Hard to Market: Recent Episodes
Podcast Chef
On Hard to Market, we discuss the challenges marketing nuanced products and services in the B2B space. Guests include marketing leaders in diverse industries that have products or services that are tricky to sell. Expect to hear success and horror stories from the marketing front-lines on the very next episode of Hard to Market.
In this episode, Jay Miller from Kyber discusses the unique origin story of their marketing agency, which started as a means to support their band while on tour. They delve into how Kyber has evolved into a successful business and the impact it has on their work culture and client interactions. Jay shares his agency's approach of leveraging his extensive network, focusing on sales, embracing remote work opportunities, and working with tech companies. Additionally, he reveals three valuable lessons he has learned along his journey. Kyber Marketing Agency's journey showcases its differentiation and long-term success.
Meet Jay Miller, the Chief Executive Officer of Kyber Digital LLC, a pioneering growth marketing consulting firm specializing in momentum-based marketing strategies. With a decade of experience, Jay has mastered the art of combining long and short-term marketing approaches to drive accelerated new revenue growth for businesses. His unique Kyber Protocols framework, focusing on five growth pillars, has consistently doubled the gross annual revenue of clients enrolled in their 12-month programs. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Hard to Market:
- Focus on community, growth, and providing tools to make employees' lives easier.
- Prove results and show prior success to build trust with prospects.
- Position yourself as a consultancy to expand your services beyond traditional marketing.
- Be confident and direct in your approach, offering your expertise and refusing to compromise on your strategies.
- Create a unique mechanism and sales process that sets you apart from competitors.
- The agency primarily works with tech companies, focusing on MarTech, software, SaaS, and FinTech.
- Jay's strategy involves creating a detailed assessment of a company's marketing and sales gaps before proposing full services.
Resources:
- Kyber Digital
- Podcast Chef
Connect with Jay Miller:
Connect with our host, Brian Mattocks:
Quotables:
- 18:53 - “The easiest way is proving results and being able to show your prior results. That's just a given, you know? Right. Client reviews and testimonials can be faked, but if you can pull up data, it says like, here's something we did for this client, here's the results that they had. That's hard to argue, right? Yeah. Yeah. Especially if it's in a difficult market. So the first thing is results. The second thing we did was we actually on the sales end, stopped using trigger words for these people. So we stopped using the word ads. We stopped using the word ss e o, we stopped using the word agency. We stopped using the word marketing, right? And we've only focused on bottom line revenue growth and business development.”
- 21:19 - “So, so beyond just those couple things of, we, we positioned ourselves not as an agency, but as a consultancy, we're extremely confident and extremely direct on calls where I say, we're doing it our way or we're not doing it at all because I know it's gonna work. That level of confidence really portrays something that agencies don't, because agencies tend to like, oh, you need a proposal, here you go, here's our proposal with our stuff. They don't even ask questions, right? So it's like, that's, that's why you, you're a vendor because you didn't even ask why that budget? Why do you need this? Why? So they're not diving deep enough into discovery on sales.”
- 09:19 - “So I think for, for me, it's, it's always been let me focus on the prospect's problems and what they need and why they're even talking to me. 'cause at the end of the day, they don't care about me. They don't care about what we do, they don't care about my team. They don't give a shit. Like, the only thing they care about is, is making sure that we can solve their problems and getting them ahead. 'cause the reality is they only care about themselves. That's not to say that they're selfish, that's just the way people are programmed. So especially the business owners or the people who are responsible for revenue growth at a business.”
- 08:10 - “I mean, when you start talking about this stuff, it's obvious that the performance culture that you have also leads to particularly, you know, given that that that art side of that conversation, you have to be able to, you know, trust these folks in a performance setting. And the only way you're gonna get there is if you build that rapport, which I think is, it's a spot on approach to driving engagement and stuff like that.”
- 27:31 - Brian: “They don't have to be agile, that's the problem, right? Like when you have to sing for your supper every day, you eliminate all the BS. And when you're a large corporate, you just got so much momentum that, you know, like, like”
Jay: “Literally it's like after 30 people in a company, it just starts to become like blow like a disaster on the back end. And they stop tracking things that like they're, you know, everything becomes a mess. And all the way through every department, everything, it's it all, and I'm not saying it's all bad, but it's like it all just ends up being, you know.”
Brian M: “Absolutely.”
Discover the various podcast formats and their pros and cons in this episode. Learn about the popularity of interview style podcasts, the challenges of panel style shows, the benefits of solo podcasts, and even the world of radio dramas and live reporting. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned podcaster, there's a format for everyone.
Key Points
• Interview style podcasts allow for access to guest networks and are easy to conduct.
• Panel style shows require more coordination and effort but offer the benefit of multiple networks.
• Solo podcasts are great for exploring and discovering your own content and knowledge.
• Radio dramas require scriptwriting, talent, and production elements.
• Live reporting podcasts offer a gritty, authentic feel but require time and preparation.
• Each podcast format serves different purposes and targets various audiences.
• Don't be afraid to start your podcast and evolve as you go along.
Best Quotes
"An interview podcast is an awesome way to expand your network and share content with others."
"Solo podcasts are a great way to discover your own content and knowledge in new ways."
"Radio dramas are often used for employee training or to create a compelling company culture."
"Live reporting podcasts offer unique experiences and are expected to have challenging production quality."
"Field reporting podcasts require a lot of time and preparation but can result in engaging content."
"Just get started with your podcast and you'll figure out the best format along the way."
"Your podcast will evolve and transform over time, so don't be afraid to experiment."
Summary
Dive into the world of podcasting as the seasoned experts at Podcast Chef distill the complex art down to its essentials. This episode strips away the intimidation factor tied to starting a podcast, focusing on getting started rather than expensive equipment setups, and expressing why persistence trumps perfection.
Key Points
• The essentials to start podcasting are straightforward.
• Technology and equipment should not get in the way of starting a podcast.
• Consistency and evolution are key to a successful podcast.
• AI Tools and emerging technologies can resolve numerous equipment issues.
• A podcast can be an effective tool to impact your business positively.
Best Quotes
00:05 - 00:30
• "And to be honest with you, it's not that hard. At least in the beginning. The things that you need to get started podcasting are pretty straightforward. You can usually do it with a laptop computer or you can do it with a phone. The other things that you might get into maybe a little bit later on are things like microphones, cameras, green screens, whatever."
00:38 - 00:57
• "The important part of the podcasting process is to, a, get started, and b, keep going. The rest of the stuff, how you sound, how you look, all of the other things will improve over time, so you don't need to try out of the gate."
01:48 - 02:01
• "The podcast you end up with, and the podcast you start with are two very different things. And the podcast that you have now, and the podcast you'll have a year from now and two years from now and on and on are all gonna be very different."
02:05 - 02:23
• "Don't let the equipment, don't let the tech stack get in the way. Don't worry about those kind of things because they're all gonna be evolving. There's AI tools right now that will help do noise canceling, noise reduction that will make up for a ton of equipment issues."
02:23 - 02:38
• "There are other solutions for video background editing, making you look better, all that kind of stuff that are all kind of regularly emergent with new solutions. And if you wait for the ideal answer, you won't get started."
02:40 - 02:54
• "The long and short of it is get started sooner than later, and you'll find that those files, whatever they are, you should be able to get them processed and turned into a reasonable podcast and start publishing."
03:20 - 03:43
• "But if you're looking for some deliberate help where you want perhaps a more faster jumpstart, hit our website, get our ebook. There are great suggestions in there on how you might best leverage the podcast that you're trying to start to build your business or to build your referral network."
In this episode, Sean Boyce, the Founder of Podcast Chef, shares his experience and strategies for marketing businesses with nuanced offerings. He emphasizes the importance of catering to the audience's level of understanding and discusses the balance between attracting new clients and catering to those with strong buying intent. He emphasizes the importance of finding your value proposition, gaining social proof, and getting customer feedback. They also discuss the power of podcasting and leveraging various channels to attract customers.
Sean Boyce has run his consultancy firm NxtStep Consulting for over 10 years but found he wasn’t able to grow his network effectively and efficiently through in-person marketing or lead generation services.
To solve this, Sean founded Podcast Chef, a full-service podcast management platform that helped him grow his network while making awesome content at the same time.
Seeing the effectiveness of podcasting at reaching new people, Sean opened it up to others, helping people to start a podcast and delegating the management from post-production to booking guests. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Hard to Market:
- Nuanced businesses can be harder to market due to their complexity and lack of familiarity.
- Starting with a more specific and opinionated approach can help potential customers understand the value of the offering.
- Understanding the audience's level of knowledge and adapting the messaging accordingly is crucial in successful marketing.
- Experimentation and trial and error are key to finding the right marketing approach for complex businesses.
- Build confidence by recognizing your past successes and identifying the problems you can solve for others.
- Determine your value proposition and gather social proof, case studies, and demonstrations to support it.
- Use multiple channels, with podcasting as a cornerstone, to grow your brand and attract your target audience.
Resources:
- NxtStep Consulting
- Podcast Chef
Connect with Sean Boyce:
Connect with our host, Brian Mattocks:
Quotables:
- 07:41 - “Yes, so I'm a data-driven person, engineer at heart, you know, tech geek what, however you want to describe it. So I love the T&E approach, as I often abbreviate it. The trial and error where I may have something I want to do, like let's say I wanna work with Fortune 500 companies as a B two B SaaS consultant. Great, can I come right out of the gate and do that? Maybe, maybe not, right? So I need to figure out a way to systematically get to those folks first and foremost to start having conversations with them to see whether or not there's a need, if they have a problem that I could solve, if they have a problem that I can solve, do they believe that I'm someone that can solve it, right?”
- 09:12 - “I think there's a lot of content out there that could be misleading in terms of like, you need to come up with all of the details now. And then you, you know, you do that in as just checking a box and then once you've checked that box, then you just sell, sell, sell. And just like everything goes super well, it's not really the case. I think there's a lot more of the like putting the plane together in the air while you're flying it, that anybody who's involved in business will tell you is a core component of the process. So getting comfortable with that, getting comfortable in those uncomfortable scenarios, is really an important piece of it.”
- 06:58 - “Because there's a certain amount and there's, there's always going to be, particularly in the marketing space, there's a certain amount of grow your own clients. You have to help them along the way through that sales journey. But I think on the other side of it too is the moment you have somebody with a strong buying intent, you now have a different problem, right? You have to be able to speak to that exact buying intent.”
- 15:28 - “The ability to then leverage the content you already have or the stuff you're creating to then I guess collect field data as well as to what's performing well, so you can understand what messages appealing to your audience. And, and I think in the beginning when you first start out, like your only real litmus test if you're doing it for the first time is you look at your bank account or whatever, and you go, yeah, I didn't get any checks this week. And that's a real problem because it's exactly looking at you're, you're looking at too much of the process. It sounds like the very first decision you made was actually not to be focused on that outcome, but instead focus on am I having good conversations first and then from those good conversations, am I able to turn any of them into a single piece of business? And then can I repeat that over and over again?”
- 11:04 - Brian: “What, what were your first handles, and what are the ones you're using now?”
Sean: “Great question. So I think a lot of people struggle with as it's often referred to as this imposter syndrome and especially when you're starting out and even more so if you're innovating, like when I was starting as a product consultant, I couldn't find a lot of content out there about other people doing something similar. But what gave me the confidence in that was that I knew that I had done this successfully before and I had seen people with the kind of problems that I could help them solve. So that gave me a level of confidence to give it a shot, right? Because a bunch of people told me not to do it. Like a bunch of people are like, I don't even know what that is. I never heard of that. Good luck selling that.”
