is on target to do 8-figures in 2018 with his eCommerce conglomerate. He also runs a blog and podcast exclusively about eCommerce at EcomCrew.com. During our discussion, which is one of the very best I've ever had on the topic of eCommerce, we talked about the strategies that Mike has used for niche selection, product testing, advertising, lead generation, sourcing, and launching products on Amazon.

In today's episode, I'm joined by Dave Woodward, Chief Revenue and Business Development Officer at Clickfunnels. If you haven't ever heard of Clickfunnels, they are the fastest growing privately owned software company on the planet, and they have accomplished this feat by helping their customers to build wildly profitable eCommerce funnels. In my conversation with Dave, we talk at length about the common traits of their most successful customers, as well as go deep on what strategies and tactics are making those funnels so successful. In particular, we discuss the specific things you need to do to increase your ACV by as much as 5X; thereby allowing you to pay substantially more to acquire a new customer - which, as you might guess, allows you to acquire a lot more customers at a much faster rate!

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

In today's episode, I interview Steve Simonson; an extremely accomplished entrepreneur I met while attending Capcon in Austin in late 2017. In our conversation, Steve and I talked at length about how his first company nearly imploded on its way to $75M, how they recovered, and why he'd never dream of building a company with proper systems in place. One of the things that surprised me most in this interview was just how much having systems in place affected the valuation of Steve's company. If you are running your own business now and you feel like your drowning, you are going to find Steve's story extremely helpful.

In today's episode, I interview Shakil Prasla founder of SZ Ventures and owner of 8 (and counting) profitable eCommerce businesses - none of which he runs day to day. In this episode, Shakil and I took a deep dive into his business model of buying existing profitable eCommerce businesses. We talked about why he prefers to buy existing companies, how that makes fund raising so much easier, and how it allows him to keep out of the day to day operations. We also talked at length about how he finds his deals, the criteria he uses to avoid making a bad decision, and the myriad of creative finance strategies that he uses. If you are thinking about starting an eCommerce company, I urge you to listen to this episode to gain a different perspective. Starting a company is really hard. I have done it 3 times and I don't really every want to do it again. I'd much rather buy a business that already has products, customers, and cash flow. Truth be told, that is the #1 reason why I interviewed Shakil - I'm currently on the hunt for a company to buy and wanted to learn as much as I could about the process.

In today's episode, I interview Casey Gauss, founder & CEO of Viral Launch - the company behind over 17,000 product launches for over 5,000 brands on Amazon. In our conversation, Casey and I talk at length about how to evaluate the potential of a nutrional supplements brand that I'm considering buying. We start off with my explaining how I looked at various pieces of data to determine if this was a market niche that we should pursue. Thanks to what Casey shared with me about how he'd perform the same research using different data, I quickly realized that my initial assumptions were probably not valid and I needed to take a closer look at each product's potential relative to the competition. In particular, Casey shared with me the 3 methods they use to quickly determine the potential for a given product vs its competitors and I was surprised to discover that some of what he shared with me wasn't event on my radar screen! After we concluded our discussion about some of the mistakes that I was making in the way that I was evaluating the niche, we went on to discuss the 7 actions that they take for each of their clients when it comes time to get a product ranked higher in the Amazon search results. And finally, we talked about some of the top few things that separate the brands who are doing over $10M a year from the brands that are struggling to get traction. Given my desire to launch my own brand (or buy an existing one), the timing of this interview couldn't have been better and I highly recommend you check it out.

In today's episode, my guest is Vinay Patankar, CEO of one of my favorite apps; Process.st. In this episode, I get Vinay to share why he created Process Street and how it helped him to solve some of his own critical business challenges. We also talk about some of the best practices he's seen over the many companies that use Process.st and how these practices differ for small businesses vs large ones. If you are an entrepreneur that relies on a small team of local or dispersed workers, you are probably struggling with how to ensure that your team works most efficiently and effectively and when you listen to this interview, you are going to see first-hand the specific things you can start today to begin your journey to becoming a more organized (and profitable) company.

In today's episode, my guest is Erik Greene, founder of Coffee Booster - a company he started in 2014 with just $10,000 and today does over $50,000/mo on Amazon. Unlike many new entrepreneurs who shy away from competition, Erik didn't let the success of existing competitors scare him away from his chosen niche. Instead, he took an extremely methodical step-by-step approach to iteration and testing of his product, which resulted in such a low initial start up cost. Key to Erik's success was his 3 phase approach to increasing his sales. In the first phase, he discovered a very creative hack for getting his product to rank for his chosen keywords and relied on the support of 30 friends to make this phase a success. In phase two, he took what he was doing in phase one, and extended his reach by using Facebook ads. In phase three, he again extended his reach by using Amazon's own advertising platform in some very creative ways. As you'll discover in the interview, one of the things that has made Erik's venture such a success is his never-ending creativity and willingness to test, test, and test again.

How did you create the supplement? (networking, contract mfg, What if you don’t want to create your own proprietary formula? What kind of gross margins can you expect? How did you initially start to market your product? How did content play a role in your marketing? What types of blog posts did you create? How did you come up with your blog post titles? Where do you advertise your content? which social platforms do you use? What kinds of opt ins do you use? What kinds of content/offers are you using for retargeting? Free samples + shipping (1 click upsells) What does your tech stack look like and how much does it cost a month Is there any seasonality to your niche? How is Amazon playing a role? How does influencer marketing play a role? Links Mentioned Shopify + a bunch of third party apps (storefront) Wordpress (blog) blog.imprettyfit.com Clavio (email marketing) http://blog.imprettyfit.com/supplements/best-protein-powder-for-women/ (the content they promote) buzzsumo.com (to get a list of shared articles) keyword research on Google https://www.hubspot.com/blog-topic-generator

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

On the Bright Ideas podcast, host Trent Dyrsmid from BrightIdeas.co shares the story of how he's building his eCommerce business (on Amazon as well as his own site), interviews other successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, and answers questions from his audience. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to build a real business that can one day replace your job and give you the lifestyle of your dreams, eCommerce is an excellent choice and on this podcast, you will learn the exact formula to follow directly from Trent and his guests.

BI 198: How Jon Loomer Built a Thriving & Highly Profitable Community of Advanced Facebook Marketers by Trent Dyrsmid | eCommerce Entrepreneur

In this interview, John and I talked about how to maximize the value of your company prior to selling it. Included in our discussion was the top 8 value drivers you should focus on, and then we went into more detail on the top 3 of those drivers. If you are thinking of selling your company in the next year, you don’t want to miss this episode.

In this episode, Brian and I talked about how he built and sold his first company, and then how he leveraged that expertise to launch his next business. During our discussion, Brian shared with me some key lessons he learned from company #1 and how using these lessons in company #2 has helped him to achieve a lot more, in much less time.

BI 194: How Kevin Thompson Generated $16M in Revenue Helping Entrepreneurs Become Master Connectors by Trent Dyrsmid | eCommerce Entrepreneur

In this interview, Nellie and I talked about the sale of her company to Intuit, and what life was like after the sale. We also discussed how she decided to make a key branding change with her next company so that they could reduce their cost of customer acquisition.

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/193 In this episode, Kevin and I talked about how to sold his $24M disaster restoration company, what life was like after selling, what was missing, and how he has since developed a very enjoyable (and lucrative) business coaching other entrepreneurs on how to take their company to the next level. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/190 In this episode Shannon and I talk in detail about his transition from bricks and mortar entrepreneur, to online business owner. As you’ll hear in the interview, he was no overnight success. Instead, it took Shannon six years to figure out how to put the pieces together. Today, Shannon’s business is wildly successful and he’s earning more than ever before. Listen to the interview to hear how you can replicate Shannon’s business, without enduring 6 years of struggle along the way. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/191 In this episode, Marcus and I talk about how he merged River Pools with a much larger pool manufacture and how he was able to get his digital assets valued just as high as their real estate, plant, and equipment. We also talk about why he started the Sales Lion and how doing so has helped him become even more successful. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/192 In this episode, Alex and I talked extensively about how to succeed using cold email outreach for B2B lead generation. We also covered some of his favorite tools. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/187 In this episode Damian and I talk about the difference between a B2B sales system and a sales process. If you want to scale up your sales team to increase growth, or make your company more valuable to sell, you are going to need to create a scalable sales process. Listen to this interview to discover how to do it right. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/189 In this interview, Ian and I talked about life after selling vWorker.com. After the sale, there was a number of surprises that came Ian’s way and he shared what he learned from these. We then transitioned the conversation to talking about how he came up with his next idea, how he tested it, and created the products. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/188 In this episode, Jordan and I talk about what life was like after he sold his company, how he came up with the idea for his next company, and how he was able to recruit two technical co-founders to help him develop the software. We then round out our discussion with a detailed look at the very crafty strategy that he used to attract his early customers using cold email. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/184 In this interview, Jason and I talk about life after selling a company. In Jason’s case, it was bitter sweet, but it also came along with some challenges. We talk about the unexpected challenges, how he dealt with them, and ultimately, how Jason went on to create the most successful (and enjoyable) company he’s ever run. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/185 In this episode, I’m joined by David Fox and we discuss life and lessons learned after selling a company for $20M. We talked about his experience in the due diligence phase, what to expect, and how best to prepare in advance. We also talked about how to preserve wealth post-sale, and how to come up with an idea for your next business. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/186 In this episode, I’m joined by Rick Martinez and we talk about life after selling his 40(ish) employee staffing agency, what life was like after the sale, and some unexpected realizations he made in the months after the deal closed. We also talked about why he created an online business and why it’s such a good fit for he and his wife now that they are about to become empty nesters. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/180 In this episode, I share with you why I put the podcast on hiatus for almost a year, what I learned while I was off the air, how our agency won it's largest contract ever, and what is in store for the future of the show. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/182 Butch and I talked about some of the challenges he experienced after selling his company. Much to his surprise, it wasn’t all “beaches and margaritas” as many expect. Listen to this episode to discover how Butch has reinvented himself as a digi-preneur. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/181 Aaron and I talked today about what happened after he sold his company at age 27. Contrary to what you might think, life wasn’t all roses for a guy who’d already made enough money to never have to work again. Something was missing. Listen to the episode to learn what went wrong, what he learned, and how Aaron has gone on to leverage his skills and expertise in a way that has created more prosperity and happiness than ever before. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/183 Tom and I talked about how he planned the sale of each of his four companies, how he managed work/life balance, and why he so enjoys being a digital entrepreneur. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/10 Are you taking advantage of the many benefits that internet video marketing has to offer? Wait…have you even produced a video yet? Would you like to get started, but you aren’t sure how? To discover the benefits of video marketing, as well as how to get started, I interview Chris Savage, CEO of Wistia in this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/79 I’m not overstating things when I say that Jermaine Griggs is an absolute master at marketing automation. Each time I learn another of his ninja strategies, I’m completely blown away. Jermaine’s marketing automation strategies are the key to what led his initial $70 investment in his company to turn into a low-overhead 7 figure operation that doesn’t take much time to run. His truly impressive results have caused so many other marketers to ask for his advice that he’s created a marketing automation clinic as a second business. If you’d like to learn just how far you can go with marketing automation, this is one interview you do NOT want to miss. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/9 Are you constantly thinking about how to increase web traffic? Would you like to hear how a brand new blogger got 50,000 visitors in his first 30 days – without a list of subscribers or any help from affiliates? To discover how a brand new blogger got 50,000 visitors to his blog in his first 30 days, I interview Peep Laja in this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/7 Are you looking for a way to drive more traffic to your website? Would you like to learn a content creation strategy that has been proven to work by one of the most popular business blogs on the planet? To discover how the Social Media Examiner became the #2 most popular business blog in the USA, I interview Mike Stelzner in this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/27 Would you like to have an inbox that fills up daily with prospect who want to give you their money? Would you like to be seen as a thought leader in your niche? Would you like to be able to do this while working from home and enjoying very healthy relationships with your family? In this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast, I’m joined by Marcus Sheridan, founder of The Sales Lion – a leading blog in the business development niche that is earning it’s owner over a quarter of a million dollars per year. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/143 Walter Bergeron started a small industrial electronics repair company back in 1996 in the deep South of Louisiana. For many years, his revenues were at about $1 million per year. In 2011 Walter had a pivotal moment when he realized his one and only method for generating new customers might disappear. What did he do? He went through a million dollar total business transformation over a 90 day period of time. During this time he doubled his business and eventually built it to a 40 employee business in 6 states. If you are planning to grow your business into an asset that you can sell, listen up. Walter Bergeron will explain how to sell your company for millions by sharing the tactics and strategies he put into action in his business and the resources he used to get these amazing results. No matter what kind of business you run, listen in for a slew of gold nuggets. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/169 Today we interview Julian Stubbs, the co-founder of a unique, cloud-based global marketing agency called Up There Everywhere. In this interview, we unpack the process of how Julian and his team have built their agency to just under $3 million in revenue in 3 years. Up There Everywhere is comprised of a globally distributed team of over 150 team members. Julian shares openly how he and his partner started the company, how they got their first clients, and the details on their inbound marketing. This is a rich interview for those looking to grow their marketing agency. Even if you are not an agency and you are looking for insight into how you can build a global team of what Julian calls e-ployees, you’re going to find great insights in this interview as well. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/40 If you google the phrase “seo guide”, SEOmoz.org comes up #1 – ahead of Google’s own guide, no less! Would you like to get a free SEO training course from the CEO of one of the most successful SEO firms on the planet? Would you like to understand how to tie SEO into your inbound marketing efforts? In this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast, I’m joined by Rand Fishkin, co-founder and CEO of SEOMoz.org, one of the leading SEO software firms on the planet with over 20,000 paying customers and 109 employees (and counting). Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/174 Are you looking for a way to consistently generate leads for a sales team that generate conversations with qualified prospects who convert to customers? In this interview, Damian Thompson provides a laundry list of specific tactics and tools he uses for himself and his clients to achieve meaningful results in demand generation. Damian is the Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of DemandGenesis.com. He has grown his business to almost $30K/month in his first year by going through a very iterative process, much like what I share in my YouTube video “How to Start a Business with No Money“. Damian is a master at using outbound marketing and B2B demand generation tactics for software companies. The strategies he shares in this interview will work in any industry, so get your notepad ready! Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/001 Are you looking for proven small business marketing tactics that you can use to get more customers? Do you always feel like you are just one more customer away from going from “scraping by” to “nicely profitable”? To discover how to “pumpkin plan” your business so that you can finally start turning the profits you desire, I interview Mike Michalowicz for this episode of the Bright Ideas Podcast. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Show notes for this episode: http://brightideas.co/145 Brian Clark is the Founder and CEO of CopyBlogger Media, publisher of CopyBlogger.com, one of the most successful marketing blogs on the internet. On top of their huge audience they have built a very successful business by bringing to market products that their audience wants. In today's interview, Brian shares with us the many strategies and tactics that he's used to build Copyblogger media into the huge success that it is today. Have a question about this episode? Record it at: http://brightideas.co/asktrent