Summary
Unpack the importance of integrated marketing strategies in this enlightening episode. We reveal the dangers of 'shiny penny syndrome,' emphasizing instead the value of a cohesive approach across various platforms. Learn the art of interconnecting your podcast, YouTube channel, website, and other tools with inclusivity, all aimed towards supporting and enhancing your marketing game. Discover how to direct traffic to your marketing program and move people up and down your funnel effectively.
Key Points
• The perils of the shiny penny syndrome in marketing.
• The importance of constructing a cohesive marketing system.
• Smart ways to interconnect your podcast, YouTube channel, and website.
• Techniques for directing traffic to all parts of your marketing program.
• How to effectively move people up and down the sales funnel.
Best Quotes
00:01 - 00:32
• "One of the things we try and avoid in the marketing space is the shiny penny syndrome or random acts of marketing. Marketing should be informed and inform a broader system, and it should be enhanced and supported by all the tools that you have at your disposal up to and including a podcast, maybe your YouTube channel, a website, any offline materials you have, your sales support, documentation, all that kind of stuff, all those artifacts of sales."
00:32 - 00:55
• "As you are building out that system, you want to try and increase cohesion as much as you can across all of the moving pieces. That means in your podcast, you might have commercials that reference content that's on your YouTube channel. In your YouTube channel, you might reference an upcoming guest you have on your podcast or an article you have to read on your website."
00:55 - 1:10
• "When you start to feather all these materials together, what you're gonna find is that they strengthen each other and they build and support each other. Now, it's not, it's true that not every person that reads an article on your website is gonna be the same person that listens to a podcast, but what you wanna do is make sure that you are using those things interconnected in a way to help lift each other."
01:21 - 01:43
• "So if there is a great compelling interview to support the article that you have on your website, and you have gotten that from a podcast, by all means, at the bottom of that article, reference your podcast, link to it, include a player, what have you. In the same way, if you talk about an article that's on your website during an episode, you're gonna wanna link that in the show notes."
01:44 - 2:00
• "As you start to build this cohesion, traffic is going to start feeding all of the pieces of your marketing program, and it'll help move people up and down the funnel as needed. So when you are trying to encourage folks to really go from a maybe a less informed buyer through that buying decision down to the point of transaction, they may need different kinds of information, and in some cases, that is best delivered in different formats."
Summary
Explore the world of podcasting with us as we delve into the pros and cons of doing it solo versus bringing guests onboard. Arm yourself with unique insights that could potentially revolutionize your approach to podcasting!
Key Points
• One Person Podcasting: more control on content and logistics.
• Strengths of Interview Style: exploration of unfamiliar content and opportunities.
• Access to guests' networks: invaluable exposures.
• Importance of variety in podcasting: deal with specific topics differently.
• The learning process: benefiting from challenges and external variables.
Best Quotes
00:41 - 00:49
• "One of the strengths [of the solo style] is there's no coordination, so there's no upfront costs for trying to get people on. You don't really have a ton of challenges with logistics or any of that kind of stuff. You don't have to balance things like audio quality in the environment. You have a ton more control over the environment, but you also have a ton of editorial controls."
01:46 - 01:59
• "And probably the single greatest reason why you should almost always do an interview style show is that you get access to the guests network, the guests network, the person who's on your show."
03:27 - 03:44
• "One of the things that we're working on with our clients on the newer, our newer clients is to build a combination of the three of these where you have the individual topic base shows, you do an interview style, and then once a month or once a quarter, you do a panel base kind of show."
04:01 - 04:15
• "This will give you the strongest platform to work from and start you down the learning process very quickly. The interviews will challenge you as a podcast host and as a business owner, and you'll learn a ton of stuff."
04:30 - 04:40
• "If you're doing it the same way that you've always done it and you're all by yourself, that learning process just comes along slower. That's the nature of that, that kind of setup."
04:40 - 04:47
• "So as you're going out and building your podcast, step one, build the Interview style podcast and figure out who should be on it."
Summary
Tune in as we delve deep into the power of podcasting in expanding your network. Our host explicates on the unique opportunities that podcasting opens up, how it fosters meaningful dialogues with peers, and how you can leverage it for lateral and vertical network growth. Additionally, learn the importance of persistence in honing your podcast hosting skills for better audience engagement.
Key Points
• Podcasting opens up unique networking opportunities.
• Hosting a podcast helps you connect with peers on subject-specific talks.
• The better your podcast becomes, the larger your audience grows.
• Podcasting offers both vertical and horizontal network expansion.
• Persistence and skill development are key in successful podcasting.
Best Quotes
00:15 - 00:37
• "There are connections and opportunities through the podcasting experience that you don't really get any other way. There are opportunities to dig deep into subject specific conversations with your peers and leverage connections and connected opportunities that, again, you can't get any other way."
00:40 - 00:52
• "When you have somebody on your your show, you'll find that in many cases, they're gonna have, they're gonna know some of the same people, you know, and so that conversation gets pretty great."
01:13 - 01:27
• "Effectively, the, the better your podcast is at collecting audience members, the more people want to be on it. So you're going to not only be able to expand the network sort of laterally, you're gonna be able to expand it vertically as well."
01:27 - 01:36
• "That vertical expansion where you're moving up, for lack of a better way to describe it up in the social hierarchy, is also an outrageously important thing to do."
01:37 - 01:44
• "So when you're sitting here working on your podcast and you're on like episode 12 or whatever, and you're like, oh, I'm not sure about this thing, stick with it."
01:45 - 01:57
• "Keep going. Build your audience. And the way you're gonna do that is continue to invest in podcasting as an experience and, and invest in pods casting as a marketing effort and grow your skills as a host."
01:57 - 02:07
• "That skill growth is going to help you a, again, find better ways to engage your audience, grow that audience, and get that vertical and horizontal network expansion."
Summary
Dive into this enlightening episode as we delve into the challenges of standing out in the bustling podcast landscape. You'll learn from our host’s personal experiences about the evolution of a podcast, how to navigate critical transformation points often faced by podcasters, and the importance of resilience in this dynamic journey. Whether you're a seasoned podcaster or a beginner host, this episode is packed with critical info!
Key Points
• Podcasting is a journey of evolution, solving problems, and expanding your horizons.
• The reasons for starting a podcast may differ from the reasons for continuing it.
• An inflection point at 3-6 months may urge you to question your podcast's worth.
• The concept of ‘seasonal podcasting’ can help manage content gaps.
• Moments of doubt or fatigue are temporary, just like recording a bad episode.
Best Quotes
00:29 - 00:48
• "So the podcast you start with, and the podcast you have six months later, a year later, three years later, are not the same podcast. You will change as a host, you'll evolve podcasting as a solution to some of your business problems will change and evolve and grow and expand."
01:08 - 01:18
• "As you go through it, you're gonna hit a couple major milestones, somewhere around a three to six month mark. You're gonna be asking your questions, is it all worth it?"
01:51 - N/A
• "If I stop now, would the content I've already created still be valuable? If I continued, will I learn more about my clients, about my network partners, what have you?"
02:33 - 02:46
• "When you get there, the natural sort of questions that you would ask, should I continue? Should I change, should I pivot? I'll tell you right now. Have that conversation again in a year."
02:50 - 2:55
• "If you can't, if it's not doing it in a year, chances are you're not gonna be able to profit from it afterwards if you're not able to reconcile the effort versus the value it's creating for your business."
03:45 - 03:56
• "Because those moments of doubt or those moments of fatigue are just as momentary as any of the other episodes you've recorded."
04:28 - 04:33
• "And the reality is these things take time. You want to give them time to mature."
In this episode, Sara Mannix, the founder of successful marketing agency Mannix Marketing Inc., discusses the evolution of SEO and the changing landscape of digital marketing. She highlights the key factors that have remained constant, such as the power of focus and niche expertise. Sara also talks about the shift towards a holistic approach to marketing and shares strategies used to market hard-to-reach industries, including the challenges faced in the hospitality industry.
Sara Mannix is the Founder and President of Mannix Marketing Inc., an award-winning digital marketing agency specializing in SEO, PPC, and web design. With over 27 years of experience in marketing and tourism, she leads Mannix Tourism, a destination marketing agency focused on helping communities thrive, and tourism businesses achieve their goals. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Hard to Market:
- SEO has evolved from “search engine positioning” to a holistic approach focused on success metrics.
- The success of SEO depends on understanding the lifetime value of customers and targeting the right audience.
- Niche industries can utilize thought leadership and targeted marketing to generate conversions.
- Cross-functional learning enables the application of successful strategies from one industry to another.
- Niche expertise in the hospitality industry provides a deep understanding of specific challenges and solutions.
- Having a niche helps in clearly defining goals and delivering a guaranteed return on investment.
- Agencies struggling with their pipeline can benefit greatly from partnering with niche digital marketing experts.
Resources:
- Mannix Marketing Inc.
- Podcast Chef
Connect with Sara Mannix:
Connect with our host, Brian Mattocks:
Quotables:
- 02:39 - “I said, well, at the bottom of every website that we do, I put website design and development by Mannix Marketing, and it links back to us. And I think that makes a difference. So the links have changed. It's not just about having a link on any website, it's about having, you know, relevant content on relevant sites. That was true even before Google. Because Google really made it much more about the quality of the link.”
- 04:45 - “So I think the businesses that lend themselves to paid search and SEO and that type of lead gen are typically businesses with shorter turnaround times. I need this item, or I need this expertise, and I'm gonna search for it. Right. Where can I find it? Right. And that has a shorter span. And a lot of experts think, well, it's only word of mouth for my business, or it's this or that. And I always tell people, if it's a big purchase, and they are the type of people who want it within the next three months, they're going to research it on the internet as well.”
- 20:10 - “I think it's one of those paradoxical things, like what is the saying about attorneys, like someone who represents themselves in court as a fool for a client. I think in many ways you almost can't do your own marketing. The blind spots are just too big. Yeah. Which is probably an unpopular opinion.”
- 06:29 - Brian: “So how do you deal with some of those hard to market kind of items or how to hard to market services with the clients that you represent?”.. Sara: “Yeah, so we actually have a client very similar. They do massive heating, heating and cooling systems that go on top of billion buildings that are worth millions of dollars. Right. And those numbers are very low for somebody who doesn't know who they are and who are searching for it. But when you're selling something that's a million dollars, and you're number one in search, they actually do SEO, and they have such great ROI because if there's 50 people a year searching for it, and they find them, and they sell a million dollar cooling refrigerant building Right, right. Solution, they've paid for their SEO, and their paid search for the next seven years.”
- 12:41 - Brian: “So what I'm hearing is that anyone willing to pay or anyone with a pulse and a checkbook is not a sufficient information for you to target them for SEO. Is that right?”.. Sara: “That's true.”.. Brian: “I have the number of clients that I've worked with in the marketing space where I'm like, so who's a great client for you? And they're like, ah, anybody will pay.”.. Sara: “We like, we have specific industries that we do really well, but we have really narrowed down on, and we have been in business for 30, 26 years, so we have done many industries. So, but if I were only a five-year-old agency, I would not recommend that, it's a nightmare. And it's just too much. You can't do everything. Well, you can't, right. We don't say we do everything well, we say we do SEO well, right. And we can do SEO well for anybody, but do we want to do it for everybody? No, no.”.. Brian: “You can go horizontal, or you can go vertical, but you can't really go both. Right.”