Today we interview Dan Briscoe, the VP of Marketing for a software company called HCSS. HCSS started in 1986 and makes software for big construction companies. HCSS brought Dan in about 2.5 years ago when their leads began to stagnate. He has helped them achieve phenomenal results.

In the interview, we unpack the tactics that went into Dan's results.

How did they get started? How did they get buy-in from the executive team? What did he do to experiment and deliver concrete results to sway the naysayers? How is SEO and video playing a role in their strategy? What lead generating ideas did he bring to HCSS?

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this interview, Trent speaks with Rishi Dave, CMO of Dun & Bradstreet. Rishi has been with Dun & Bradstreet since February 2014. Trent found Rishi after reading an article titled, “If a 173 year old public company can digitally transform, what’s your excuse?”

If you are a CMO or CEO of an organization that hasn’t yet fully embraced digital marketing, you will learn a lot. Hear what Rishi focused on in the beginning and how they shifted their culture to embrace digital marketing.

What are a few other highlights? We talk about how the buyer’s journey has really changed in the last few years and how content marketing plays a role in that. Rishi also shares some best practices for lead segmentation.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In today’s interview with Mick Hollison, we talk about predictive analytics as it applies to lead scoring. Mick is the CMO for InsideSales.com and a regular contributing author for Inc. Magazine.

Predictive analytics is a brand new topic for us on the BrightIdeas podcast. Predictive analytics helps you make objective decisions about lead quality based on key pieces of data. This information helps your sales team focus on those leads that have the highest probability of becoming customers.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

John Hurley is the director of product marketing for a venture backed startup called Radius. Radius has raised about $80M so far. They are selling an enterprise software solution to major brand players like American Express.

Today we have a very interesting conversation! We start with the content strategy that Radius uses to get traffic. Then we investigate their conversion process and the extensive multi-step test they conducted on how customers enter their software trial program.

This interview serves as an in-depth case study on detailed conversion optimization testing. It's an area I've never explored in depth with a guest before and is full of great information.

Focus on how they drove traffic and how they maximized conversions. If you are with a SaaS company the issues discussed in this interview will be near and dear to your heart. Regardless, any company that wants to maximize traffic and conversion can pick up some great tips.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Damian Thompson is the founder and chief revenue officer of Demand Genesis, who’s mission is to help 100 service & software firms build the company of their dreams while we build ours. We help companies gain new customers faster, retain existing subscribers longer, and obtain market leadership through Sales & Marketing Automation, Authority Content Creation, and Outbound Lead Generation.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Daniel Rodriguez is the V.P. of Marketing at a venture backed software company called Seismic Software. His primary responsibility is generating leads for the sales team.

In this interview, Daniel is going to share the details of how his team has achieved significant success in attracting enterprise level clients (worth about $100K/year) using a combination of both inbound and outbound marketing. We dive into Seismic's:

Inbound marketing strategy
How they define their buyer personas
How they use LinkedIn to develop their buyer personas
Some of the big challenges they encountered early on
How much they spend each year on inbound marketing
How they create and promote their content
How they use LinkedIn groups
Some of the assets in the top and middle of their funnel
Inbound marketing timeframes - what is a realistic expectation for how long it will take to achieve meaningful results?
The outbound marketing process run by their BDR’s
How they find email addresses and what they say in the emails they send

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Tom Schwab is the CEO of GoodbyeCrutches.com. Goodbye Crutches sells equipment for people who can’t put weight on one foot or the other. Tom came from the corporate world and started a medical supply business. Over the last 4 years he has taken his business from a regional player to a national leader using inbound marketing and the HubSpot tool.

In this interview, Tom shares at length what they did to grow their blog from 3,000 visitors per month - 2000 of which was from paid traffic - to over 70,000 visitors per month, with almost no paid traffic.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Today we interview Ted Prodromou, a Twitter & LinkedIn Expert. He is the author of "Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business" and "Ultimate Guide to Twitter for Business".

Our discussion focuses on ways to leverage LinkedIn to help you generate more leads. This episode is not a LinkedIn primer, it is for people who already have a profile and want to learn ways to use LinkedIn to find ideal customers, engage with them and get a conversation going that can result in new business.

LinkedIn is a very powerful platform for lead generation. Get ready to learn several methods to improve your LinkedIn prospecting.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Today I interview Laura Roeder, who founded LKR Studios in 2009. Laura has built quite a name for herself teaching people how to create internet fame and how to use social media to further their business objectives. Out of that business she got an idea for a software product that helps people to use social media. The name of the software is Edgar.

Today we talk about the challenges of transitioning from an information products only business to the software business. Laura details the different skills and approach that are required to run a successful software business.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Is your sales organization bringing in a steady stream of new customers? In this episode, I interview Adam Becker from Tinderbox. Adam is the Director of Sales for Tinderbox and his role is making sure that the sales and lead generation teams are productive.

Tinderbox is a SaaS company focused on the sales productivity space. Specifically, they work with the documents sales teams are using on a day-to-day basis. This interview describes how Tinderbox uses a sales driven organization to add 50-60 new deals per month with the average deal size of $12-15K annually.

Tinderbox has a somewhat unique issue in that their customers don’t even know they have a problem until they get an education. Want to know the exact process they are going through to get their prospects attention?

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Julian Stubbs is a brand strategist, writer, and presenter who has developed brand strategies and identities for a wide range of organisations and places - from Hollywood movie company Technicolor, to the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, to the Swedish city of Stockholm.

Julian was formerly owner and CEO of Dowell//Stubbs Brand Communications, but sold the company to GyroHSR Group in June 2007, where he took on the role of Global Head of Branding. He resigned from GyroHSR in June 2010 to found UP THERE, EVERYWHERE with his long time business partner, American Eric Dowell. As Julian’s wife is also American, he thinks God, if he is UP there somewhere, is possibly trying to tell him something, and one day he will possibly have to move stateside to live and see what all the fuss is about.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In today’s show you’ll hear lessons learned from the owners of two Hubspot certified marketing agencies:

Paul Roetzer from PR 20/20 Trent Dyrsmid from Groove Digital Marketing

Paul and Trent share their thoughts on:

How to provide the right reporting to executive level management. Setting realistic expectations within your team. How to properly develop content and a content strategy that moves prospects through your funnel.

Whether you are an agency owner or a person considering inbound marketing for your company, you will learn some important lessons.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

My guest in this episode Reid Genauer is the CEO of Magisto. Magisto uses artificial intelligence to transform ordinary photos and videos into professional movies. Currently they make about 10 million movies/month.

It's fun to use ->> Go check it out

The topic of this interview won’t be on Magisto though, we will focus on partner marketing. Partner marketing has played a big role in the growth of Magisto.

Listen to this interview so you can understand what to expect with from a partnership and learn how to choose the right partners as you start or grow your business.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Our guest today is Dan Moyle. Dan is in charge of marketing over at AmeriFirst Mortgage. Dan knows how to succeed with inbound marketing in a 'boring' industry.

If you are in an industry that many would consider 'boring', and you're not sure how you could possibly come up with enough to write about, this interview is for you. Dan shares the strategy he's used at AmeriFirst to produce a lot of content that has produced fantastic results.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this interview we'll explore the success that Block Imaging has experienced with inbound marketing. We interview Krista Kotrla, Senior VP of Marketing for Block Imaging. Block Imaging buys and sells imaging equipment ranging from $50K to $500K.

We talk at length about the incredible results Block Imaging achieved through inbound marketing. When you hear the results, you will be stunned at how much of an impact inbound marketing has had on their business.

Krista will also explain to us how they got started, some of their mistakes, how to create an effective inbound marketing campaign, and the major pivot that had a dramatic impact on their results. If you are looking for a proven success story from a company that sells relatively technical products in a “boring” industry then get ready to take notes. Don’t miss the golden nuggets on:

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Amanda Todorovich is the Marketing Manager of Digital Engagement at the Cleveland Clinic. She oversees all content marketing strategies including the blog, social media, and email marketing. The Cleveland Clinic has been blogging for about a year and traffic has grown from 250,000 visitors per month to over 3 million visitors per month.

In this interview you will hear Amanda explain a couple of really important things that you need to understand if you haven’t started inbound marketing or haven’t yet found success with it. We discuss the importance of buyer personas, how to figure out what to write about, and how to get eyeballs on the content.

The Cleveland Clinic has put a huge amount of focus on Facebook and made a significant investment in building their following there. If you want to learn how to maximize reach and increase blog traffic with Facebook, listen closely!

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Jascha Kaykas-Wolff is CMO for BitTorrent, a well know internet brand. Jascha has been in internet technology for 17 years and has worked on projects including Microsoft product stores, social marketing, and workflow management & innovation.

In this episode, we won’t be talking about BitTorrent though, we’ll be talking about agile marketing processes. If you are not yet familiar with agile marketing, grab some paper and a pen so you can take notes as you learn how to avoid wasting money by evolving away from the legacy mindset of marketing.

We discuss specific tools and tactics and additional resources you can use to increase your education on this topic.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

You’ve probably heard of Reddit, but do you know how to leverage it to grow your business? Have you tried using Reddit for your business but found it difficult to figure out how to get results?

Brent Csutoras is a social media strategist and entrepreneur who specializes in social media marketing, content marketing and viral content creation. He’s been involved with the Reddit platform for a long time.

Reddit is a group of thousands of communities. No matter what you are interested in there is a sub Reddit for you to join in on the discussion. The whole purpose of Reddit is to share content that a particular sub Reddit would find interesting and would like to discuss.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this interview Amanda Nelson shares 10 tips for managing a successful blog. Amanda Nelson is the Director of Marketing for Ringlead.com, a data quality platform for major CRM and marketing automation platforms. In her previous position as content manager for Salesforce.com, Amanda took the Salesforce.com corporate blog from 80,000 visitors per month to 340,000 visitors per month in just one year.

These tips worked at Salesforce and are working at RingLead, so whether you are a smaller company or a large one, these strategies will work very well for you if you implement them the same way Amanda did.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode my guest is Trip Foster, CMO for Brandscreen and Zenovia Exchange. These companies are really focused on programmatic digital media. They offer a demand side platform and exchange for buying and selling of digital display ads.

Are you ready to dive into the details of what programmatic advertising is, why it is important, how you can get started, what it costs, and how your company can benefit?

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In today's podcast, I interview Kristen Matthews, marketing manager at GroupHigh. Kristen is an outreach expert, and in this interview we talk about blogger outreach. Blogger outreach has fast become a popular way for brands to increase awareness for their products and stimulate word of mouth, mentions on social media, inbound links, and other good stuff.

To promote GroupHigh Kristen does a lot of blogger outreach. Kristen also does case studies for different case study articles and ebooks. And she works with GroupHigh's top brand clients to give them advice and setup blogger outreach campaigns.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

If you are an executive at a larger organization, you may be very familiar with the disconnect between sales and marketing. Marketing talks about leads and lead generation, sales tends to talk about target accounts and outreach to close those target accounts.

You may have encountered issues with deals getting lost when people make calls without knowing if those leads are already a target account, if they are already a customer, or if a deal is already being worked on.

Dan Ziman, CMO for Lean Data explains how LeanDataInc.com solves that problem using their software. Lean Data helps companies with their account based sales and marketing strategies, specifically on Salesforce.com.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode my guest is Josh Turner. He used LinkedIn to get clients, and then his clients noticed the results he was getting on LinkedIn, and started asking if he would manage their LinkedIn campaigns as well. And so LinkedSelling was born.

I've seen a lot of people use LinkedIn poorly, and not nearly as many use it as an effective prospecting system to grow their business. Josh decidedly falls in the latter group.

In this episode, Josh shares how he helps clients with their LinkedIn strategies. He shares a specific strategy for lead generation on LinkedIn via a case study where he helped his clients position themselves as industry experts and provide a steady flow of leads to their sales team.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Join us for a unique episode. My guest, Josh Denning, and I speak very candidly about the information and podcasting business as it compares to running a business like a digital agency where you have clients and build a team. There are many myths out there about how to build an online business that gives you a lifestyle where you can live anywhere you want to and have a nice level of relatively passive income.

So many people who are looking for a business to start get fooled into believing that they can run an information products business and make over $100K /year. While it is possible. for 99%+ it is not probable. You will need MASSIVE amounts of traffic to make big income.

If you are considering the information products business or a podcasting business, listen as we share candidly how we learned that these businesses are much more difficult than they seem.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

My guest in this episode is Chris Brogan mis the world’s leading authority on owning the game you most want to win. Combining a mix of professional leadership development and business strategy, Chris works with professionals like you to own your choices, own your life, and own your future. He is CEO of Owner Media Group, a highly sought after professional speaker and the New York Times bestselling author of eight books and counting, including The Freaks Shall Inherit the Earth, and Just Start Here.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

My guest in this episode Ian Wash, CMO for TrackMaven. TrackMaven is a SaaS company that has been growing rapidly. Their blog now gets 50,000 unique monthly visitors, 95% from organic traffic.

TrackMaven provides competitive intelligence for digital marketers. They look at all the content that marketers are putting out across different digital and content marketing channels and help them understand how effective it is. They also help you understand how well your content stacks up to your competition.

Learn how TrackMaven defined their buyer personas, how they get ideas on what to write about, and their content vetting and syndication process.

Do you have aggressive growth goals this year? Learn how TrackMaven doubled their conversion rate of their blog (twice as many leads from the same amount of clients) and take lots of notes!

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you'll know I'm a pretty big fan of Infusionsoft and love the marketing automation superpowers it provides. I also love that I can easily connect HubSpot to Infusionsoft so they work seamlessly together.

Which is why you might be surprised to learn that I'm using HubSpot to run my marketing agency, Groove Digital Marketing. However, as has become readily apparent to me, the two platforms for the most part do drastically different things, so I have not given up Infusionsoft for HubSpot. So why use HubSpot? In this podcast episode, I explain exactly why I've made that choice for my agency. If you'd like to hear more, download the episode or listen now (below).

For more episodes from myself and other accomplished business professionals, subscribe now and don't miss out on future shows.

David Dwek is the Chief Marketing Officer for Metaverse, which is the owner of quite a number of ecommerce brands including FulcrumGallery.com. If you’ve ever heard of Google’s new product listing ads, this episode is all about PLA’s. Best practices, what they are, why they are important, how to use them, what to watch out for, common mistakes.

David will share all sorts of PLA insights with us. If you or a client of yours has an ecommerce store, you don’t want to miss this episode.

David has been working in online retail for more than a decade. He is responsible for selling over 300,000 SKU’s on more than a dozen sites including FulcrumGallery.com and FramedArt.com. Previously he held senior marketing roles at four other internet retailer top 500 companies and was responsible for $15 to $150 million in annual sales.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Today we interview Rebecca Geier, the CEO and co-founder of Trew Marketing headquartered in Austin, TX. Trew Marketing is a full-service marketing agency serving engineering, science, and technology companies. Learn why they selected this niche and how it has helped their company grow.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode my guest is Wade Foster, the CEO and one of the co-founders of a rapidly growing company called Zapier. Zapier integrates SaaS tools from different vendors using triggers and actions. It currently works with 300+ SaaS apps and is growing by about 10 apps per month.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode my guest is Ashley Jacobs Asley Jacobs she works for Wisebread.com, a very popular finance blog that covers frugal living, investing, retirement and insurance. For the last 3 yrs she has been in charge of the tweet chats.

Twitter is our #1 social network for promoting content and attracting new leads to our site. If you aren’t yet familiar with Twitter, it’s a platform you should really get proficient on.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On the show with me today is Mark Lerner is the Director of Marketing for Oktopost, a social media marketing and content distribution platform for B2B companies. Mark is a jack-of-all-trades and his roles include social media marketing, content marketing and distribution, business development, and growth hacking..

Groove Digital Marketing has recently started using Oktopost in our own business and we really enjoy it. (Hint: try it out, they offer a free trial.)

If you are not familiar with re-purposing content, this interview will show you how to save a ton of time and produce a high volume of content with less effort than you think. Of course, you will also learn how to use Oktopost for social media content management and promotion.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

n this episode my guest is Dan Greenwald is founder, President and Creative Director of White Rhino, since 1990.

Dan has won of numerous industry awards for interactive, advertising, branding, direct marketing and design work. His client experience is broad-ranging and includes B2B and B2C clients, from complex technology companies to high-end consumer products branding.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode my guest is Paige Campbell is the CEO of Grady Britton, a mid-sized advertising and marketing agency in Portland, OR. Grady Britton has been in business for over 40 years.

Paige started as an employee and, along with her business partner, ended up buying the firm from the prior owner. Subsequently, Paige and her partner went on to buy two more agencies.

Whether you are buying or selling a business, or hoping to in the future, you are going to find great insights when you listen to this interview.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

My guest is Zak Dabbas the co-founder and CEO of Punchkick Interactive. A bonafide veteran of the mobile space, Zak has played a key role in the launch of integrated mobile campaigns for global brands including Harley-Davidson, Microsoft, Allstate Insurance Co., UPS, and Marriott International. Zak has overseen mobile strategy for Punchkick since its founding in 2006, and has helped the company experience massive year-over-year organic growth since its inception.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Brian Clark the Founder and CEO of CopyBlogger Media, publisher of CopyBlogger.com, one of the most successful marketing blogs on the internet. On top of their huge audience they have built a very successful business by bringing to market products that their audience wants.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

James Deer the founder of GatherContent- a service that helps agencies gather content from their clients painlessly. It helps replace the chaotic process of sending word documents, and emails back and forth for when you prepare web content. Previously James and his wife built up a small digital agency to 13 full-time staff which they later sold.

James started his career as a freelancer and built up a small client base. Eventually, he got so busy as a web designer that he had to hire a number of people. He quickly built up an agency to 13 people before he ended up selling it.

James will reveal the entire process he has taken with Gather Content – from concept to prototyping, getting customers, and getting funding, as well as long-term business goals.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

My guest is Walter Bergeron is a multi-millionaire serial entrepreneur, a best selling author and Marketer of the Year. This Navy veteran started his entrepreneurial journey at the young age of 12, detailing automobiles in his parents’ driveway and has owned many businesses since then. In 1996, after he completed a U.S. Navy tour aboard the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, he started his industrial repair company in a small shed in the middle of the sugarcane fields of Louisiana. His entrepreneurial path led him to sell his industrial company for $10 Million and is now guiding other driven entrepreneurs on a path to exponentially grow and sell their business to achieve their own 8 figure lifestyle liberating payday. For a free copy of one of his bestselling books go to www.walterbergeron.com .

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Nathan Yerian is a co-founder of Adhere Creative, a marketing agency started at a kitchen table by Nathan and 2 other founders. Adhere Creative is now a 7 figure a year and agency with a nice roster of clients that pay monthly retainers.

If you want to learn how to build an agency like Nathan’s, this podcast is for you. In particular, we talk in detail about three of Nathan’s strategy for attracting leads.

One strategy is content marketing and we discuss specific questions as to how Nathan makes certain he gets the right content promoted in the right way so the right people read it.

We also talk about how Adhere syndicates their content and the types of conversation they have when a lead becomes sales qualified. They get them on retainer from Day One!

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

My guest in this episode is Graig Presti, founder and CEO of LocalSearchForDentists.com, is a foremost advertising authority who operates with dental practices all around the planet, assisting them to leverage the internet so they can generate more telephone calls, reach more new patients, and bring in more revenue. His strategies begin to work immediately and continue to work month after month.

Presti specializes in helping dental practices dominate their nearby location by using confirmed regional Internet dental advertising strategies to help them dominate the top rated regional research engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode my guest is Rachel Cogar, the Founder and CEO of Puma Creative, a HubSpot Gold Certified International Consultancy, is a progressive-thinking, profit-driven inbound marketer who isn't afraid to try something new. Always on the cutting edge of innovation and best practice, Rachel is revered as a thought leader AND a doer in the field of business strategy, communications and inbound marketing. Rachel and her team consult and coach clients across the world to perform at optimal levels for lead generation and demand generation marketing. Rachel is the author of The Inbound Marketing Worldview, the up and coming business book that describes the belief system we have about consumerism and how our worldview affects our behavior as marketers.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

I had the opportunity recently to interview 2 CEO’s who were both running very successful businesses and taking very different approaches to lead generation.

One CEO focused on inbound marketing, the other on outbound marketing. Which marketing method is a better use of your time if you are just getting started and don’t have the momentum from having an established content marketing strategy in place?

On the show with me today is Drew McLellan, he has worked in advertising for 25+ years and started his own agency, McLellan Marketing Group in 1995 after a five-year stint at Y&R. He also owns and runs Agency Management Institute (AMI), which offers agency management training, consulting and facilitates agency owner peer networks for small to mid sized agencies (advertising, digital, marketing, media and PR) so they can increase their AGI by at least 25%, attract better clients and employees and best of all — exceed the agency owner’s life/financial goals.

Drew’s agency was a member of the organization for years before Drew acquired AMI and began to run it full-time.

He launched his agency's blog in 2006 and it has been on the AdAge Top 150 from the list's inception. His first book, 99.3 Random Acts of Marketing, was published in 2003 and Drew and Australian marketer Gavin Heaton created the Age of Conversation series of crowdsourced books in 2007. To date, the AOC series has raised over $50,000 for charity. Drew launched the AMR blog in 2012 and hopes it will be a great resource to agency leaders.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode my guest is Evan Owens the CEO for Centresource Interactive Agency. Founded in 2003, Centresource helps their clients merge technology and marketing strategies to produce measurable results in the areas of growth, retention, efficiency, training and analytics. Throughout his career, he has helped a broad base of organizations such as Adobe, Healthways, Singer Sewing, Mapco, and SESAC revolutionize their marketing and technology strategies.