Summary
Learn essential techniques on how to interrupt guests effectively and redirect them to stay on track during podcast episodes. Interrupting strategically can save time, prevent irrelevant content, and ensure a captivating final product.
Key Points
• Interrupting guests can prevent them from monopolizing the entire showtime with irrelevant answers or excessive jargon.
• Skillful interruptions can be framed as a desire to clarify, understand impact, or delve deeper into a particular topic.
• Retargeting guest responses through interruptions can make the content more appropriate and engaging for the audience.
• Failure to interrupt may result in losing valuable time and a potentially unusable episode.
• Interrupting is a valuable skill that helps podcast hosts maintain control and facilitate the best content from their guests.
Best Quotes
01:05 - 01:11
• "Hey, I wanna stop you there because I think I don't wanna lose a piece of what you just said, 'cause I think it's really important."
01:12 - 01:20
• "Hey, I want to stop you there and I want to get a little bit more clarity around what you're talking about because our listeners may need a little more help following along."
01:30 - 01:36
• "Hey, can you stop for a moment and I wanna understand what impact that had on you or your business or what have you."
02:14 - 02:24
• "Interrupting is a valuable skill as a podcast host. It will help you save episodes and help guests bring their best knowledge and content to the table."
In this episode, Allan Benedict, Director of Business Development and Marketing at Play MPE, discusses the challenges and strategies involved in marketing and expanding in the music industry. Play MPE is a SaaS product that caters to both labels and independent artists, helping them reach their marketing goals and compete with industry giants. Allan emphasizes the importance of prioritizing investments, monitoring data analytics, and collaborating as a team. He also shares successful strategies, such as partnering with songwriting competitions, and highlights the unique features that set Play MPE apart from its competitors. Building connections, understanding target audiences, and thinking outside the box are key elements for success in the music industry, according to Allan.
In this episode, Allan Benedict shares his career journey, from working as a Radio Marketing & Promotions Intern at Secretly Group to becoming the Director of Business Development & Marketing at Play MPE. He also served as the National Director of Radio Promotion, U.S. at [PIAS] and Radio Promotion Manager at The Syndicate. Allan's expertise lies in planning and executing successful radio marketing campaigns for renowned artists and labels, as well as fostering strong industry relationships. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Hard to Market:
- Play MPE is one of the first companies to deliver watermarked audio to radio stations securely.
- Play MPE offers the same level of functionality and ease of use to both labels and independent artists, making it ideal for various users in the music industry.
- Constantly shuffling resources to ensure they are where they need to be.
- Utilizing testimonials and reputation to educate artists on the value of their platform.
- Build connections with people in the industry to gain support and opportunities.
- Understand the needs and preferences of your target audience for effective marketing.
- Adapt your marketing approach based on the unique characteristics of different music markets.
Resources:
- Play MPE
- Podcast Chef
Connect with Allan Benedict:
Connect with our host Brian Mattocks:
Quotables:
- 01:27 - “So if you've ever wondered how radio gets the new songs to play, it's through a system kind of similar to ours where labels or artists or promoters or managers will utilize our platform to deliver that stuff securely and be able to track some metrics on it too.”
- 24:09 - “Especially with just the, the shift in culture really where everyone's looking at TikTok and these kind of short snippets of releases versus album plays like they used to. Right. It's, I mean, they always say that the music industry evolves really quickly, and this is just over the last five, six years, the most I've seen it evolve in the 20 or so years I've been working new music one way or another.”
- 11:18 - “One of the things that I find so compelling about your kind of your role is you've got, so you've got the stations on one side and the station networks for that matter because you know, very rarely is it like independence you have then the labels. So, and some of those labels vary in size and scope. And then you also are going after the independent artists. So like just on at a high level you're marketing to almost four different types of organizations and you're doing it all and every one of those markets and every one of those organizations needs varying levels of education.”
- 17:40 - “So when you go through this process and you're identifying, you know, the upcoming artists you're going after or the labels that you're working with and then getting them in front of the right, the right folks securely, how much of the work you're doing is education versus, you know, in terms of like the marketing conversations up until the transaction point and then afterwards, what does that kind of like, help me understand like what the split is?”
- 25:51 - Brian: “And in your journey to the, you know, wildly successful and complicated marketing position you're in, what are your three biggest things you've learned along the way to help the next guy out?”.. Allan: “My three biggest along the way, these might skew a little more music industry than traditional marketing, but one thing I'm a big believer in is, is keep in touch with people you've worked with in the past. Like you can program ads and set up ad groups and do some SEO work all you want, but it's always easier if you have someone you can turn to and either ask questions or you never know where someone's going to end up five years from now. Whether they could be a partner for whatever you're working with or help you get a leg up on a conversation you need to have.”
In this episode, Jackie Brusch, the Senior Director of Marketing at Emporos, discusses her journey in combining writing, marketing, and a love for healthcare. She highlights the challenges of marketing pharmacy commerce systems and the importance of understanding different personas. Brusch emphasizes the collaboration between sales and marketing teams, the balance between thought leadership and sales enablement content, and the focus on improving the customer experience in the pharmacy space.
Jackie Brusch, the Senior Director of Marketing at Emporos, brings extensive expertise in pharmacy commerce systems and simplifying the process of delivering care as a modern-day pharmacy. With a proven track record in marketing leadership roles, including positions at OpenClinica and Mobiquity Inc., Jackie has consistently driven successful marketing initiatives and delivered meaningful results for leading healthcare and technology organizations. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Hard to Market:
- Content marketing as a way to modernize healthcare and bridge the gap between writing, marketing, and technology.
- Focusing on pharmacy directors and IT professionals as the primary audiences for these systems.
- Utilizing face-to-face networking and digital marketing to engage with potential clients and build relationships.
- Integrating sales development reps (SDRs) under marketing to foster one-to-one relationships with leads.
- Providing tools like comparison tools and checklists to help prospects navigate the buying process.
- Emphasizing the importance of collaboration and communication between sales and marketing teams.
- Addressing challenges faced by hospitals in the outpatient pharmacy space and offering solutions.
Resources:
- Emporos
- Podcast Chef
Connect with Jackie Brusch:
Connect with our host, Brian Mattocks:
Quotables:
- 12:07 - “For us as a marketing team, we're a very small organization, so the team is very small. And what we realized was we're not having trouble generating leads, we're having trouble with, okay, once we have a lead, how do we get them to a place where they're warmed up enough to pass to sales? Mm. And what we've discovered was that we really needed that person that fell between marketing and sales to take that next step.”
- 15:23 - “There's definitely a thought leadership side that's focused on the, the vision, right? Of where we want to go as a company, where we want to see our clients go as you know, pharmacies and, and where they're going in terms of modernizing their pharmacy.”
- 13:55 - “You've moved sales into marketing to help with those middle of the funnel conversations until you get to the transaction point. When you help your process prospects go through that process, there's, there's gotta be a blend, right? There's some, some of the material gets very opinionated and some of it doesn't, right? Some of it's gotta stay fairly high level and educational. How do you strike that balance and then obviously with the teams there, how are you making sure that they're getting the right tools for their job?”
- 15:40 - “So how do you identify what you're going to be providing in terms of enabling your teams to help folks move through the funnel and, and what sort of, what does that content look like in terms of how much of it's educational versus how much of it's opinionated?”
- 17:43 - Jackie: “So there's a middle ground there and I think finding out what that is and working together as a sales and marketing team to provide that thought, enabling content from top of funnel all the way down to very specific sales enablement content, that's where we're starting to really fill in those gaps so that everybody from the marketing side to the, all the way down to the sales side, down to like contracting and all that, that we have everything that spans that”... Brian: “Yeah. And I think it's, I think it's like one of the, that that decision to then roll those things together, you know, has to help with the gap analysis. It's gotta make it a lot easier to figure out like, where are we stuck? What's not working? By having those in the same area and in the same space.”
In this episode, Sean Boyce and Brian Mattocks debate the advantages of hosting your own podcast versus being a guest on someone else's show. While guesting can provide access to a new audience, having your own podcast offers more control, opportunities for growth, and the ability to build authority and brand. Additionally, they discuss the importance of strategic guest booking and caution against the pitfalls of low-quality guest requests.
Sean Boyce has run his consultancy firm NxtStep Consulting for over 10 years but found he wasn’t able to grow his network effectively and efficiently through in-person marketing or lead generation services.
To solve this, Sean founded Podcast Chef, a full-service podcast management platform that helped him grow his network while making awesome content at the same time. Seeing the effectiveness of podcasting at reaching new people, Sean opened it up to others, helping people to start a podcast and delegating the management from post-production to booking guests. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Hard to Market:
- Having your own podcast provides control over the narrative and content.
- Producing your own content allows for growth and exposure opportunities.
- Being a guest can be beneficial for promoting specific projects or books.
- Guesting on other shows offers access to a new audience and the chance to grow your own podcast.
- Hosting a show and being a subject-matter expert can sometimes clash.
- Strategic relationships and cross-pollination can expand audience reach.
- Guesting without the ability to drive engagement may have limited value.
Resources:
- NxtStep Consulting
- Podcast Chef
Connect with Sean Boyce:
Connect with our host Brian Mattocks:
Quotables:
- 01:15 - “I wouldn't have done that if I didn't think having your own podcast was arguably more valuable. And the biggest reason, I think, is because if you're guessing on someone else's show, you really don't control anything. You don't control the narrative, the story, the positioning, maybe even the questions, what you're talking about.”
- 01:32 - “You don't get any of the extras like producing the content, having that content out there, the opportunity to do different things with it, grow it, and just have it grow your exposure, authority, and brand. All of these things that you get if you're making an investment into a podcast or a show of your own to promote what it is that you do help you help educate people, grow your exposure, all those types of things, you lose all of that value if you are exclusively just basically like guesting on other shows.”
- 02:53 - “One of the things that comes to mind, though, as a strength is when you are guesting on other podcasts, you have two kind of major things going for you. The first thing you have going for you is you get access to a completely new audience, which has value. If somebody likes what you're saying on somebody else's show, and that audience is existing, you get access to that audience by virtue of being a guest on that show. You might grow your own podcast even further by having that exposure. And then the other side of it is, when you're a host, typically, and I can speak to my experience with this and listening to the episodes that we've produced for our clients, it's very challenging sometimes to also take the role of a subject-matter expert.”
- 03:52 - “So I think in some cases, yes, you should always have your own podcast, like that's like bread and butter for our value prop. But broadly, I think supplementing that with guest booking or guests being guests on other people's shows is a great way to both increase your exposure and position yourself also as a subject-matter expert thoughts.”
- 09:41 - Brian: “If you, if you're in a market space where there are shows that are really, really good and well done for you to reach out and say, Hey listen, I host a show, it's similar, it's a little bit different in this way. Maybe you can share some of your insights here. Maybe I can come share some of my insights on your show. Those synergies are great.”.. Sean: “Your, I mean, do your homework and be genuine, right? And make sure that what it is you're trying to connect with ultimately makes sense, not just for you, but for them. And again, just like we do in guest booking a podcast chef, like it's more about them. It's not about you, right? Talk to them about why they would be interested in having you as a guest on their show. Like what can you do for them? What can you, what kind of value can you bring to their audience?”
In this episode, Susan Moeller, the Director of Marketing at Tailwind, discusses how Tailwind provides small businesses with a marketing team at an affordable price through AI. Susan shares insights into their marketing strategies, highlighting the power of search advertising and leveraging Pinterest for word-of-mouth marketing. The episode also explores Tailwind's latest offerings, including their AI-powered ad creation feature and the benefits of combining TikTok and Pinterest marketing.