Under his leadership, Centresource has expanded to a national client base and is privileged to be named in the INC 5000, the Hottest 100 Companies in TN and the Inner City 100 Fastest Growing Companies in the US lists. Also in 2010, Centresource was selected as a finalist for the .NET Design Agency of the Year.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

My guest is Kathy Leake CEO and Co-Founder of LocalResponse, a company that helps marketers respond to real-time consumer intent. At LocalResponse she is responsible for positioning, go-to-market, revenue generation and general operations.

Prior to joining LocalResponse, Kathy was a Founder and Chief Revenue Officer at Media6Degrees, a Social Targeting company. At Media6, Kathy developed the positioning, strategy and go-to-market blueprint for the company. She successfully took Media6 to market and drove the company from pre-revenue to $20 million in revenue and $100 million valuation in 2 years.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

My guest is Alan Vitberg owner of VitbergLLC, a marketing agency for B2B and professional services firms. He is a nationally recognized marketing executive, speaker, and author, specializing in helping clients grow their top line though design and execution of lead generation campaigns, “get found first” internet strategies, installation of inbound marketing programs, and laser focusing marketing budgets for more ROI.

Alan is one of the nation's foremost experts on designing and building websites for lead generation, and is a specialist in content marketing and the use of social media for lead generation.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On the show with me today is Kathy is currently the CEO and Co-Founder of LocalResponse, a company that helps marketers respond to real-time consumer intent. At LocalResponse she is responsible for positioning, go-to-market, revenue generation and general operations.

Prior to joining LocalResponse, Kathy was a Founder and Chief Revenue Officer at Media6Degrees, a Social Targeting company. At Media6, Kathy developed the positioning, strategy and go-to-market blueprint for the company. She successfully took Media6 to market and drove the company from pre-revenue to $20 million in revenue and $100 million valuation in 2 years.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode my guest is Bill Faeth founder of Inbound Marketing Agents, this guys is aserial entrepreneur extraordinaire, how he grew traffic to his blog to 25,000 visitors/mo in the first year and 40,000 visitors/mo within two years. Bill shares his unique content syndication strategies, including how he discovers the exact places his buyer persona hangs out online.

He also shares the exact tools he uses to make the most from Twitter, and how he uses Twitter and LinkedIn to research his buyer.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode I’m joined by Daniel Faggella is a recognized email marketing expert, entrepreneur, and speaker. Dan started his first business in his undergraduate years, and began with his second business while attending the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Master of Applied Positive Psychology program. His expertise lies in targeted marketing strategies and exceptional attention to maximizing the ROI from email.

As you probably know, I’m a huge fan of marketing automation as well, which is why I why have used and recommended Infusionsoft for years. These days, I use HubSpot as well as Infusionsoft (I explain why I use both in the interview below; if you want a more detailed analysis check out my HubSpot vs Infusionsoft post). This is a must-listen if you’ve been thinking of implementing marketing automation in your business, or if you are already using it and want to see a bigger ROI.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On the show with me today is Sam Meers Founder of Meers Advertising, he has witnessed the rapidly evolving integration of traditional and digital communications first-hand. Some of the companies with which the agency works include Assurant, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, Missouri Gas Energy, HCA Midwest Health System, United Way of Greater Kansas City, Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, 3M, Lead Bank and the National World War I Museum.

Earlier this year, Meers Advertising was recognized by Inc. Magazine as the fastest growing company in Kansas City, Missouri, and the 649th fastest growing company in the nation. The company was also recognized by The Agency Post as the 33rd fastest growing advertising agency in the nation. The Downtown Council of Kansas City named Sam an Urban Hero for the work he and his company have done to revitalize the Urban Core of Kansas City.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode my guest is CEO of WrightIMC, an integrated marketing agency that did $2.3 million in revenue last year and is on track to earn over $3 million in revenue this year. Want to learn how to get more retainer clients? 90% of WrightIMC’s revenue is retainer income.

Tony also shares his 4-step strategy for SEO, how he uses speaking gigs to land new clients, and why he spends 2 hours per day on LinkedIn.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode my guest is Paul Ten Haken is the CEO of Click Rain, a $3 million business located in South Dakota. Click Rain is a 25-person marketing agency that has been recognized for extraordinary levels of growth.

Learn how Click Rain attracted their very early customers and what has become the number one source of new business for them now. Paul reveals some potential snags around partnerships and how to avoid them. Finally he explains the deliberate actions to take to build a positive company culture so you have less turnover, happier employees, happier clients, and more referrals.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode my guest is Jon Pietz, principal and creative director of Brand X Communications is here to make sure that doesn’t happen to you. Because SMB and B2B companies can’t afford to waste money on marketing that doesn’t attract their most profitable prospects.

After 20 years in the Advertising business, Jon formed Brand X to help B2B companies create memorable brands based on the needs and desires of their ideal customers. And he’s got a process designed specifically for his clients to unleash their brands and find their true believers.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On the show with me today is Andrew Gaffney is the founder and CEO of Demand Gen Report, a digital publication covering best practices and engagement strategy for lead generation. Founded seven years ago, Demand Gen Report has experienced continuous growth and ranked on the Inc 5000 last year. Since then, their revenues are up another 70% this year.

Andrew is a walking, talking example of developing content marketing strategies that work. Content marketing has played a pivotal role in his organizational growth. He shares how to figure out your buyer persona and how it affects content marketing strategy, what your marketing funnel should look like, and how to combine traditional outbound with content marketing to get much better results.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

By any measure, Max Traylor has built a very successful marketing agency. IMR focuses exclusively on content marketing and only takes clients on retainer. He shares with us how they built their agency, the type of customers they have, how they sell their services, and the essential role of the Content Marketer's Blueprint.

This is a must-listen if you're an agency principal or are interested in content marketing.

Listen now and you'll hear Max and I talk about:

On the show with me today is Bill Carmody, An entrepreneur since the age of 12, hehas been a visionary in operating at the nexus of technology and marketing, transforming great ideas into successful marketing programs.

An expert in both the promotions and digital industry, he has been able to harness the power of both to deliver high impact customer engagement for his clients. He was a founding partner and CMO of Seismicom, a leading brand promotions agency. At groundbreaking digital ad agency Modem Media (now Publicis Modem), he was a pioneer in launching some of the first commercial websites including MasterCard.com and CBS.com as well as the first web-based contest for CBS’ March Madness tournament and negotiating MasterCard’s first banner ad on Yahoo.com. His book, Online Promotions, continues to inspire and drive digital promotional innovation.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On the show with me today is Mike Corak the Executive Vice President of Strategy at ethology, leading the strategic planning and agency services teams. An agency veteran, Corak has developed and implemented winning digital and integrated strategies for hundreds of companies over his 12-year career, including Coca-Cola, ConAgra Foods, ConocoPhillips, FedEx, Fujitsu, Nike, Office Depot, and Walt Disney.

Prior to ethology, Corak led the interactive services, strategy and client management teams at Off Madison Avenue and iCrossing. Corak serves on the board of SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization), helping drive the search industry’s trade group initiatives in research and best practices education.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Kurt Theobald is the Co-Founder and CEO of Classy Llama. A visionary to his core, Theobald has delivered eleven businesses failures and one success over the last ten years, and while his batting average has suffered and his wife has learned patience, the one hit has been a home run (think “Babe Ruth”).

Classy Llama is an eCommerce agency consisting of salt-of-the-earth, efficiency-driven eCommerce veterans committed to delivering more by doing less. As one of Magento's earliest partners, Classy Llama has helped over 80 companies achieve success on the Magento platform. You can learn more from Kurt and the Classy Llama team at their blog, live weekly Llama Commerce Show, and Twitter page.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

James Schramko typically charges a LOT for access to his advice. His mastermind group is in the tens of thousands per year, and I'm sure it's worth every penny. So when I had the opportunity to chat with him, I knew I wanted to share some of his best pieces of advice with my listeners.

I got a number of golden nuggets from my conversation with James. I actually share more than three in this episode (including James' secret to ranking a podcast highly in iTunes), but here were the ones that rose to the top:

Avoid anything that distracts you from your goal (shiny object syndrome)
Be patient)
3 Spend time around others with similar goals

Jamie Cooper's firm is the largest marketing agency in Idaho and has been ranked in Outside Magazine's "Top Places to Work" for the last two years.

As you may know, I started my journey as an entrepreneur in the IT space and have since moved into marketing agency and consulting work. Jamie Cooper has taken quite a similar path, as the Vice President of Marketing at ProClarity (now owned by Microsoft) and now as the CEO of DrakeCooper.

In this episode we discuss how Jamie got into the creative services business and how digital marketing has changed the marketing landscape. If you're in the agency space or you're an entrepreneur looking to get into a new industry, don't miss this episode.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On the show with me today is Chris Handy the Founder & CEO of ThinkHandy, a sales and marketing alignment consultancy in Fort Worth, TX. Apart from starting ThinkHandy, Chris has also done work for eRecyclingCorps, Easysale Inc, and EzBayer.

Chris' company is Hubspot Certified and has an extensive inbound marketing background. Chris is a graduate of the Univeristy of Texas at Arlington in Management and Marketing and is a self-proclaimed Saved By The Bell "Trivia Master".

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On the show with me today is Robb Bailey the CEO & Co-Founder of PageLadder, an agency that helps emerging growth companies bridge the Inbound Marketing gap through Content Marketing Strategy. His work was featured in a case study at HubSpot's Inbound Conference 2013 by Innovative Marketing Resources. PageLadder has been recognized as a Certified Partner Agency by HubSpot. Learn more at RobbBailey and PageLadder.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

What do ultra-successful entrepreneurs all have in common?

Focus.

When you nail that down, you get results... when you don't, you're just doing busy work.

As I've thought more and more about my business, my products, and how I've been spending my time, I've come to the realization that how I've been allocating my time is not exactly (and the actions that I’m taking are not exactly) what I need to be doing to achieve the results that I’m after. This podcast discusses how I'm going to change my approach and get my business to exactly where it needs to be, with clear and precise steps. If you are a business owner or are looking to start a marketing agency, I really hope you take a listen and get some insights from how to do the same with your company.

On the show with me today is Scott Harkey, always fostered a love of marketing. A native to Arizona, he proudly attended Arizona State University. Most of his time at ASU was spent studying marketing, and he also formed Mammoth Marketing, a marketing promotions company. He then began to work extensively in all aspects of the radio world, in radio formats extending from Hip Hop to Oldies. During his six years in Media he ended up in the senior rep position at CBS radio and generated over $3 million in annual revenue (Job share position).

Now, Scott is partnering with a long-time friend and marketing expert, Matthew Owens, to build the kind of marketing services firm he has always envisioned. As partner, his core responsibilities lie in marketing strategy, business development, account services, media services, and broadcast production. His personal webpage: owensharkey.com

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On the show with me today is Cathy Moran, she launched Bankruptcy in Brief, found at bankruptcyinbrief.com in 1998, when the web was new. Currently she writes for consumers on bankruptcy issues at bankruptcysoapbox.com and on issues for lawyers new to consumer bankruptcy law at bankruptcymastery.com.

Cathy Moran opened her own law firm the day after she was admitted to the California bar. She’s practiced bankruptcy law in the Silicon Valley of California for 32 years, representing debtors, creditors, and trustees. She is certified as a specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the Board of Legal Specialization, State Bar of California and has particular interest in the intersection of bankruptcy law and the fields of family law and tax.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Having trouble conveying your message to customers? Not closing sales as efficiently as you would like? You might have to adjust your buyer persona. If you haven't created a buyer persona, you are wasting your time and money. In this episode, I dive into some quick tips on how to create a relevant persona and how to use that to create relevant content - all of which leads to a successful content marketing strategy. Take a quick listen and you'll learn: Why Buyer Personas Are So Important The Consequences of Not Identifying Your Ideal Customer What the Right Customer Can Do For Your Business Audience Jacking and How to Find Your Ideal Customer Tools For Identifying Potential Leads

This episode touches on some key elements of starting a content marketing strategy and why it's important to take the time to set up your strategy before starting your content marketing. I've built Bright Ideas on content marketing, and I believe you can have success with content marketing as well - assuming you have the right strategy. Take a quick listen to this episode where I discuss:

Why Content Marketing is Becoming so Important

Your Sales Funnel and How Content Helps

Finding Influencers

Defining Your Target Market

Supporting a Niche or Specialized Service

This is Part 5, the finale of my 5-Part Series on Increasing Your Twitter Promotion.

This is Part 4 of my 5-Part Series on Increasing Your Twitter Promotion.

This is Part 3 of my 5-Part Series on Increasing Your Twitter Promotion.

On the show with me today is Rhea Allen Integrative Marketing Consultant, Rhea was a primary proponent of social marketing and traditional media integration within the industry. She has a passion for discovering and telling stories through visual and audible mediums. Her television news and promotions background in the Treasure Valley and at the top 12 market in Seattle provides investigative, documentary, testimonial and "edutainment" style to her celebrated work.

Since Peppershock's inception, in 2003, Rhea Allen has managed and expanded Peppershock and has gained local notoriety in her persistent passion for causes. She is involved with the communities of Idaho and surrounding areas and has a vast working knowledge of how to generate awareness for a number of brands and causes. She is extremely diligent in obtaining effective media campaign results by planning and crafting relevant and compelling messaging for target audiences. Rhea oversees development of all Peppershock projects, from conception through distribution and follow-up.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

This is Part 2 of my 5-Part Series on Increasing Your Twitter Promotion.

This is Part 1 of my 5-Part Series on Increasing Your Twitter Promotion.

My guest is Elle Phillips the Owner / Creative Director of Red Couch Creative, inc., a creative design group located in Eagle, Idaho. With her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Visual Communications, she started her professional career at 19 years old and has successfully grown and expanded her graphic design and marketing skills over the last 17 years, most recently as the owner and freelancer of Elle Phillips Design.

She’s worked with a wide variety of clients such as Pepsico, T-Mobile, Verizon, Spraying Systems Co. and VIP Products, among many others. Known for her ability to take on any project with extreme dedication and bring it to completion on deadline with consistency and grace, she has been working as a freelancer and entrepreneur-ette since 2004 with huge success.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On the show with me today is Thomas Gay is a life-long business owner and entrepreneur. In the 80s he founded National Decision Systems, the pioneer in advanced site selection and target marketing tools for major consumer goods companies. Tom’s firm was twice honored with the coveted INC 500 Award and he sold it in 1988 to Equifax.

In 1990, Tom started VistaInfo. After going public in 1997, Tom was honored in an Individual Investor Magazine cover story (May 1999) where he was called one of the “5 Best Undiscovered CEO’s” in the USA. VistaInfo was named a “Magic 25” company in 1999 and was acquired in 2000 with sales of $80M to create what is now known as Fidelity National Information Solutions.

In 2001, Tom and his wife, Patti, went to South Africa where they started a non-profit ministry organization, Monte Christo Ministries. Today, MCM feeds thousands of people daily and brings together organizations, churches and universities, world-wide, to relieve the burdens of poverty, apartheid and HIV/AIDS in the Cape Town Area. In 2014, his company IdeaLab was renamed Refer.com.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

My guest in this episode is Chris Heiler the founder and president of Landscape Leadership, an inbound marketing agency that combines website design/development, social media, content marketing, and search marketing into integrated and measurable campaigns for green industry clients ranging from landscape construction and maintenance companies to lawn care operators and garden centers.

Landscape Leadership has clients across the country with all team members working remotely. Heiler lives in Austin, TX.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On the show with me today is Camilo Acosta, He is actively involved in organizing alumni gatherings for his school (Sidwell Friends School) and his college alma mater. He also hosts fundraisers for education reform organizations such as KIPP, and political candidates that support the cause. He enjoys driving on sunny days with the windows down and music up, and doting on his chocolate lab, Kipper.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On the show with me today is Jayson Gaignard the founder of Mastermind Talks, an annual invite-only event designed for elite entrepreneurs. He started Mastermind Talks after a failed business left him a quarter million in debt and with a ton of questions about what to do next.

Jayson went on to become the Founder of MastermindTalks, Mastermind Retreats, and The Early to Rise Podcast. Jason has revitalized his vision and is realizing a different kind of success.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

My guest On the show me today is president and owner of Aha Media Group, LLC, a content strategy and content marketing consultancy founded in October 2005. Prior to beginning Aha Media, she was a communications strategist for a government agency. Ahava has also worked for two major advertising agencies and a commercial production company, and she served as the metro beat reporter for The Jerusalem Post.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

My guest in this time around is‌ ‌ ‌Adam Franklin a social media speaker and marketing manager of Bluewire Media – the web strategy consulting firm he co-founded in 2005 with school mate Toby Jenkins. Adam is a social media commentator on 2UE and writes for two of the Top 25 Business Blogs in Australia (Startup Smart and Bluewire Media).
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‌ The first thing you’ll notice about Adam is his charming accent.
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‌ ‌ ‌ The second is how well-versed he is in digital marketing strategy. Adam generously shares his strategies, and how they have helped him turn his company into a multi-million dollar marketing agency. Learn how he and Toby Jenkins got their company started, and they strategies they use now to attract clients to come to them – clients who are willing to pay big money to hear their advice.
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‌ ‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

My guest on the show ‌ ‌today‌ is‌ ‌ ‌Dave Kerpen the Founder and CEO of Likeable Local, and the Co-Founder and Chairman of Likeable Media. Dave is the NY Times Bestselling author of 3 books and the #1 LinkedIn Influencer of all time in page views, ahead of Bill Gates, Jack Welch, Mark Cuban and President Obama.
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‌ ‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

My guest today‌ is‌ ‌ Sarah Goliger is the Head of Paid Marketing at HubSpot. She is responsible for coordinating marketing campaigns with external vendors and running display and retargeting campaigns through both search and social networks with an ultimate goal of lead generation.
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‌ ‌ ‌ If you are one of the kind of people who think Twitter is just for kids to tell each other they had macaroni for dinner (that used to be me), I think you should really take the time to listen to how effective Twitter can be as a marketing tool. Sarah’s team at Hubspot is focused on Lead Generation, and with her different tools and social media platforms, Hubspot finds about 50,000 new leads a month. Wow.
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‌ ‌ ‌ In this podcast we go over the ways Twitter can be effectively utilized, how important content is for a Twitter campaign, and other winning lead generation strategies. I learned a lot in this interview and I think you will too.
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‌ ‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ ‌ Elyse Petersen is a Global Tea Ambassador with the International Tea Farms Alliance. She spent time working with tea farmers in Wazuka, Kyoto, Japan, and this experience inspired her to help grow tea culture across the U.S. and around the world. Petersen is an experienced international development worker in the area of food security, natural resource management, and sustainable food preservation; having served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger, West Africa and Antigua and Barbuda, and the Eastern Caribbean. Petersen graduated from Shidler College of Business with a Japan-focused M.B.A, and from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, with a B.S. in Food Science and Technology.
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‌ ‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ ‌is‌ ‌Adeel Ahmad he is the founder Shopseen, Adeel started Shopseen soon after opening a vintage clothing shop in downtown San Francisco. Shopseen was built to solve the problems of operating a small modern retail business, and soon it was spun off into its own startup. Previously, Adeel was an early software engineer at Context Optional, a pioneering social media management company that built a platform for large brands to reach and engage with a broad audience on social networks.
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‌ ‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ ‌is‌ ‌Ethan Anderson Co-founder and CEO of a successful startup, Google Product Manager, Harvard Business School graduate, and previously named to the Silicon Valley 100, Ethan Anderson has been making waves in the digital marketplace.
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‌ ‌ ‌ Learn how Ethan came up with the concept for MyTime, an appointment setting website that connects businesses and customers through a simple and timely web interface. Discover how Ethan came up with the idea, how he saw an opportunity in the market, and how he established a well funded campaign to get it off the ground.
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‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ ‌is‌ ‌ ‌Paul Biggar the co-founder of circleci, a state of the art automated testing and continuous integration and deployment tool. An expert in his field, Paul has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal and has been featured on multiple HuffPost Live panels.
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‌ ‌ ‌ You probably wouldn’t know just to look at him but Paul – at least according to his friends – is an intimidating card shark.
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‌ ‌ ‌ What’s also not obvious at first glance is how this savvy entrepreneur created and funded his company, attracting an impressive 1,000 customers in the first two years. Paul shares with us the details on cirlceci‘s beginning and rapid growth, including key pricing, marketing, and investor strategies.
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‌ ‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

On the show with me today is Paul Clifford the founder of Disruptware and has 25 years experience as a Chief Technology Officer and a Chief Customer Officer (responsible for customer success) for many large software startups - all of which have been sold successfully.

Paul's first software tool was a desktop software app (Colleague) in the recruitment industry. He scaled this and sold it with the founder to a large public company in the UK. Its since be re-purchased and is still highly successful and a market leader after 20 years.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

My guest in this episode is Lee Frederiksen Managing Partner at Hinge, a re-branding and consulting agency for professional services firms.
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‌ ‌ I had the distinct pleasure to talk with this very intelligent and successful guest and learn how he used content marketing to attract high revenue clients. Lee shared some truly brilliant marketing ideas with me; I was so impressed that I went back and re-listened to our entire interview.
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‌ ‌ With clients reaching the billion dollar mark in sales, Lee is an expert in bringing on quality leads and establishing solid relationships. Listen as we discuss lead generation techniques, finding the right firms, and creating a winning content marketing strategy.
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‌ ‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ italy Golomb the Founder and CEO of Keen Systems, a leading ecommerce platform in the $640B printing industry and the Executive Producer of Europe Venture Summit, a major conference for the CEE startup ecosystem.
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‌ ‌ ‌ Vitaly is an award-winning designer and startup veteran since the age of 13. He is an Advisor and Mentor at 500 Startups, Board Member at Happy Farm Incubator (Ukraine), and Mentor at Innovation Nest (Poland) and TechPeaks (Italy). Additionally, Vitaly is a frequent conference speaker, business school guest lecturer, and tweeter (@vitalyg) on design and startups.
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‌ ‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Bernie Yoo is co-founder of the personalized men’s clothing retailer Bombfell. Bombfell sends men regular shipments of clothes picked just for their size and style by a personal stylist, and has been featured in TIME Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, ABC News, Life & Style Magazine, Forbes, WWD, AskMen and TechCrunch.
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‌ ‌ ‌ Prior to Bombfell, Bernie headed business development for AddictingGames.com and Shockwave.com, worked on the strategy team at MTV Networks / Nickelodeon and mined the investment banking coal mines at Morgan Stanley.
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‌ ‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Ian Altman is the CEO of Grow My Revenue, LLC. CEOs and executives call on Ian as a trusted advisor and speaker on sales and business development. Ian’s methods have helped businesses double their revenue growth rate without adding salespeople.
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‌ ‌ Ian is the author of Upside Down Selling, an Amazon #1 Best Seller. He coauthored his upcoming book, Same Side Selling, with Jack Quarles of Buying Excellence.
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‌ ‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Yanik Silver, Yanik has been selling since he was a teenager – his father enlisted him early on to help sell medical devices. That was some time ago, and since then Yanik has taken eight different products to the million dollar sales mark. And he’s not stopping any time soon. These days, in addition to running his business, he hosts a popular annual conference, runs an exclusive business mastermind group, and pals around with Richard Branson.
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‌ ‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Zvi Band he is the Founder of Contactually, software that helps its users to identify and stay engaged with your most important contacts.
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‌ ‌ ‌ Likely too often for you to actually keep in touch all of those contacts on any meaningful basis, right? Well, Zvi Band noticed that he wasn’t the only person with this problem. It wasn’t as though there weren’t a ton of tools to make those connections – from email to LinkedIn to phone calls or cards. What was missing was something to help maintain a number of relationships over a variety of channels. Zvi founded Contactually on the premise that there would be a ton of value in a product that made it easy to do this follow up.
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‌ ‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ a guy by the name of Graig Presti is one of the few people I’ve interviewed more than once for Bright Ideas. In Graig’s first interview, we talked about how he started from nothing to build a 7 figure marketing agency in his first year.
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‌ ‌ ‌ Graig was making so much profit from his agency that he wanted to invest it elsewhere. Since he’s every bit the business person, he ended up buying another business. It’s a move that has been both challenging and rewarding. Graig gives us the scoop on the purchase and day to day operations of his acquired marketing agency. If you’re interested in business acquisition, be sure not to miss this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast.
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‌ ‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Ian Altman is the CEO of Grow My Revenue, LLC. CEOs and executives call on Ian as a trusted advisor and speaker on sales and business development. Ian’s methods have helped businesses double their revenue growth rate without adding salespeople.
‌ ‌ ‌
‌ ‌ ‌ Ian is the author of Upside Down Selling, an Amazon #1 Best Seller. He coauthored his upcoming book, Same Side Selling, with Jack Quarles of Buying Excellence.
‌ ‌ ‌
‌ ‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Jessica Rhodes, I got a lot of great tips from my conversation with Jessica and was able to implement a Pinterest sharing strategy immediately after we talked.
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‌ ‌ (Of course, Pinterest is just one form of social media you can successfully leverage for your business. Check out our past interviews from Twitter expert Mark Schaefer and LinkedIn expert Viveka von Rosen for ideas specific to those sites.)
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‌ ‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

On this episode my guest is Jeremy Shepherd, founder of Pearl Paradise.com. By the ripe old age of 33, Jeremy Shepherd was able to build a $20 million on-line empire known as PearlParadise.com. To this day, he does very little advertising. His unique company’s success is based primarily on word of mouth, honest respectability and helpful service that Shepherd cultivates as carefully as his beloved pearls

The Bright Ideas podcast is the podcast for business owners and marketers who want to discover how to use online marketing and sales automation tactics to massively grow their business.