Susan Moeller is a dynamic marketing professional known for her expertise in audience building through paid media, strategic partnerships, engaging content, and social media. As the Co-Founder of the Women In Content Marketing Facebook Group and the Creator of BuzzSumo Academy, Susan has a passion for empowering marketers and sharing her knowledge. With her role as the Director of Marketing at Tailwind and her experience as a webinar host, Susan is a problem solver who thrives on connecting with others to drive impactful marketing strategies. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Hard to Market:
- Small businesses can offload their marketing tasks to Tailwind and focus on what they love.
- Tailwind utilizes paid search and Pinterest marketing to reach its target audience.
- The company focuses on word of mouth, reviews, and testimonials as key marketing channels.
- TikTok has shown promising results for Tailwind with its low CPM and high engagement.
- Users have reported a 525% increase in traffic and a 92% increase in sales using Tailwind ads.
- Tailwind is favored by e-commerce store owners, service providers, bloggers, and agencies, especially those with a technical background.
- Tailwind cuts through the clutter of ad managers and offers a more intuitive user interface.
Resources:
- Tailwind
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Susan Moeller:
Connecting with Brian Mattocks:
Quotables:
- 13:48 - “I'm really happy because we've seen so much traction in those channels that Tailwind now has a part of our ghostwriter AI interface that will create search ads for you. It will create social ads for you, and we have a beta program that will manage your ads through our AI system. And that has gotten extremely great reviews in beta.”
- 03:38 - “We provide a way for small businesses to not do their marketing by having them offload it to Tailwind. And our goal really is to make world cost marketing easy for everyone. So we don't want to… we don't want to just tell people what to do. We want to make it easy for them to get things done and be able to move on with the rest of their day.”
- 24:20 - “I mean for as much as we're a data driven, you know, in many ways what feels like a science, the relationships are really where all the magic is anyway, because you have to be able to do that translation.”
- 10:49 - “I mean, it's a very peculiar uptick with TikTok. It's almost like some folks go and they have this wild success, and then they're almost fearful to continue, and they pull back, and it's this back and forth.”
- 16:12 - Brian: “There are a good number of your clients, no doubt, or at least ideal clients potentially, that don't have a strong technical background. How are you from a, as a marketer getting in front of them, and what do you do to onboard them in a, a friendly way, I guess? You would see that Oh yeah, oh yeah, folks fall off in a month and a half because they just couldn't get their head around the tech.” Susan: “Right. Yeah, I know. It's a very, it, it's a very, it's an interesting talent. Our, the customers that we see coming to us that stick with us the longest are e-commerce store owners and service providers, bloggers and agencies. So I would say that the people who stick with us longer are, are a little bit more on the, the technically savvy side of things.”
In this episode, Brian Mattocks and Sean Boyce discuss why marketing is often underestimated and dive into the continuous discovery process in marketing. They emphasize the importance of understanding the buyer's journey and problem space to create effective marketing strategies and tactics. They also highlight the significance of focusing on the right problem and using customer insights to tailor marketing messages.
Sean Boyce has run his consultancy firm NxtStep Consulting for over 10 years but found he wasn’t able to grow his network effectively and efficiently through in-person marketing or lead generation services.
To solve this, Sean founded Podcast Chef, a full-service podcast management platform that helped him grow his network while making awesome content at the same time.
Seeing the effectiveness of podcasting at reaching new people, Sean opened it up to others, helping people to start a podcast and delegating the management from post-production to booking guests. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Hard to Market:
- Marketing is often underestimated and misunderstood, especially in the B2B SaaS software startup space.
- Continuous discovery is crucial in marketing and should inform all marketing efforts, from copy to conversations.
- Understanding the buyer's journey and problem space is essential for effective marketing.
- Focusing on the top issue and identifying patterns among target market customers helps prioritize and tailor marketing strategies.
- Building a systematic process based on goals and objectives ensures meaningful progress.
- The discovery process in marketing is ongoing and requires constant adaptation and learning.
- Balancing the customer's perceived problem with the actual problem is key to delivering the right solution.
Resources:
- NxtStep Consulting
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Sean Boyce:
Connecting with Brian Mattocks:
Quotables:
- 00:17 - Why is marketing so hard? And I think this is something that a lot of people have misconceptions about. I think people underestimate how difficult marketing is going to be. And from my world, that comes from like the B2B SaaS software startup space. There's conventional wisdom that I would say is largely incorrect in terms of like protecting your ideas and not sharing them with people and stuff like that because they're going to steal them, run with them and become overnight billionaires, which pretty much never happens.
- 10:54 - It's not the customer's job to be thinking through the better solution. That's your job, right? You are providing a better solution, but you, you need to understand what the proper problem is and how it manifests. And when I say, I mean how they think of it in their head.
- 01:25 - Marketing is as much a practice as any of the other professions that require years and years of degree work. And the reason I bring it up in that context is even if you understand the basics, even if you know how to use all of the tools, even if you know the right, the exact right time and place to put advertising together, what you're always doing is discovery with your buyer and the buyers for the same, ostensibly the same service across different companies are different because every buyer persona that you're going after is different.
- 09:59 - Oftentimes the customer misdiagnoses what they need and so their search queries and their demands are going to be different than what they tell you in discovery, right? So in the discovery process, you're going to get to whatever root cause or or or whatever meaningful deep-seated pain you're trying to solve, you're going to get there, but it's not gonna change what they do on, you know, Monday morning when they start typing in those, what they perceive their issues to be on Google. So how do you connect those dots through that content conversation to get folks from that maybe suboptimal search query to your product or service?
- 02:09 - Brian: How do you take that discovery process and systematize it in a way that you're not reinventing the wheel every single time?Sean: Yeah, this is a good point. And so getting comfortable with the continuous discovery process is critical for the work that I do and people that are trying to build B2B Seth type businesses. But it influences everything. I call it copy to conversations. So anything that you might write anywhere, this is like marketing content, right?
In this episode, Scott Hammer, the Vice President of Marketing at Striven, shares his journey on how he successfully marketed the company's industry-agnostic ERP system despite limited funding and a small user base. He also highlights the importance of aligning verticals and customizing the product to cater to various businesses. Scott further discusses Striven's various partner programs and emphasizes his top three marketing lessons.
Scott Hammer is an accomplished professional with a successful career in sales, marketing, and partnerships. With a track record of driving revenue growth and establishing strong relationships, Scott has led teams and implemented integrated strategies to achieve impressive results. His expertise spans various industries, including technology, education, and publishing, where he has consistently delivered impactful solutions and exceptional customer experiences. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Hard to Market:
- Understanding customer needs involves recognizing unique value propositions and adapting to market segments' diversity and differences.
- Influencing developments requires getting everyone on the same page, remaining focused on your own company's use case, paying attention to the marketplace's needs, and growing your customer base.
- The acquisition cycle can be extended due to the many stakeholders involved in the decision-making process
- Striven Software offers two partner programs: a referral program for technology consultants and an integration partnership for products that integrate with ERPs.
- Hammer's first marketing lesson is to not chase shiny objects and wait two weeks before bringing an idea to leadership.
- Thirdly, Hammer stresses the importance of aligning your passions with the product or service you're working on and the company you're in.
Resources:
- Striven
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Scott Hammer:
Connecting with Brian Mattocks:
Quotables:
- 04:32 - “We don't raise rounds of funding, like a lot of other, like a lot of our competitors, not all of them, but some of them. And then I think that's pretty typical in tech. You know, you have a new product, let's throw just a bunch of money into it, hire a ton of people, you know, just throw everything at the wall, see what sticks, and then cut back from there. Ours is really different.”
- 19:01 - “I think functionality is sometimes more important than industry. I mean, you, you have to show that you can serve an industry. And, and I, what I mean by that is you can't just show it on your website. You can't just say it. You have to have customers that have had proven success in your industry, and you have to show that you have the ability to be a game changer.”
- 14:34 - “Because you have, there's two bridges in the product space, right? There's the bridge to your current customers in the bridge to your potential customers, right? And so you represent essentially the future of their product and the current customers represent, you know, the lifetime value and that kind of stuff. So it's a really interesting kind of place where you have to sit to kind of manage all of that stuff as, as you've done that.”
- 09:16 - “Very often, and at least in my experience, I can say, well, you know, I think that our solution is great for X, Y, and Z. Well, when you do your market research or you go out and you start doing any meaningful discovery, they go, no, no, your value is in, you know, A, B, and C. How do you reconcile those disconnects, and, you know, that has to inform the product dev team at some point as well, right?”
- 27:41 Brian: “What are the three top, top three things that come to mind in your journey that you can share with our listeners?” Scott: “Number one, don't chase shiny objects. There are a lot of shiny objects out there, and it's, it's wise to consider, you know, if something seems like a good idea, and if you're a passionate and excited person, everything's going to seem like a good idea at first. Wait two weeks before bringing it to anyone else, especially your leadership. And if it seems like a good idea after two weeks, then go ahead and bring it.”
In this episode, Willy Kuo from Coohom explains how their software solutions for interior design are marketed to B2B clients such as Lowe's and Ashley Furniture through creating credibility and good content to build trust with prospects. Meanwhile, a B2B marketing director offers insights on managing a strong sales pipeline by maintaining 150 leads per salesperson, practicing credibility, staying true to purpose, and using the right terminology to communicate effectively with potential clients.
Willy Kuo is a globally passionate marketer with over 7 years of experience in B2B and B2C marketing. Specializing in technological marketing areas, branding, SEO, SEM, CRO, CRM, and more, Willy is a versatile creator of appealing content. With a background in Electronic Engineering and a multifaceted artistic side, Willy brings a unique blend of creativity and rationality to his marketing approach, aiming to create impactful content that elevates brand awareness to a global scale. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Hard to Market:
- Create good content and demonstrate the right marketing approach
- Referrals are vital for establishing word-of-mouth marketing
- B2B companies sometimes move at different speeds, but it typically takes about one to three months to close a deal in the US market.
- Managing a full pipeline requires keeping about 150 leads per salesperson at any good time.
- Credibility is the key to building relationships with potential clients.
- It's essential for marketers to stay true to their purpose and not get lost in the market.
- Learning the right terminology is crucial to appeal to potential clients and close deals.
Resources:
- Coohom
- Willy Kuo Music
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Willy Kuo:
Connecting with Brian Mattocks:
Quotables:
- 04:33 - You need to create good content and also the good credibility. So these big players, this business, would trust your brand. You know, it's not like you're just doing a lot of online advertising. So they would know just, oh, you're a good brand, and why should I trust you? Why should I spend over 10,000 U s d, you know, at your company for a year? So I think the most important thing to do B2B marketing is credibility.
- 05:14 - The first thing, you need to spend a little bit, a little bit of time to figure out what is the right content for your target audience. And if you can create good content and the right approach, I mean, normally they would like to talk to you and when they, when you got a chance to talk to them, that's the chance. That's the, I mean, that's your platform, that's your stage to show how your marketing ability can attract these players.
- 08:00 - Brian: So when you started this approach to try and get to these players in Ashley or Lowe's, your entire approach was find people just like you in that organization and talk to them and see if they can't move you laterally. Was that the idea?.. Willy: Yes, yes. But the thing is that I wouldn't just, you know, I wouldn't just like approach them either on LinkedIn or email. I wouldn't just talk to them and say “Hey, I'm Willy, I'm behalf of cool home and blah, blah blah. But we do, you know, because normally if I am the one getting this kind of message, I would just ignore, you know? So in terms of the first approach is very important. You need to, you know, it's like dating, you need to make a good impression at first.
- 11:26 - Brian: But that referral then kicks off the next relationship and the next relationship and the next relationship. And that's the way it's… Willy: Yes. Because you know, in marketing the ultimate goal is called word-of-mouth marketing. If you don't do anything and then people will do the marketing for you, you know?
In this episode, Brian Mattocks and Sean Boyce discuss the impact of AI on podcasting and marketing and share the latest trends in SEO and content creation. They emphasize the importance of relationship-based marketing and explore strategies for identifying keywords and creating compelling content. Additionally, they discuss how keyword research can benefit podcasting by providing guidance for topics and guest relationships and improving search rankings.
Sean Boyce has run his consultancy firm NxtStep Consulting for over 10 years but found he wasn’t able to grow his network effectively and efficiently through in-person marketing or lead generation services.
To solve this, Sean founded Podcast Chef, a full-service podcast management platform that helped him grow his network while making awesome content at the same time.
Seeing the effectiveness of podcasting at reaching new people, Sean opened it up to others, helping people to start a podcast and delegating the management from post-production to booking guests. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Hard to Market:
- SEO is evolving, but creating organic content remains important, even if AI is used to present search results.
- Keyword research is a critical part of content creation and is an area where AI tools can be helpful.
- Keyword research can be used to produce better results with minimal changes, leading to exponential improvement.
- Focus on relevant keywords to extract a variety of topics that will be relevant for the show.
- The audio and video components are only one aspect of the podcast, other components like show notes and transcripts can also benefit from keyword-based approaches.
- Understand one's ideal customer profile before using keyword research tools to solve problems.
Resources:
- NxtStep Consulting
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Sean Boyce:
Connecting with Brian Mattocks:
Quotables:
- 01:08 - I've spent about two weeks now studying whatever the latest is at the moment in terms of what's happening with s e o search engine optimization. How is content being created and produced? What tools and resources are people using and even all the way to who's creating it, is it still organic, human-written for the most part? Is it largely being AI generated.
- 01:48 - New tools and resources are coming to market every day. And obviously, with what we do at Podcast Chef, we help people create organic content through podcasting. So you're interviewing people, you're asking questions. That's almost exclusively done by people, at least for now. But in some of these other formats, some of that stuff is starting to change.
- 14:34 - I think it's really important as well to understand that if you're using your podcast well the, the audio and video components are only one aspect of the podcast, right? You have the show notes, you have the transcripts, these are all things that benefit from that keyword-based approach. You have then the articles that you can spin out a podcast and all of that.
- 17:20 - But it is absolutely vital that if you have no idea who your ideal client profile is, you better figure that out. Or all of these tools actually get more dangerous. The risk of you using them incorrectly to solve your problem is outrageous.
- 03:56 Brian: So how do you know people like us who are out there trying to get, you know, new clients and attract the right kind of folks, deal with the fact that search is changing now super quick, and what can we do to keep up?.. Sean: Great question and this is part of what I kind of set out to answer for us as we figure out how our process evolves. So long story short here, the abbreviation first I think is that basically don't panic is my first suggestion because.. Brian: The Hitchhiker's Guide will always save you, right?.. Sean: Yes. Like I'm having conversations with people, and they're like, websites aren't going to be a thing anymore. Writing content's not going to be a thing anymore. I don't really think any of that is true to a large extent. I think like anything else in technology, it's going to evolve, right?
In this episode, Aphrodite Brinsmead, Director of Product Marketing at Duro, shares insights on marketing to engineers and the importance of community building and agility in marketing. She emphasizes that marketers need to be adaptable and creative in order to stand out in a noisy content environment and that community engagement is essential in creating accessible content.
Aphrodite Brinsmead is a Product Marketer at Duro, a Product Lifecycle Management platform for hardware engineers. With a background in technology vendors, analyst relations, and consulting, she brings extensive experience in messaging, market intelligence, customer communications, and sales enablement. Aphrodite's expertise also includes market forecasting, quantitative and qualitative analysis, and strategic product messaging. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Hard to Market:
- Duro's target market is hardware engineers who design and engineer rockets, robotics, consumer electronics, and IoT devices.
- Marketing to engineers is challenging, but Duro is experimenting with various strategies, including videos and community building on platforms like Reddit and Quora.
- Community building and facilitating customer interactions can give your brand credibility and get you involved in conversations that would be difficult to access as an outsider.
- Marketing is a giant experiment that requires adaptability and creativity.
- To stand out in today's content environment, marketers need to be agile, creative, and accessible.
- Community engagement is crucial in creating accessible content that stands out.
- Free and cheap online tools are available and can be useful for small businesses.
Resources:
- Duro
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Aphrodite Brinsmead:
Connecting with Brian Mattocks:
Quotables:
- 01:53 - “So our goal is really to make the lives of hardware engineers easier. So what that means is the people who are engineering and designing rockets, robotics, consumer electronics, IoT devices, the people behind the scenes who are there kind of figuring out how to make that work. And we want to help them manage their product data, so they don't spend hours and even like days in Excel spreadsheets, like copying data from one system to another, like checking things are up-to-date, like sending emails and waiting for responses.”
- 11:15 - “Our customers are like, pioneering ways to do things faster. And so the types of companies that we're working with want software that kind of fits with that same strategy. So when they're looking at us, they want something that's quick to deploy, they can make a decision quickly, and it's not gonna kind of disrupt their day-to-day process.”
- 17:58 - “That's definitely a challenge for marketers moving forward is how do you differentiate and how do you create trust in an environment where that's harder and harder to, to identify, right. Not only is authority hard to identify, but you have tons of folks out there putting out content that may or may not be fact-checked. So not only now do we determine did it come from the authentic channel where it sort of belongs, but is it accurate and then is it relevant? And then is it helping me, you know, move down the buyer information cycle?”
- 18:30 - “I mean, all of that is outrageously challenging in today's environment, and it's only going to get worse. The easier it gets to create content, the harder it's going to be to stand out with your content. Right. So Exactly. I think it's, I think that that stay agile and stay creative are important, important lessons, and they will be continuing moving forward.”
- 17:04 - Brian: “It's the accessibility that's a big part of that. And I think to your point that community engagement's a part of it for sure.” Aphrodite: “Yeah. And I suppose like one, one final thing that I've kind of been learning a lot is that when you don't have as many resources as some of the big kind of enterprise companies, you've gotta be creative.”
In this episode, Founder of NxtStep Consulting, Sean Boyce, talks about how bad outreach in B2B services can negatively impact a company's brand, the importance of relationship-based selling and offering value to potential clients, and the challenges of cold email marketing and the benefits of consultative selling.
Sean Boyce has run his consultancy firm NxtStep Consulting for over 10 years but found he wasn’t able to grow his network effectively and efficiently through in-person marketing or lead generation services.
To solve this, Sean founded Podcast Chef, a full-service podcast management platform that helped him grow his network while making awesome content at the same time.
Seeing the effectiveness of podcasting at reaching new people, Sean opened it up to others, helping people to start a podcast and delegating the management from post-production to booking guests. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Referral Radio:
- How counterproductive and damaging bad outreach in B2B services is to a company's brand.
- The importance of nurturing relationships and offering value to potential clients.
- Why aggressive sales tactics can decrease trust in a company's services.
- How to approach potential clients to successfully build relationships.
- Why cold email marketing may not be effective for high-touch B2B services.
Resources:
- NxtStep Consulting
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Sean Boyce:
Connecting with the Brian Mattocks:
Quotables:
- 04:02 - “Some of the automation out there, whether it's email or LinkedIn or whatever, right? You're punching in variables, you're grabbing a tiny email, whatever, and you're just same type of approach, like spamming a bunch of people hoping to get meetings or sales or whatever, and you're just not, then is that process really worth it? I don't know it, that's my take on it.”
- 07:57 - “The better approach is, like we say, approach them like they're people, right? Like just how and approach them potentially, like you might like to be approached, right? Do you want to know who these people are and what they do and how they do it before you decide whether or not to go in business together? More than likely many of us do, right?”
- 09:14 - “So, you know, you raise an important point. So, let's just as a hypothetical exercise, like imagine, imagine that it worked, right? Imagine you're selling a $50,000 service offering and through a single LinkedIn request for some spam sort of manufacturing company, you go, and you accept, and they write that check as the business owner, are you going to trust it? That's not what works. Like, it just doesn't work that way. If you think it works that way, then you're wrong.”
- 04:26 - “It's difficult because, you know, you'll see folks out there saying like, you know, just try, it's all gonna work out, right? You know, get your message out there and the right people hear it. But there's a huge difference between getting your message out there and showing up… That whole model is really challenging. To your point on the other side of it, you don't know that that's broken until you try it.”
Sean Boyce has run his consultancy firm NxtStep Consulting for over 10 years but found he wasn’t able to grow his network effectively and efficiently through in-person marketing or lead generation services.
To solve this Sean founded Podcast Chef, a full-service podcast management platform that helped him grow his network while making awesome content at the same time.
Seeing the effectiveness of podcasting at reaching new people, Sean opened it up to others, helping people to start a podcast and delegating the management from post-production to booking guests. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- The limitations of in-person networking.
- Why most leveraging lead generation services don’t work.
- How podcasting can efficiently increase the number of people you meet.
- How to determine the scope of a podcast.
- The different bottlenecks in podcasting.
- How podcasting functions differently to other lead generation services.
- Why relationship-based selling is more effective than aggressive sales tactics.
Resources:
- Podcast Chef
- Basecamp
Connecting with Sean Boyce:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Quotables
- 2:39 - “I needed a way to try and efficiently essentially grow my network to see how I could more efficiently find people who might need my help I tried at least 2 different strategies with different levels of efficiency and effectivness.”
- 5:52 - “The results are pretty poor with most of the services in my opinion so while it promises to be much more efficient, I don’t have to go to events any longer so I get a lot of that time back the results aren't there so it was efficient but it wasn't effective and on the networking side it was effective but it wasn’t efficient.”
- 7:31 - “I was unable to do essentially business development and marketing at the same time and in my opinion, it’s so important to be able to invest in both to be able to grow and have a successful business so the podcast enabled me to come up with a more efficient way to meet people and also led to a more effective way for me to meet eventually some people that might need my help, but at the same time it enabled me to also invest in marketing through the podcast where I was able to relatively efficiently generate great organic marketing content.”
- 16:41 - “Sales isn't about trying to convince anyone or coerce someone into cooperation it’s about meeting people getting to know them, them getting to know you, figuring out what each other does, figuring out what problems you solve, and if they have a problem that you solve or they know someone that has a problem you solve then you can start having that conversation.”
- 18:15 - “People do business with people that they like, so as you start to build and invest in a relationship there becomes more opportunity to trust each other to help each other and that’s what it’s all about.”
Johny Pach is the CEO and Founder of Nxt Generation and has over 15 years of Sales, Business, Marketing, and Lead Generation experience.
Johnathan has spent a lot of his career hosting some of the entertainment industry's most highly coveted red-carpet events and film premiers in Los Angeles and has tremendous insight into sales & marketing. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How to get your first clients when moving to America.
- How to build a website that effectively brings in qualified leads.
- What a good conversion rate for a website is.
- How to improve a website's conversion rate.