It’s designed to help marketing agencies and small business owners discover which online marketing strategies are working most effectively today – all from the mouths of expert entrepreneurs who are already making it big.

In this episode, I interview Jeremy Shepherd, founder of Pearl Paradise. .

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ oe Mechlinski is the co-founder and president of entreQuest, a business development firm that helps increase revenue for small-to-midsized businesses.
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‌ ‌ ‌ He is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Grow Regardless: Of Your Business’s Size, Your Industry or the Economy… and Despite the Government!
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‌ ‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌Jim Palmer is a marketing and business building expert and host of Newsletter Guru TV, the hit weekly Web TV show watched by thousands of entrepreneurs and small business owners. Jim is also the host Stick Like Glue Radio, a weekly podcast based on Jim’s unique smart marketing and business building strategies. Jim is best known internationally as ‘The Newsletter Guru’- the go-to resource for maximizing the profitability of customer relationships.

Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Jason Weisenthal Founder/CEO of Wallmonkeys, conceived of his latest business after searching high and low for a product that wasn’t out there: custom wall decals made from photos of his kids playing sports – a personalized alternative to the cookie-cutter images of professional athletes that were already available.
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‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

JoshLedgardJosh Ledgard is the co-founder of KickoffLabs – subscription software for landing pages, online forms, and email marketing – and the author of My Toddler Perfects Your Sales Pitch and Landing Pages 107
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‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

My guest is Toby Jenkins is CEO and co-founder of Bluewire Media, a successful marketing agency located down under. Bluewire has a great digital marketing strategy, with a combination of proven standard methods and outside the box thinking.
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‌ ‌ ‌ He and business partner Adam Franklin collaborated with bestselling author David Meerman Scott to create the free Web Strategy Planning Template. They focus on clients who are dedicated to being #1 in their market niche.
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‌ ‌ Thank‌ ‌you‌ ‌so‌ ‌much‌ ‌for‌ ‌listening!‌ ‌Please‌ ‌subscribe‌ ‌rate‌ ‌and‌ ‌review‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌favorite‌ ‌podcast‌ ‌ listening‌ ‌app.‌ ‌To‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌notes‌ ‌for‌ ‌today's‌ ‌episode,‌ ‌go‌ ‌to‌ ‌https://brightideas.co/xxx...and‌ ‌ if‌ ‌you‌ ‌have‌ ‌any‌ ‌questions‌ ‌for‌ ‌me,‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌leave‌ ‌me‌ ‌a‌ ‌voicemail‌ ‌at‌ ‌brightideas.co/asktrent‌

My guest is Jermaine Griggs, 30, is a minister, musician, entrepreneur, and public speaker. Having grown up in the inner city of Long Beach with just his mom and sister, he always envisioned life on the other side of the tracks. At 16, he started Hear and Play Music, an instructional music company specializing in teaching piano by ear. With only $70, he bought the domain name HearandPlay.com and launched the company that would not only change his life but hundreds of thousands of musicians around the world through his books, DVDs, and online training courses.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

My guest On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Chris Handy the Founder & CEO of Thinkhandy, a sales and marketing alignment consultancy in Fort Worth, TX.

Clients working with Thinkhandy find a helpful partner dedicated to shortening their sales cycle and generating more qualified leads.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

My guest On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Tom Martin, Author of The Invisible Sal. Tom knows a thing or two about developing a content marketing strategy. He’s a regular contributorTom Martin 4IN X 6 IN X 300DPI X FCto standout blogs like Ad Age, Copyblogger, Social Media Examiner, Social Fresh and MarketingProfs, to name a few. So when Tom shares his well-tested strategies for content creation and content promotion, youmight just want to listen. (One Quick Tip: Use social media to identify where your target audience hangs out, and then place content in those places.) His content strategies come together to form a Painless Prospecting System. In other words, if you do content right, clients will be attracted to you and you won’t have to work so hard. (As you may know, I’m a firm believer that content marketing has forever changed client attraction, and to succeed in business you need to learn to take advantage of this shift.) Listen now and you’ll also hear Tom and I talk about:

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Brennan Dunn founder of Planscope, a project management software for contracts and freelancers; author of “Double Your Freelancing Rate“; and owner of We Are Titans, a consulting company that focuses on improving their clients’ profits.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Robert Rose the Chief Strategist for the Content Marketing Institute, and Senior Contributing Analyst for Digital Clarity Group.

CMI’s stated goal is to advance the practice of content marketing, and one of the ways they do this is by training their consulting clients.

Robert walks us through the process they use to turn a brand new lead into a paying client, including details of their funnel and what they do if a prospect doesn’t buy.

He also shares some strategies that can significantly inflate the reach of your content as he walks us through how and when to use press releases for posts, and how to cross post influencers’ content.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Andrew Dymski Andrew is the a co-founder of GuavaBox, a web design and inbound marketing agency. Guavabox helps clients in the industrial space reach new customers through inbound marketing.

In addition, Andrew explains the thinking behind, and validation of, their business model, sharing insights helpful to any startup. There was so much goodness in this interview that I had to break it into two parts.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Andrew Dymski co-founder of GuavaBox, a web design and inbound marketing agency. Guavabox helps clients in the industrial space reach new customers through inbound marketing.

In addition, Andrew explains the thinking behind, and validation of, their business model, sharing insights helpful to any startup. There was so much goodness in this interview that I had to break it into two parts.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode I’m joined by Derek Coburn Co-founder and CEO of cadre, an un-networking community for successful professionals in Washington, DC, a partner with Washington Financial Group (a wealth management firm) and author of the soon-to-be-released book, Networking Is NOT Working.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Janette Gleason, She went to Augustana College and majored in Elementary Education and Spanish. She received the Sam’s Club “Teacher of the Year Award” and taught education professionals how to use technology in their classrooms. Janette stepped back from her teaching career to raise her children and to help her husband build his financial planning and tax preparation firm, where she is Janette-Gleason-236x300currently the Director of Marketing.

Would you like to discover how to triple your sales, cut your marketing spending by 90% and work fewer hours – all at the same time?

Of course you would!

To discover how to one entrepreneur has done exactly that, I interview Janette Gleason in this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast.

When you listen to this interview, you will hear Janette and I discuss:

how they nearly went out of business before finally getting their marketing systems on track
what they changed with their marketing
how automation using Infusionsoft plays a large role
her 12 stage sales pipeline
and so much more…

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode I’m joined by CEO Meny Hoffman of Ptex Group, an Inc. 500/5000-ranked marketing and business services firm headquartered in Brooklyn, NY. A longtime entrepreneur, he specializes in creating strategic marketing solutions and business-boosting tactics to help small businesses achieve higher levels of success.

Another unique offering from Ptex Group is their “Let’s Talk Buisness” conference, a one day live event that sold out of seats at 650 attendees.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Sean Malarkey, creator of a digital publishing and marketing company, and author of the blog and podcast The Money Pillow. Sean relies heavily on his team to help him run his digital publishing company so that he has plenty of time left to do important things such as surf daily from his home in Santa Barbara.

Do you think that his business might suffer without him spending much time running it each day? Not true. The company continues to return year over year growth of around 30%, and is set to gross approximately $2 million this year.

In other words, Sean has a great business that prospers without requiring much of his presence. You could almost say, it works while he sleeps! And yes, that’s what he was going for in this business, and also the concept he talks about with his guests on The Money Pillow podcast.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent Sean is also the host of The Money Pillow, a blog and podcast dedicated to making money while you sleep (and play).

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ from Andrew Warner of Mixergy.com. Andrew Warner is only in his 20s, but he already has a big success under his belt – a $30 million internet business with his younger brother. He started out with online greeting cards and is now focusing on interviewing successful entrepreneurs on his Mixergy.com website.

Each year Americans start one million new businesses, nearly 80 percent of which fail within the first five years. Under such pressure to stay alive—let alone grow—it’s easy for entrepreneurs to get caught up in a never-ending cycle of “sell it—do it, sell it—do it” that leaves them exhausted, frustrated, and unable to get ahead no matter how hard they try.

This is the exact situation Mike Michalowicz found himself in when he was trying to grow his first company. Although the business was making steady money, there was never very much left over and he was chasing customers left and right, putting in twenty-eight-hour days, eight days a week. The punishing grind never let up. His company was alive but stunted, and he was barely breathing. That’s when he discovered an unlikely source of inspiration—pumpkin farmers..

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On this episode my guest is Michael Stelzner is the founder of Social Media Examiner, author of the books Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition and Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged, the popular Social Media Marketing Industry Report, and the man behind large summits, such as the Social Media Success Summit. He is also host of the Social Media Marketing podcast show.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Graig Presti, founder and CEO of LocalSearchForDentists.com, is a foremost advertising authority who operates with dental practices all around the planet, assisting them to leverage the internet so they can generate more telephone calls, reach more new patients, and bring in more revenue. His strategies begin to work immediately and continue to work month after month.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Sam Ovens is an Entrepreneur, Marketing Consultant and the founder of SnapInspect – a property inspection app for property management companies. Sam started as a marketing consultant and used the money from his consulting business as “Cash Float” to start and scale his main business SnapInspect.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Katy Harrison the Online Marketing Manager at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, CA. She manages the luxury resort’s website, email campaign, social media and online presence. Originally from South Shore, MA, Katy moved to San Diego for the year-round beach weather in 2007. Prior to her role at La Costa Resort, Katy honed her PR and social media skills working at a reputable downtown San Diego PR and advertising agency with clients including The San Diego Museum of Art, Del Mar Racetrack, NTN Buzztime and BillMyParents.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ a guy by name Mike Worley is probably the most loyal listener I’ve ever met. He’s listened to every single episode of the BrightIdeas podcast!

First of all just got to thank you for all the value that you have provided through Bright Ideas. For the past 3 yrs I have had 2 hrs of driving a day as I was leading the marketing efforts for a Publishing company in Colorado. I have listened to every single podcast that you have done and can’t thank you enough as it has helped me to take the entrepreneurial leap in starting my own marketing agency in the last month.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Shaun Whynacht, founder of Blue Cow Creative, a small marketing agency based in Nova Scotia, Canada. I learned of Shaun at the last Infusioncon and when I heard that he’d doubled his revenue in just a year, I asked him to come on the show to share his story.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

My guest on the show today is Brad Martineau, founder of Sixth Division – a leading source of coaching, training, and done for you services for Infusionsoft users.

Back in the day, he was the sixth employee at Infusionsoft, and spent over six years leading the product development efforts as a key member of the Infusionsoft leadership team. He had a blast and learned a ton doing this, all while getting to rub shoulders with many very highly successful entrepreneurs.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Aaron Aders, co-founder and Market Research Director of Digital Relevance (formerly Slingshot SEO) which was named the fastest growing private company in Central Indiana with a 3 year growth rate of 3596.8%!

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Casey Graham, founder of The Rocket Company, and also the winner of Infusionsoft’s 2013 Ultimate Marketer award. Having made some pretty big changes to his business 3 years ago, Casey now generates over $2 million a year (with very high profit margins), is completely debt free, and is having more fun than ever!

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

IOn‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ a two time entrepreneur Dan Norris, founder of Inform.ly. Informly provides actionable data to help content marketers engage their audience and create content that grows their business.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Scott Martineau Co-founder of Infusionsoft, ranked by Inc Magazine as one of the fastest growing software companies in America. Infusionsoft is absolutely amazing software and I can’t imagine running my business without it. If I did, I’d have to work far longer hours and my business wouldn’t be nearly as easy to run as it is now.