- The benefits of paying for traffic to your website.
- How to maximize the effectiveness of your website’s SEO.
- How to use social media for your business.
- Indicators you're coming close to a tipping point in your social media presence.
Resources:
- Nxt Generation
- Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Johny Pach:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Quotables
- 6:16 - “LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, this is where businesses are grown and made and I must say opportunity over here is vast, back home in England it’s very difficult to spark up a conversation with a client and meet a client but over here it’s just second nature.”
- 8:59 - “That investor community also broadly has access to a bunch of different businesses so rather than going after one fish at a time you started fishing for fishermen.”
- 13:24 - “With about 2000 odd visitors, and a lot of people looking around the website, I would say we get about 25 to 30 new inquiries a week and from that I would say about 70 percent of them actually spend money with us on marketing and do some campaigns with us, the leads coming through are really really strong.”
- 16:31 - “We’re still paying Roger anywhere between 600 to 800 dollars a month for the SEO enhancements with the website anybody back home could do this, they don’t need to have a Roger, all they need to do is flood their website with regular news updates and contents and redirects to all of your socials.”
- 20:56 - “You might look at the content and think my website isn’t getting enough traffic, I’m not getting any leads from it, I’m not going anything from the social. I tell you now you keep doing it for the next year or so it will come to a tipping point and all of a sudden people will start to recognize you and you will have organic inquiries coming in from all directions.”
Wendell Jordan is the Owner and SEO Specialist of Jordan Marketing Consultants. He is a marketer, strategist, SEO expert, and WordPress designer that analyzes current business models, dissects what the competition is doing, and develops a strategy that creates an achievable path to success.
Wendell focuses on helping businesses stay ahead of their competitors by building a solid strategy that includes finding the right keywords, and on-page and off-page SEO to optimize their online presence. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How to get started in the digital marketing space.
- The amount of subjectivity in the SEO space.
- The problem with article farms and getting ranked number one for random keywords.
- Why it’s necessary to customize your SEO based on your target market.
- The interplay between SEO and a website's design for conversion.
- The indicators of quality SEO.
- Common asks people want from their SEO.
Resources:
- Jordan Marketing Consultants
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Wendell Jordan:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Quotables
- 3:10 - “People are way more willing to stand back and watch you work when it comes to SEO so it works with us because I’m a nerd so I literally went to bed late last night because I fell down a rabbit hole I messed around and was up way too late playing with SEO stuff.”
- 9:12 - “Aside from those technical things one of the biggest parts is when someone finds you on the internet and they get to the websites and there’s 17 popups and a bunch of other stuff going on, they’re going to leave so that’s actually part of our education in making sure that the clients we bring on have that baseline, that’s really the foundation of SEO is a proper user experience.”
- 15:58 - “There are no guarantees in marketing as a whole let alone SEO, there is no way for any of us to know that we’re going to put you on the first page or we’re going to make you number one it is impossible to know, so if guarantees start spewing out of an SEO’s mouth they are way more into the money and way less into the SEO.”
- 19:23 - “I think one of the things you run into, you have to run into this a couple of times I’m sure where the customer doesn’t know what they want, they think they want one thing and they actually want something else. Get me the front page on Google and what they really are looking for is lead gen opportunities or revenue opportunities but those aren’t the same thing, one might be a lever to the other.”
- 29:16 - “Don’t be afraid to hire and delegate do it early and don't think that you need to make a certain amount of money to do it, you can’t make the money without the delegation.”
Ben Lund has worked in advertising for over 15 years, leading and managing accounts for top firms like Google, Yahoo, and Monster.
Having found his passion for advertising and wanting to start his own business Ben founded Rise Marketing Group, a performance advertising agency that creates curated programs tailored to drive growth. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- What a performance marketing group is.
- How Ben got his first clients through leveraging his network.
- The first steps to starting your own hustle.
- The agility that comes with working in the small business space.
- How to get proof of concept.
- Assessing market demand relative to profitability.
- The way fees evolve as a company grows.
- When to hire your first employees and managers.
- The way your role in your business changes as it grows.
Resources:
- Rise Marketing Group
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Ben Lund:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Quotables
- 4:02 - “Every client no matter how small it was was a huge win because that was just proof of business concept, ok awesome one client two clients that means I could do this for that much longer but it came down to hustle, hustle, and getting out there and not shying away and not being afraid of going to conferences and putting yourself out there.”
- 4:28 - “One of the challenges with the entrepreneurial mindset is that we tend to forget or gloss over a lot of the suffering that we go through when we start up and we put it in words like hustle, or we put it in words like grit and those things sound great from a rearview mirror but it’s super difficult for someone to leverage that concept.”
- 15:57 - “Early on we were charging not that much for Google Ads because it was just me and a computer so there’s zero overhead and now we have a team and we go to conferences and continue to educate ourselves so our rates have increased appropriately because we offer so much more now and we have multiple levels of management and the expertise so that’s another thing that’s been evolving over time.”
- 18:39 - “You want to have that right balance of hiring or bringing on resources for growth but you don’t want to over-leverage yourself like oh shoot I thought this would be great and we’d have so much work but a lot of people are just twiddling their thumbs this isn’t good, so it’s a balance and sometimes it’s luck.”
- 24:06 - “When you start a company or product or whatever it is you just need to get out there, and getting back to the whole hustle even though hustle is way more than just a glamorous term like ah he hustled just like Gary V, it’s a lot of work but you have to get out there in some format with your network, your peers, go to conferences and just get out there.”
Doug Dibert has been in the world of video marketing since January 2005 and has worked with hundreds of businesses nationally and internationally helping them create video content and video marketing plans.
Seeing the future growth of video and the need for any business to quickly create professional video content with no video editing needed, in 2017 he found the SaaS video marketing platform Magnfi.com and a year later sold his video marketing agency to focus on Magnfi’s growth.
Doug is a highly welcomed speaker at many business strategy events, online or in-person, where he teaches practical how-to methods on how businesses can leverage video content quickly.
Doug and his team at Magnfi partner with businesses and digital marketing agencies that want their own in-house scalable video service offering via the Magnfi white label program. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- Ways to prepare yourself for a pitch meeting.
- How to easily produce media from your smartphone.
- How to get enough clients as a SaaS provider.
- What white labeling is and the challenges of implementing it.
- How to develop a community outside of conventional social media sites.
- What you can learn from your community.
Resources:
- Magnfi
- Crossing Rivers Studios
- Circle
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Doug Dibert:
- Website
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by Email
Quotables:
- 18:30 - “If you can build a community that adds value to your product or service, that’s the key.”
- 2 3:21 - “Communicate, communicate clearly as much as you possibly can. Second, don’t assume, assumption gets you into trouble a lot don’t ever assume something and that goes back to point one communicate clearly if you’re not clear on something don’t feel you’re going to be stupid just getting clarity on something because if you assume something and it’s wrong you’re going to look even more dumb, and the third one is persistence just keep going when it sucks.”
Kiva Slade is the Owner, Founder, Lead Analytics and Operations Consultant of The 516 Collective. Throughout her career, whether crafting legislation in the US House of Representatives or homeschooling her children through high school, Kiva has specialized in taking in massive loads of information, finding connections between people and information, and using the information to encourage others. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How to move from operations to analytics.
- How to reposition your clients with a new offering.
- How to know what data to focus on.
- Why following the data is so important.
- The major milestones of data analytics.
- The danger of too much data.
Resources:
- The 516 Collaborative
- Google Analytics
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Kiva Slade:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Mukesh Singhmar is an entrepreneur, speaker, consultant, content strategist, growth marketer, and digital and social media savvy marketing leader with over 15 years of B2B marketing and business development program management experience in the SaaS technology space.
Mukesh is the founder of MarAutomation a one-stop solution for sales & marketing automation and is the co-founder of SeeResponse a full-service agency and a HubSpot partner bringing world-class marketing services to technology businesses. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How to get your first clients when starting a business.
- How to maximize response rates with cold emailing.
- What a good response rate for cold emailing is.
- How to improve your email content.
- Which industries cold emailing is ineffective for.
- How much time and money you need to start email marketing.
- How to get your articles ranked on Google.
- How long it takes to get ranked on Google.
- How AI-driven content has affected SEO.
Resources:
- SeeResponse
- MarAutomation
- Campaign Monitor
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Mukesh Singhmar:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Bridgette Orten is a digital marketing expert focusing on paid social and search ads for mid-7-figure to mid-8-figure e-commerce brands with a brick & mortar presence.
Bridgette climbed through the ranks at various performance-based ad agencies, was second in command building a $6MM incubator agency division, was launch team at an agency in Paris growing to $50MM in the second year, built her own agency to 7-figures over 5 years, and now works directly with a small handful of brands per year. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How to know when to pivot in your business.
- Building infrastructure to help keep workflow steady.
- How to simplify your onboarding process.
- How to sustainably grow a company.
- Viable product ladders.
- How freelancers can bring down your costs.
Resources:
- Rubato Media
- HubSpot
- Upwork
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Bridgette Orten:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Angie Wolfe is a creative and analytical proposal professional and business owner with 18 years of experience at large Fortune 500 companies in business development and marketing. She is the owner of Ideas at Dawn Marketing Consultants, where she helps firms gain a competitive advantage with their proposals and training to win more work without adding on more payroll. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- Ways independent consultants can improve their proposal process and business development.
- The team Angie built to help others improve their proposals.
- How Angie went from working in corporate to landing her own clients and turning her side gig into a business.
- How to leverage your existing contacts to find new clients.
- How to use LinkedIn to reach new clients.
- How having a marketing team can improve your client outreach process.
Resources:
- Ideas at Dawn
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Angie Wolfe:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Debbie is a marketing communications specialist who has worked in digital marketing, content development, and social media for over 15 years. A motivated digital marketer, Debbie brings a unique perspective from her brand, agency, and consulting experience.
Debbie launched her business, Social Hospitality, as a side project in 2011. For six years, she consulted clients on a freelance basis, spoke at industry events, and taught social media courses while maintaining a full-time job at another marketing company, before transitioning to Social Hospitality full-time in January 2017. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- Social media for the hospitality industry.
- How Debbie used a blog to get her first clients.
- How to build a useful network of connections.
- How to scale up your networking efforts.
- Ways to differentiate yourself from other agencies.
- The benefits of having a team if you want to scale up.
- The importance of being adaptable and flexible with your clients.
- How to find your ideal work-life balance.
Resources:
- Social Hospitality
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Debbie Miller:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Tissa Hami is a DEI consultant, speaker, trainer, and facilitator specializing in theater-based DEI training programs: Interactive Theater, Diversity Monologues, and Interactive Comedy & Storytelling.
Her clients include Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, and non-profits in a variety of different industries. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How to get the skills you need to be a DEI consultant.
- How to get your first clients as a consultant.
- The most common challenges organizations have with DEI.
- The function of DEI.
- The business case for DEI.
- Gen Z’s attitude towards DEI.
- How to approach companies about their DEI training.
- How consultants can get new business without using referrals.
Resources:
- Korsi Consulting
- LinkedIn DEI Series
- How to Be an Antiracist
- 13th Documentary
- Nice White Parents
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Tissa Hami:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Tom Augenthaler has spent the last 12 years working to perfect the process of rapidly implementing influencer marketing to help early-stage companies and enterprises build affinity with their ideal customers.
Tom is the Founder and Principal Influencer Marketing Consultant of 551 Media where he continues his work to help B2B companies apply influencer marketing to capture market demand. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How to get your first clients.
- The problem with relying on referrals.
- How to optimize your reach on LinkedIn.
- What to do when you take on a bad client.
- How to structure your services as a consultant.
- The difference between B2B and B2C influencers.
- How to use influencer marketing in your business.
Resources:
- 551 Media
- Sales Navigator
- Blue Ocean Strategy
- Everybody Writes
- Pitch Anything
- Made to Stick
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Tom Augenthaler:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Alexandra Reese is the Founder of OpaStrategy where she partners with leaders to accelerate individual and organizational growth with confidence, ease, and joy. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How Alexandra started her consulting business.
- The importance of building a network of coaches and advisors.
- How your risk tolerance informs your go-to-market activity.
- How to find monetization opportunities with new connections.
- Outreach techniques you can use to grow your network.
- How to best manage your pipeline as a solopreneur.
- The challenges of scaling and growing your business.
- The dangers of growing solely for the sake of growth.
Resources:
- OpaStrategy
- The Trusted Advisor
- Value-Based Fees
- This is Service Design Doing
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Alexandra Reese:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Halima Wanamaker is the Founder of VEMTECH, where she helps small to medium sized organizations embrace technology to make their businesses better and more innovative by using modern technology solutions.
Halima has over fifteen years of professional experience in IT and is passionate about making modern cloud based solutions available to all. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- Techniques Halima used to get clients for her new business.
- How Halima sped up the growth of her startup.
- Why outsourcing work and building a team is so important.
- How to build a team that works well together.
- How rebranding can change the service delivery side of the business.
- Ways to stay competitive in a low-priced field.
- The benefits of automation in cyber risk assessments.
- How automation can save time in marketing.
Resources:
- VEMTECH
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Halima Wanamaker:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Rebecca Babicz is the Founder of Fall Line Digital where she combines the art of storytelling with the power of social advertising to increase brand revenue.
Rebecca has over 10 years of experience in content creation and content strategy, and over 8 years of experience in digital marketing; organic social, paid social advertising, remarketing, SEO, SEM, video marketing and blogging. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How Rebecca went from being a journalist to a digital marketing expert.
- How to start a digital marketing agency.
- How to recognize blind spots within your organization.
- Common advertising mistakes online retail sellers make.
- Common misconceptions about how online marketing works.
- The onboarding process Fall Line Digital uses with new clients.
- What a purpose-driven brand is.
Resources:
- Fall Line Digital
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Rebecca Babicz:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Jeff Sirkin is the Founder and CEO of Sirkin Research and host of the Long Story Short podcast.
Sean Boyce has run his own consultancy firm NxtStep Consulting for over 10 years and is the founder of Podcast Chef where he offers full-service podcast management. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How Jeff got his first customers for
- Signals that you need to stop relying on your referral network.
- How podcasting can help with networking.
- How to establish real connections with your prospects.
- The challenge of imposter syndrome when podcasting.
- How to build credibility through podcasts.
- The surprise problems podcasts solve.
Resources:
- Sirkin Research
- Podcast Chef
- Long Story Short
Connecting with Jeff Sirkin:
Connecting with Sean Boyce:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Joe Mosher has worked in agribusiness and food for over 20 years and is experienced in management consulting, plant operations, process improvement, internal process control auditing, global risk and assurance leadership, and driving large-scale change.
Joe started The Mosher Consulting Group as a commitment to supporting the sustainable growth and success of this sector of the economy. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How Joe became a food and agribusiness consultant.
- The barriers of entry to food and agribusiness consulting.
- How Joe got his first clients.
- How to capitalize on past clients.
- How to develop your value proposition.
- Why you need to be focused on a specific niche.
Resources:
- The Mosher Consulting Group
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Joe Mosher:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Joseph Polanin has over 20 years of experience in business operations & global strategy leadership, with an integral part in reorganizing, restructuring, & improving results for globally integrated organizations.
Joseph has managed budgets of over 500 billion dollars, overseen teams of almost half a million people, and has his own successful consulting practice. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- The importance of the relationship between vision, strategy, and talent.
- How to start a consulting practice.
- The importance of leveraging others knowledge.
- The power of LinkedIn for lead generation.
- How to nurture your relationships on LinkedIn.
- Ideas you can implement to scale your consultancy practice.
- How books can be used to market and scale your business.
- The mindset you need to make lasting cultural change in your organisation.
Resources:
- The Alaka’i Leadership Group
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Joseph Polanin:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Bernard Williams is an accomplished, versatile, and widely experienced attorney with a reputation for excellence in legal counsel, representation, and business management.
Bernard started his own law firm Company Counsel LLC over 5 years ago where he leads a team of high-performing, specialized Attorneys who support small and mid-sized companies in matters related to labor law, intellectual property, and corporate law. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How Bernard started his own law firm.
- Producing continued yearly revenue growth through referrals and word of mouth.
- Different growth models lawyers use.
- Issues with the traditional growth models.
- The benefits of working with a team.
Resources:
- Company Counsel LLC
- BNI
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Bernard Williams:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Kristy Nilsson graduated with a Master's Degree in Education and a specialty in Instructional Design for adult learners, before joining the Navy where she served for almost 10 years.
After leaving the forces Kristy used the knowledge she’d learned to start her own consultancy firm Stay True Operations Design, where she creates systems that empower people to succeed, allows business leaders to step back, and creates a culture focused on excellence. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- Key differences between military and civilian life.
- How Kristy transitioned from military work to the civilian world.
- The qualities leaders need to be successful.
- The value of SOPs.
- Different lead generation techniques.
- How to respond to negativity.
- The importance of a consultancy practice’s name and how Kristy came up with the name for her practice.
Resources:
- Stay True Operations Design
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Kristy Nilsson:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Bradley Schurman, a demographic futurist, is the Founder and CEO of The Super Age – a research and advisory firm specializing in helping organizations understand the challenges and harness the opportunities of demographic change with a focus on population aging. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss in this episode:
- His background and how he got into the study of demographics
- Why understanding demographics is important for business strategy and how it helps organizations with the shifts that we're going through right now.
- How Bradley turned this knowledge into a consultancy
- The effect of automation and its interrelation at a high level with the demographics that we have now.
Resources:
- The Super Age: Decoding Our Demographic Destiny (Book)
- The Super Age™’s (Website)
- The Super Age™ (LinkedIn)
- The Super Age™ (Facebook)
- The Super Age™ (Twitter)
- The Podcast Chef
Connecting with Bradley Schurman:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Email Brian Mattocks
Jennifer Hipskind worked at JCPenney for over 35 years, rising to a top corporate leadership role during that time.
Following her passion for serving others, Jennifer started her own coaching and consulting firm Next Jenn Coaching where she provides professional coaching and consulting services to clients in retail, dining, and hospitality as well as multiple other industries. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How Jennifer moved from the corporate world to starting her own coaching firm.
- How Jennifer found her first coaching clients.
- How to balance marketing, scaling your practice, and actual coaching work.
- Indicators that you’re at the limit of your network.
- Ways to expand your network.
- Where to get ideas for content creation.
- The importance of having the right chemistry with your mentors and clients.
- How creating content transfers to bringing in business.
- How to decide which platforms are best to publish your content on.
Resources:
- Next Jenn Consulting
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Jennifer Hipskind:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks by email
Juliana Whitney is the Founder of Cann Strategy and Leefsheets and has been a uniquely creative cannabis business strategy consultant since 2015.
Juliana has acted as a key creative and strategic component in the growth of six startup companies in healthcare, fine foods, and cannabis. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How Juliana became a cannabis consultant.
- The challenges of getting into the cannabis industry.
- How Juliana got her first clients for her consultant business.
- How to know if a client is going to be difficult to work with.
- The importance of learning when to say no.
- How Juliana grew her two businesses differently.
- The benefits of using a product service.
- The process of acquiring clients.
Resources:
- Cann Strategy
- Leafsheets
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Juliana Whitney:
Connecting with the host:
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
Sean Boyce has run his own consultancy firm NxtStep Consulting for over 10 years and has founded multiple other companies at the same time. He’s extremely experienced in working with B2B SaaS product businesses and is well-known for having a big impact on the businesses he’s worked with. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- Brian’s background as an independent consultant.
- Sean’s experience in the consulting field.
- The benefits of specializing on a specific target market.
- How to be more efficient in your marketing.
- How to stop the feast or famine cycle in consulting work.
- The importance of making your marketing strategy structured.
Resources:
- Podcast Chef
- The 1-Page Marketing Plan
Connecting with the hosts:
- Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
- Brian Mattocks on LinkedIn
Dr. Mike Palanski is a Professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology and is also the Founder and CEO of MPower2Lead.
Dr. Palanski is a practicing leadership coach and has been teaching leadership, as well as doing original, peer-reviewed scientific research about leadership, and coaching executives for over 15 years. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- Why Mike started the Me First Academy.
- Different reasons people want to change their work life.
- Why a coaching work structure requires less marketing than a traditional consulting framework.
- How to reduce the amount of time spent on business development and marketing.
- The value of having your own coach.
- The benefits of writing your own book.
Resources:
- MPower2Lead
- The Me1st Method
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Dr. Mike Palanski:
Connecting with the host:
- Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Dr. Mark Tuggle is a consultant, learning facilitator, and Co-Founder of Sales Conservatory.
Mark mostly serves sales professionals and business owners and with his understanding of psychology and neuroscience is able to help them identify and design solutions that achieve their desired outcome. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How Mark started his own sales enablement platform.
- The different courses Mark offers on his platform and the on-demand component he’s made available.
- Using a Fractional CMO to develop a LinkedIn campaign.
- Different marketing activities that can help grow your company.
- How Mark compares the effectiveness of different marketing activities.
- How to maintain active marketing when you’re busy with client work.
Resources:
- Sales Conservatory
- Sales Desk Live
- Oracle
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Dr. Mark Tuggle:
Connecting with the host:
- Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Liz Kislik is a management consultant and executive coach who started her own consulting firm over 30 years ago.
Liz works as a consultant, coach, and facilitator to help leaders move their companies and careers forward. She also shares her professional advice as a contributor to Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Entrepreneur, and as a speaker for TEDx and other organizations. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How Liz became a Vice President and manager of 300 employees by the time she was 23.
- Why Liz primarily works with privately-held mid-sized businesses.
- The importance of picking clients who have similar views and values to you.
- How to maintain a consistent workload and sustain business.
- How to best manage risk.
- The importance of consistently building yourself a network.
- How to build exposure that can feed into your networking.
- Social proof and the power of being deemed worthwhile by authoritative sources.
Resources:
- Dorie Clark's Recognized Expert course
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Liz Kislik:
- Website
- Blog
Connecting with the host:
Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Douglas Brown is the Founder and CEO of Halo Consulting, LLC, where he focuses on the recruitment of high-caliber senior-level talent. Douglas has demonstrated expertise in strategizing talent acquisition, developing leadership, and substantial insight on compensation design. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How Douglas founded his own consulting company and the type of work he does at Halo Consulting.
- The type of clients Douglas works with and how he serves them.
- The business model of Halo Consulting and how they bill their clients.
- How the pandemic made it easier for Douglas to reach certain prospects.
- How Douglas maintains a steady stream of work at Halo Consulting.
- How virtual roundtables events work and the way they’ve helped Douglas reach new prospects.