I recently attended ICON, Infusionsoft’s annual business conference, and while there, I had a chance to meet Scott and ask him to come share his story here on the show.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Brad Weimert, founder of Easy Pay Direct, an online payment processing company focused on helping information marketers to keep their payments flowing.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent \

My guest on the show today is Laura Ries, author of several marketing books (the latest of which is Visual Hammer) and co-founder of the consulting firm Ries & Ries (along with her father, Al Ries). Laura has appeared on CNN, Fox News, CNBC, CNN Headline, to name just a few.

Laura Ries is a leading branding strategist, bestselling author and television personality.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast, my guest is Scott Griggs, founder of trainz.com; a leading online retailer model trains and accessories. After starting out as a model train collector as a child, Scott has grown his business into a thriving $5M a year enterprise and Infusionsoft is playing a huge role in his success. Approximately $4M of that revenue comes from selling used trains that he has acquired from estate sales, widows and a variety of other sources.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In 2013, Infusionsoft’s Ultimate Marketer contest had 3 finalists and Blue Chip Athletic was one of them. Since deploying Infusionsoft roughly two years ago, the company has seen revenue increase by 219% – after roughly 10 years of just 5 to 10% growth per year.br>
Suffice to say, Blue Chip is getting results that have been a real game changer for the company.br>
In this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast, my guest is Andy Michaels – the marketing automation expert behind Blue Chip Athletic.br>
When you listen to this interview, you are going to discover:br>
The main features of Infusionsoft that led to the 219% increase in revenue
How Blue Chip has dramatically improved their follow up with existing customers using Infusionsoft’s campaign builder
How they have real time visibility into their sales and marketing funnels
How they used Infusionsoft to create a structured selling system that even average sales reps can excel with
How they create a WOW experience when their product is delivered and how that leads to more referrals
The two primary techniques they are using for lead generation
How they are using Fusedesk to turn customer support inquiries into additional sales
How they are automating routine tasks with custom forms
And so much more!
If you are really serious about growing your business with marketing automation, this is not an interview to be missed!

How would you like to triple your company’s revenue in just 18 months? Sound too good to be true?

It can be done. In this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast, I’m joined by Dustin Burleson, a practicing Orthodontist and an extremely talented marketer. By focusing on marketing excellence, Dr. Burleson has been able to build a practice that has 4 locations, 35 employees, 7,500 patients, and annual revenue of just over $4 million.

Best of all, Dr. Burleson has increased his vacation days from just 5 to over 40 per year!

In this exclusive interview Dr. Burleson will go into detail explaining how he:

Increased revenue by over 600% since deciding to focus on improving his clinic’s marketing
Attracts new patients
Retains existing patients
Reduced his patient acquisition cost by 56%
Increased revenue from referrals from just 20% of total revenue to over 60%
Managed to go from 50 new patients per month to over 170 without overwhelming his staff
Makes use of high quality free information reports to capture the interest of prospective patients, and then, how he’s automated the entire follow up sequence that last for 11 months after the initial inquiry which has resulted in 30% more calls from these prospective patients
Advertises in specific locations to drive more traffic to the portions of his website that offer these valuable free information reports
Configured his systems to alert his staff to which patients and prospective patients require a personal touch, and when that touch is needed so that no one falls through the cracks
Created an irresistable offer that gets bundle in with routine treatments so that he is able to protect his pricing …And so much more!

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent Best-selling author of "Stop Hiding Your Smile! A Parent's Guide to Confidently Choosing an Orthodontist" and "The Consumer's Guide to Invisalign," Dr. Burleson mentors not only patients and their parents but also orthodontic specialists from all over North America. In his private coaching groups, Dr. Burleson lectures and teaches his orthodontic peers how to create patient-centered practices focused on changing lives and supporting the community. Through his efforts, hundreds of orthodontists across the nation have committed to providing orthodontic care to children who desperately need but cannot afford orthodontic treatment.

In this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast my guest on the show today is Bob Burg, co-author of the best selling book, The Go Giver, a TheGo-Giverbook that I so thoroughly enjoyed that I bought 10 extra copies to give to all my closest friends. This was one of the better business books that I’ve ever read.
Bob Burg is a sought-after speaker at corporate conventions and for entrepreneurial events. He has addressed audiences ranging in size from 50 to 16,000 — sharing the platform with notables including today’s top thought leaders, broadcast personalities, Olympic athletes and political leaders including a former United States President.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast, I’m joined by Joel Widmer, founder of Fluxe Digital Marketing, a firm that he’s built as a retainer fee only agency.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

I’m joined by fellow podcast producer Cliff Ravenscraft, founder of PodcastAnswerMan.com. Like me, Cliff is a marketer and avid podcaster. However, in Cliff’s case, his passion for and knowledge of podcasting is far beyond most, and that makes him an ideal guest to talk about a communications medium that we both love.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast, I’m joined by one of the leading presentation experts of our time, Nancy Duarte, CEO of Duarte, a 110-employee firm that creates presentations for some of the world’s leading brands.

Nancy Duarte is a communication expert who has been featured in Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company, Wired, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Economist, LA Times and on CNN. Her firm, Duarte, Inc., is the global leader behind some of the most influential visual messages in business and culture and has created more than a quarter of a million presentations. As a persuasion specialist, she cracked the code for effectively incorporating story patterns into business communications. Resonate, her second book, spent nearly a year on Amazon’s top 100 business book bestsellers list.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

My guest today is Michael Gass, the man behind Fuel Lines, a blog that has been ranked among the top 100 marketing blogs in the world by Ad Age’s Power 150.

Michael is an international new business consultant to advertising, digital, media and PR agencies. Since 2007 he has led in the use of social media and content marketing strategies to make agency new business EASIER.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ an author a speaker an a founder of the company by the name of 9 INCH marketing. Stan is the Founder / CMO of 9 INCH marketing, an organization that inspires leaders to think differently about marketing. Challenging them to value customer experience as a competitive differentiator and the importance of employee engagement in building a strong corporate culture. Stan helps brands explore new opportunities, showing them how to be more successful in tomorrow’s changing world. Stan works with clients to create experiences that are memorable, meaningful and on-brand. 9 INCH is driven by client objectives and inspired by bold vision. The result: programs that win big.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ is‌ an linkedin expert by the name Viveka von Rosen. Viveka started using LinkedIn in 2006 when she saw a presentation on the opportunities of Business Networking with LinkedIn. Having doubled her own business with F2F networking, she saw the immense potential of a business online networking site.

Viveka is known internationally as the “LinkedIn Expert” and speaks to business owners, corporations, Legal Firms and associations on the benefits of marketing with social media, and in particular LinkedIn.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ a very special guest by the name of Ray Hilbert the CEO and Co-Founder of TRUTH @ WORK, a not-for-profit ministry, founded in 1998, whose mission is to “change the way America works by bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the marketplace.” Truth@Work specializes in helping Christian business owners and leaders build strong organizations and integrate their faith into the marketplace, through leadership and business development programs that are built on biblical principles and practices.

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Bill Baker – the founder and principal of BB&Co – works with various companies and organizations all over the world to help them in their leadership development and training efforts. More specifically, Bill coaches managers and executives to help them understand how storytelling can enable them to be better communicators and, in the process, better leaders.

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In this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast, Stephen Woessner is going to share exactly what to pay attention to so that you too can predict (and maximize) your own marketing ROI. In our discussion, you will hear us talk about:

Stephen Woessner has helped thousands of clients over the course of 20 years, and he’s collected enough data to be able to confidently predict ROI so that his clients can achieve the maximum impact from their online marketing activities.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode my guest is Laura Roeder, She is the founder of LKR Social Media Marketer and Creating Fame and author of Facebook Fame: The Facebook Marketing Bible For The Small Business. Laura is a social media marketing expert who teaches small businesses how to become well-known and claim their brand online.

Two years ago, Laura was a web designer, working from home earning just shy of $100,000. Today, her company is doing just over $1M, she has four employees, and she runs her company while traveling the world.

Suffice to say, she’s got a lot more freedom (and money) today than she did two years ago – thanks largely to a shift in her strategy and the use of Infusionsoft.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Kimi Fowler, a marketing automation specialist with Hyland Software – a large company that provides Enterprise Content Management (ECM) software to over 10,000 customers.

Kimi Fowler is a marketing automation specialist at Hyland Software in Westlake, Ohio.

She is a passionate marketing automation user who focuses on the execution of programs, governance, administration of the system and best practices.
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On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me is Chris Brisson CEO of Call Loop – a fast growing software company that integrates services you already use to help grow your subscriber base automatically, while making it easy to send targeted voice and text messages. Call Loop was just awarded best in class for online sales by Infusionsoft for their 2013 Ultimate Marketer Awards, and I asked Chris to be on the show to share what he’s doing and why it’s working so well.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Yvonne Halling owner of the Les Molyneux bed and breakfast in Champagne, France, and recent winner of Infusionsoft’s best in class for customer service award. After seeing that a B&B had been recognized by Infusionsoft for excellence, I just had to find out what Yvonne was doing that was so unique.

In this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast, I’m once again joined by Ian Ippolito, founder of vWorker.com, which was recently acquired for an undisclosed sum by Freelancer.com, and during our conversation you are going to hear Ian and I talk about:

how he managed to sell his company for almost twice the initial offer
the one activity that he intently focused on for the year leading up to the sale
the steps of the acquisition process, from letter of intent to closed sale
the key components that every letter of intent should contain
how to understand what the buyer’s motivation is and how to use that to your advantage
how to know when to move into due diligence with a potential buyer
the most important things that a buyer is going to look for during due diligence
the value of a business broker, tax advisor, and legal counsel
why most buyers will want to structure the deal as an asset sale
how to create an auction for your company to maximize the sales price
why and how terms can play such a large role in negotiations
ways to structure the sales contract to keep you out of court if things go wrong
and so much more…

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In this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast, I’m joined by Paul Roetzer, founder of PR2020, Marketing Agency Insider and The Marketing Score and during Paul and I’s conversation, you are going to hear us talk about:

Paul is founder and CEO of PR 20/20. He started the agency in November 2005 after seven years at a traditional PR firm, with a vision to evolve the PR industry. He is the author of The Marketing Agency Blueprint, and is a graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism.

Paul also frequently speaks at local and national venues on the topics of inbound marketing, content marketing, public relations, social media and marketing agency management.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is Bryan Allain, he is the brain behind Killer Tribes. he is a blogger since 2001, husband, father of two and founder of Killer Tribes. He launched Killer Tribes in 2010 because he loves helping people find their voice, share about their passions, connect with others and grow their brand. There are so many folks out there with a valuable message to share who aren’t sure how to get that message to more people ‌
and so much more….

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In this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast, I’m joined by PR and Agency veteran, Nancy Marshall, founder of Nancy Marshall PR, a seven figure agency with 17 employees.

Nancy Marshall is principal of the agency and founder of NMC. Since 1991, NMC has been creating and implementing strategic public relations programs, primarily for tourism and recreation companies, and has developed expertise in promoting economic development. NMC has been recognized by the Society of American Travel Writers for its tourism public relations campaigns, and the Maine Public Relations Council has awarded NMC with its “Best in Show” for three consecutive years in its Golden Arrow Awards

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On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Mark O’Brien CEO of NewFangled.com. Mark is fortunate to be able to spend his days working with the fantastic Newfangled team to discover new ways of planning and delivering the greatest conversion-focused websites they can imagine for their clients.

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Rand Fishkin is the CEO of SEO software company; SEOmoz. He co-authored the Art of SEO from O’Reilly Media, co-founded Inbound.org, and was named on PSBJ’s 40 Under 40 List and BusinessWeek’s 30 Best Tech Entrepreneurs Under 30. Rand is an addict of all things content & social on the web, from his multiple blogs to Twitter, Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, FourSquare and even a bit of Pinterest. In his minuscule spare time, Rand enjoys the company of his amazing wife, whose serendipitous travel blog chronicles their journeys.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast, I’m joined by Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute – a leading source for research, webinars, and white papers on the science of effective content marketing.

Joe Pulizzi is a leading author, speaker and strategist for content marketing. Joe is first and foremost a content marketing evangelist, and founded the Content Marketing Institute (a division of Z Squared Media, a 2012 Inc 500 Company), which includes the largest in-person content marketing event, Content Marketing World, as well as Chief Content Officer magazine, the leading magazine for content marketers. Joe is also co-author of Get Content Get Customers (McGraw-Hill), recognized as THE handbook for content marketing, as well as Managing Content Marketing: The Real-World Guide for Creating Passionate Subscribers to Your Brand.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast, I’m joined by Guy Kawasaki, the author of 12 books, a technology evangelist, and well known social media personality with over 4,000,000 followers.

Guy Kawasaki is the co-founder of Alltop.com, an “online magazine rack” of popular topics on the web, and a founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures. Previously, he was the chief evangelist of Apple. Kawasaki is the author of ten books including Enchantment, Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream and The Macintosh Way. Kawasaki has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College.

In this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast, I’m joined by industry veteran Tony Mikes, founder of Second Wind, a firm dedicated to helping your company be a better agency.

Second Wind’s chief guru and managing director Anthony P. Mikes is a former advertising executive who spent twenty-five years managing and owning advertising agencies and graphic design studios. Mr. Mikes came to recognize the value of shared information as it relates to successfully managing an advertising agency. Second Wind (Mr. Mikes’ second life in advertising) was the result.

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In today’s episode of the Bright Ideas podcast, I’m joined by serial entrepreneur Dan Martell, Founder and CEO of Clarity.fm, a rapidly growing community of experts who are all willing to take your call to dispense business advice…and yes, you can even call Mark Cuban.

Dan is a Canadian entrepreneur living in San Francisco. He’s the CEO/Founder of Clarity. Previously he co-founded Flowtown (Acquired ’11) and Spheric Technologies (Acquired ’08), and he’s a mentor @ 500Startup & GrowLabs. Dan is an angel investor in 15 other companies. Find his full bio here.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ a guest who has built an interesting business in a non-traditional way I’m joined by Brandon Borso, founder of Muscle Marketing Co, a billboard advertising company that sells advertising space to public companies.

Brandon Borso started Muscle Marketing as an a way to allow advertisers access to a specific audience, using a specific form of out of home advertising. Over the past 5 years his agency has expanded, giving small regional restaurants and Fortune 500 companies alike the ability to demographically target their core customers and speak to them where they live, work and play.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ the fellow by the name of John Dumas of EntrepreneurOnFire.com and in this interview you are going to hear John and I discuss:a daily podcast that interviews today’s most inspiring and successful Entrepreneurs. EntrepreneurOnFire tells the journey of the spotlighted guest, sharing their early failures, AHA! moments, and insight into what is working for them now and why. Every show ends with a 5-question “Lightning Round” that pulls priceless nuggets of information from these incredibly successful

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me is John Hall is the founder and CEO of Digital Talent Agents. He is a graduate of University of Missouri-Columbia and lives in Columbia, Missouri. I’ve been blessed to work with some amazing people during my career and love working with teams. In my spare time, I still will fix a toilet or other miscellaneous task for my real estate company that does student housing.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌is Jeremy Ostermiller founder and CEO of Altitude Digital Partners; a company that just recently secured a $5M investment to accelerate its already very impressive level of growth.

eremy Ostermiller oversees the company’s worldwide sales and operations departments. With just $500, in the midst of one of toughest economic periods since the great depression, Jeremy founded the online display and video advertising company. His background and expertise includes marketing, interactive advertising and promotions. Altitude Digital is now generating more than $11M in revenue, was named one of ColoradoBiz Top 250 Private Companies, and was recently recognized as No.54 on the Inc.500|5000 list of the fastest growing companies in the country. In Colorado, Altitude Digital received top ranks listing at No.1.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ a guy called The Sales Lion. Originally, the ‘pool guy’ behind River Pools and Spas, Marcus Sheridan has become well known for both his success as a inbound marketer (his pool company is a lead generation machine) as well as the guy behind the popular blog, The Sales Lion. Here’s a short summary of his achievements:

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Glenn Towle he is a principal in marketing agency by the name of Merrick Towle Communications. In addition to being a 23 year veteran of his industry, He is the founder of Momentum Agency Management Advisors and is also a contributing author to the brand new book, Secrets of Ad Agency Owners, Our Best Marketing Advice.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is an co-author entrepreneur and motivator by the name of CC Chapman, C.C. is the co-author (with Ann Handley) of the best seller Content Rules, a book that showcases the value of “organizations as publishers.” Content Rules clearly explains how companies can create remarkable blogs, podcasts, webinars, ebooks, and more — content that converts online audiences into customer evangelists. It was published in December 2010 by Wiley.

C.C. co-founded The Advance Guard, a marketing agency. After two stellar years, the company was acquired by Campfire.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

In this episode I’m joined by I’m joined by Mike Lieberman, co-founder and President of Square 2 Marketing – a highly successfully marketing agency focused on becoming the largest inbound marketing agency in the world.

When it comes to landing new clients, if you are still using the same strategies that you were using 5 years ago, you are probably not getting the results you could be.

In this interview, Mike and I talk at length about what is working for him (and his clients) when it comes to business development. Here’s just a few of the things you’ll hear when you listen to the interview:

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Jeremy Yamaguchi GoldenShine.com and in this interview, you are going to hear Jeremy tell the story of how he started his company as a side project 3 years ago, and, thanks to some very smart online marketing, combined with some clever automation, the business is on track for 7 figures this year.

And to think, it all started because his wife was laid off. This is a fascinating interview, and the lessons that Jeremy is going to share are applicable to virtually any local service business.

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ I’m joined by David Baker, David speaks 30+ times a year and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fast Company, Inc. Magazine, Forbes, and many more. He is also the author of Financial Management of a Marketing Firm.

Suffice to say, when it comes to running a marketing agency, David is without question one of the thought leaders in the space.

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Mark Sneider is a 25 year veteran of the consumer packaged goods, advertising, and marketing service industry. Mark earned his MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Business School at Northwestern where he majored in Marketing and Economics. Mark obtained his undergraduate degree in Marketing from Miami of Ohio.

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Jay Baera from ConvinceandConvert.com to talk about his exact strategy for maximizing lead conversion (notice I didn’t say that we were going to talk about his exact strategy for getting the maximum number of leads).

In addition to the above, Jay and I also talk about:

how to spend less time working IN your business and more time working ON it
which automation tool Jay is using to do this (I use the same one)
a great example of content marketing with bricks and feathers
how to persuade more clients that going on retainer is a good idea for them (as well as you)
Jay’s favorite tools and resources for small agency owners
how to ensure your business is worth more when it comes time to sell it
what books he’s reading right now
and so much more

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is ‌Jaime Tardy, She started out thinking the only way she could do it was to get a good job with a great salary. So she went to a great (expensive!) school, and began working full time while still in school. By the age of 22 she was making six figures, and had an expense account. By the age of 24 she was in over $70,000 in debt.

The Bright Ideas podcast is the podcast for business owners and marketers who want to discover how to use online marketing and sales automation tactics to massively grow their business..

It’s designed to help marketing agencies and small business owners discover which online marketing strategies are working most effectively today – all from the mouths of expert entrepreneurs who are already making it big..

In this episode, I interview Jaime Tardy of Eventual Millionaire.

In this episode I’m joined by Spencer Haws the owner of the popular blog nichepursuits.com, where he details his methods as well as his results. He is also the creator of Long Tail Pro, a keyword research tool that niche website builders can utilize to create the right content that targets the right keywords.

On this episode my guest is Ian Ippolito is the founder of vWorker.com (recently acquired by Freelancer.com) and is a highly successful serial entrepreneur.

Would you like to learn what goes into creating a website that does over $11 million a year?

Do you ever wonder how such a business attracts so many customers?

To hear the story behind vWorker.com, I interview company founder, Ian Ippolito in this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast..While at the helm of vWorker, the company was called “One of the 100 smartest, most innovative, hands-down brilliant companies on our radar” by Entrepreneur Magazine. vWorker was ranked as an Inc 5000 company for four consecutive years, and has done over $139 million in business.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Chris Savage is the CEO and co-founder of Wistia. He lives and works in and around Cambridge, MA. He likes to talk about startups, marketing, video, evolutionary health, company culture and doing a lot with a little. You can bribe him with coffee, a delicious and healthy lunch or a game of ping pong. He also likes to play with Instagram.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

The Bright Ideas podcast is the podcast for business owners and marketers who want to discover how to use online marketing and sales automation tactics to grow their business.

It’s designed to help marketing agencies and small business owners discover which online marketing strategies are working most effectively today – all from the mouths of expert entrepreneurs who are already making it big.

In this episode, I interview Bob Britton, owner of Pro Autocare, direct response specialist and winner of the prestigious Infusionsoft Ultimate Marketer Award of 2010.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Peep Laya is the face of ConversionXL. His unusual name (to most people) is actually pronounced ‘Pep Laya’. He’s from Estonia, but lives mainly in the US these days.

Peep is an entrepreneur and a conversion optimization junkie. He runs a unique conversion optimization marketing agency called Markitekt (they make existing sites better and build new conversion optimized websites) + several niche internet businesses such as T1Q.

Peep delivers trainings and workshops on conversion optimization and internet marketing, consults businesses in need and plans the architecture of websites that sell.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

The Bright Ideas podcast is the podcast for business owners and marketers who want to discover how to use online marketing and sales automation tactics to massively grow their business.

It’s designed to help marketing agencies and small business owners discover which online marketing strategies are working most effectively today – all from the mouths of expert entrepreneurs who are already making it big.

In this episode, I interview Travis Ketchum, Founder of Contest Domination, an Entrepreneur and extremely smart marketer.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Are you trying to increase website traffic?

Would you like to be able to rapidly grow a list of qualified prospects for your company?

To discover some proven traffic and list generation strategies that anyone can implement, I interview Derek Halpern for this episode of the Bright Ideas Podcast.

Derek Halpern is an expert marketer and entrepreneur. After building several successful websites in various niches (entertainment, fashion, etc.), he’s refocused on what he loves most: Building and Marketing Businesses.

You’ll find that his approach to marketing is effective. He developed it over the past few years, and it has helped him build a few wildly popular websites, one of which attracted more than 1,000,000 pageviews in a single day.

More specifically, he uses the perfect blend of data driven marketing (conversion rates, academic research, and personal case studies) and content marketing to get traffic, attract customers, and sell products online.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

The Bright Ideas podcast is the podcast for business owners and marketers who want to discover how to use online marketing and sales automation tactics to massively grow their business..

It’s designed to help marketing agencies and small business owners discover which online marketing strategies are working most effectively today – all from the mouths of expert entrepreneurs who are already making it big..

In this episode, I interview Greg Rollett, a Best Selling author, Marketing Expert, and the ProductPro. Greg Rollett, the ProductPro, is a Best-Selling Author and online marketing expert who works with authors, experts, entertainers, entrepreneurs and business owners all over the world to help them share their knowledge and change the lives and businesses of others. After creating a successful string of his own educational products, Greg began helping others in the production and marketing of their own products.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

The Bright Ideas podcast is the podcast for business owners and marketers who want to discover how to use online marketing and sales automation tactics to massively grow their business.

It’s designed to help marketing agencies and small business owners discover which online marketing strategies are working most effectively today – all from the mouths of expert entrepreneurs who are already making it big.

In this episode, I interview Forrest Walden, CEO of Iron Tribe Fitness. Forrest Walden, Founder & CEO of IronTribe Fitness and he does not suffer from this problem. Thanks to a very clearly defined marketing strategy, supported by well thought out sales processes supported by Infusionsoft software, Iron Tribe is a lead generation and sales conversion machine.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

On‌ ‌the‌ ‌show‌ ‌with‌ ‌me‌ ‌today‌ is‌ Samantha Bennett a writer, actor, teacher and creativity/productivity specialist who has counseled hundreds of artists on their way to success.

The author of the surprisingly popular book of poems, “By The Way, You Look Really Great Today,” Samantha is currently writing “The Organized Artist Book: A Success Book For Creative People Who Want To Be More Organized And Organized People Who’d Like To Be More Creative.”

Are you constantly thinking about how to grow your business?

Would you like to hear how one entrepreneur has been able to double her revenue without killing herself in the process?

To discover how to get more referrals, increase customer engagement, and improve business efficiency, I interview Samantha Bennett in this episode of the Bright Ideas podcast. When you listen, you are going to hear how Samantha used Infusionsoft in her business to achieve a 100% increase in revenue.