Resources:
- Halo Consulting
- Staff Geek
- FTI Consulting
- The Hard Thing About Hard Things
- The Lean Startup
- Never Split the Difference
- We’ve got Answers
- Zero to One
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Douglas Brown:
Connecting with the host:
Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Scott Cantrell is the Founder of Smart Solutions Media, where he provides simple marketing solutions to help consultants fill their pipeline with high-quality prospects. He is also the VP of Business Development at Quality Consistent Leads where they help business professionals maximize their growth. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How Scott found his passion for marketing and sales.
- Strategies consultants can use to help maintain a steady stream of work.
- How to turn your marketing process into part of your routine.
- The importance of having consistency in your marketing.
- How to make yourself seen as an authority in your space.
- The benefits of running a podcast and what you need to do in order for it to be successful.
Resources:
- Smart Solutions Media
- Growing Your Business!
- Rainmaking Made Easy
- Jonathon Stark
- Accelerated Growth Scorecard
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Scott Cantrell:
Connecting with the host:
- Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Josh Tan holds a B.S. in Material Science Engineer, a Black Belt in Lean and Six Sigma, and has completed multiple leadership positions in engineering, operations, and management.
He is now the Founder and President of Alchemist Consulting, and Co-Founder of the Business Growth Community Shift/Co. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How Josh became a consultant and started his own consultancy firm.
- How the business development platform Shift/Co helps conscious entrepreneurs.
- How Josh helps business owners by creating systems within their business.
- The business development and marketing strategies Josh focuses on.
- The importance of having a focused niche and how to find your target market.
- How much of a consultant’s marketing strategies should be proactive vs. reactive.
- How to systemize your proactive marketing strategies.
Resources:
- Alchemist Consulting
- Shift/Co
- Traction
- Scale
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Josh Tan:
Connecting with the host:
Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Mariss Taffer is the Founder & President of M. Taffer Consulting, a consulting practice with a focus on fractional project management, project management consulting, Asana Consulting, and content development.
She is an experienced highly trained project manager, holds a PMP from Project Management Institute, and is an Asana Services Partner. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How Marissa went from working in sales and content development to starting her own consultancy company.
- The primary customers Marissa works with and how she helps them grow their business.
- The power of Asana and the importance of setting it up and using it correctly.
- How Marissa connects with new clients and the type of networking she does.
- How consultants can keep a continuously full pipeline of work.
- How Marissa decides the type of work she focuses on.
Resources:
- M. Taffer Consulting
- Asana
- Slack
- NxtStep
- Brand30
- Public Slack groups
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Marissa Taffer:
- Website
Connecting with the host:
- Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Virgilia Virjoghe is the Founder and CEO of VV Global Partners, a multiple-award-winning Global Brand Strategist, Media contributor, and Author.
Virgilia’s portfolio includes world-renowned Fashion brands; Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Saks Fifth Avenue, Norma Kamali, and Startups in New York City, Berlin, and Silicon Valley. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How Virgilia started working in the fashion industry and the ways fashion informed her entrepreneurial journey.
- The branding and marketing strategy VV Global Partners follows and how this supports their business model.
- The impact strategic partnerships can have on a brand and business.
- How to find clients and form strategic partnerships through social media.
- How to know who your ideal customer is and build authentic relationships with them.
- How to be sincere and effective with your outreach efforts.
Resources:
- VV Global Partners
- ReBalance
- The Quest to the American Dream
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Virgilia Virjoghe:
- Website
Connecting with the host:
- Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Shawn Swaim has been working in SEO for over 10 years and found his own consulting firm Shawn Swaim Consulting in 2016.
Since then he’s been helping ecommerce businesses get more qualified traffic, eliminate conversion dissonance, increase conversion rates, and build a follow up sales funnel to increase revenue with a process called Reverse SEO. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How Shawn went from hacking websites to starting his own SEO consultancy company.
- The type of clients Shawn works with and the business development techniques he’s found to be most effective.
- How consultants can get a consistent steady workload.
- How running a podcast can help you build new relationships and networks.
- The future outlook for podcasting and what differentiates a successful podcast from an unsuccessful one.
- The need for patience and consistency when starting your own podcast.
Resources:
- Shawn The SEO Geek
- The 1-Page Marketing Plan
- AnswerThePublic
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Shawn Swaim:
Connecting with the host:
- Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Jit Hinchman is the founder of Supply Chain Adviser™ and is a Sustainable Supply Chain Global Ambassador. Jit is also a business strategist, author, Blockchain enthusiast, engineer, speaker, and mentor. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How Jit found her passion for the supply chain.
- Common challenges to supply chains and why they seem more prominent than before.
- How to keep your business constantly improving.
- Using public speaking for lead generation and as a business development strategy.
- The ways the pandemic has increased the opportunities to speak publicly.
- How to get more involved with speaking and leverage that for business development purposes.
Resources:
- Supply Chain Adviser™
- The Goal
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Jit Hinchman:
Connecting with the host:
Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Mark Wojcik has worked in recruitment for over 10 years and is the Founder and President of HireLevel Advisory where he empowers mid-sized businesses to save time, money, and headache in their hiring process.
In partnership with his customers' recruiting team, Mark serves as a trusted advisor reducing 3rd party agency spending and improving retention. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- The value proposition of HireLevel Advisory and who their target market customer is.
- Ways to save time and money on third-party agency fees.
- How recruitment has moved online and into the virtual world.
- The steps Mark and his team take to proactively find new business.
- How Mark identifies and connects with new companies who need his help.
- How to build a connection with a new prospect.
- The most effective marketing channels to invest in.
- The importance of having a proper strategy and process to acquire new talent.
Resources:
- HireLevel Advisory
- Blinkist
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Mark Wojcik:
Connecting with the host:
Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Ralph Ayala is the Founder and CEO of Linkedosity and chairman and managing partner of Armada Labs.
Ralph has had a distinguished career introducing strategies to drive growth within intensively competitive markets. He is an expert in creating the vision, identifying opportunities, creating high-quality products and services, delivering strong revenues and profits, and positioning businesses for sustainable global growth.
Ralph is also well recognized for establishing, growing, and managing top performing teams. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- The value proposition of Linkedosity and their unique lead generation approach.
- Why most lead generation services don’t work.
- The best time to interact with new connections.
- Techniques to increase the response rate of your interactions.
- How you should start conversations with new prospects.
- When to shift the conversation from forming a relationship to doing business.
- How to improve the performance of cold emails.
Resources:
- Linkedosity
- Armada Labs
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Ralph Ayala:
Connecting with the host:
- Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Scott Phillips is the Founder and CEO of Lightholder Consulting, which specializes in Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Power Platform consulting.
Scott has over 22 years of full SDLC experience in relevant current technologies and has been running his consulting business for almost 5 years. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How Scott started his business Lightholder Consulting and what they specialize in.
- What the process looks like moving from solo independent consulting to building a team.
- How to know when to expand beyond being a solopreneur or consultant.
- How Scott’s business development process changed when he started his business.
- The amount of capital Scott invested into his business and how he knew this was the right thing to do.
- The importance of balancing cost with value when hiring new employees.
- How to determine which channels to invest in from a business perspective.
Resources:
- Lightholder Consulting
- Ingram Micro
- Velocio
- Pluralsight
- Skillshare
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Scott Phillips:
Connecting with the host:
- Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Kevin Wessels has been a consultant for over 10 years and is the Founder and Managing Director of RevSherpas.
Here he specializes in helping digital agencies and tech companies consistently find high-paying clients with less effort using his Client Connect!™ formula. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- How Kevin found his passion for consulting and started his business RevSherpas.
- How RevSherpas helps small to mid-size business owners find more high-paying clients.
- The client connect methodology Kevin has designed to streamline and automate core business development processes.
- Common examples of fast-growing companies leaking revenue.
- The importance of becoming a specialist and focusing on a specific targeted market.
- The value of customer retention over chasing new leads.
Resources:
- RevSherpas
- Crossing the Chasm
- Fast Growth Less Effort
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Kevin Wessels:
Connecting with the host:
- Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Casey Stanton has been a marketing consultant for over 15 years and is the Founder of CMOx which helps 7-figure companies grow faster with a part-time chief marketing officer.
His Functional Marketing® process is the cornerstone of CMOx's services, which gives predictable results to both B2B and B2C companies. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of The Consulting Trap:
- Why marketing leaders are increasing in value.
- The common challenges consultants face and how to overcome them.
- How to move from short-term consultancy work to building long-term relationships.
- The benefits of having an assistant to support you.
- How easy it is to find talented professionals on the Upwork platform.
- The differences between working in B2C and B2B.
- The value of surrounding yourself with specialists.
Resources:
- CMOx
- Upwork
- Range
- The Road Less Stupid
- A Technique For Producing Ideas
- The Fractional CMO Book
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Casey Stanton:
- Website
Connecting with the host:
- Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Maria Baseggio worked in the corporate world for 10 years before starting her own coaching business Sage Insights. Since starting her business Maria has become a professional EOS® Implementer, helping entrepreneurs and their leadership teams get what they want from their business. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Podcast Led Growth:
- How Maria went from working in corporate to starting her own consulting business.
- What the Entrepreneurial Operating System is and how it helps leadership teams.
- The challenges of having an inconsistent workflow and strategies you can use to counter this.
- How much time we should spend focused on business development.
- How having an assistant can help keep you accountable.
- How EOS has helped Maria build her business.
Resources:
- Sage Insights
- Traction
- Strategic Coach
- Never Split the Difference
- Co-Active Coaching
- The Coaching Habit
- Trillion Dollar Coach
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Maria Baseggio:
Connecting with the host:
- Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Lisa Peskin is a CEO with more than 25 years of experience in sales performance and management. After a successful career as Vice President of Sales for Automatic Data Processing (ADP), running a 40 man sales force, Lisa launched her own sales training, consulting, and coaching business in 2003. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Podcast Led Growth:
- How Lisa helps people increase their sales.
- The latest effective business development strategies.
- The importance of having set out goals and a strategic game plan.
- The key to keeping consistent work.
- How to grow your business through referrals.
- Why it’s important to track your projects and clients.
Resources:
- The 1-Page Marketing Plan
- A Sales Success Workbook
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Lisa Peskin:
- Website
Connecting with the host:
Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Katie is the CEO of KHIT Consultants and has a strong belief that technology, when leveraged intelligently, can make life more meaningful and enjoyable. Her vision is to help others utilize technology to create an environment where their passion is paramount.
Katie also holds office as a member of the School Board of Trustees for her local school district and is a member of the League of Women Voters, volunteering her time to host and plan events to encourage citizens to take part in the voting process. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Podcast Led Growth:
- How Katie went from teaching in a school to running a tech company.
- The team behind KHIT Consulting and the different roles they embody.
- How the business development and marketing is run in KHIT Consulting.
- Why identifying your target audience is so important.
- The power of referrals and the importance of networking.
- Katie’s favorite business development activities.
- How Katie measures the ROI of her business development activities.
Resources:
- KHIT Consulting
- BNI
- Clickedin
- Podcast Chef
Connecting with Katie Hutchinson:
Connecting with the host:
- Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Rob Napoli is an accomplished trainer, speaker, entrepreneur, business, and career coach based in Brooklyn, NYC.
Rob started in recruitment within Fortune 500/Forbes 100 companies before moving to Milan, Italy to pursue a Masters in International Multi-Channel Marketing. Here he spent two years working for a global e-commerce startup, before moving to New York to work for a large global corporate and then transitioning to training and development for startup and growth-stage founders.
Since then Ben has delivered hundreds of workshops, keynotes, and training both in-person and virtually across 27+ countries to 200+ companies/founders. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Podcast Led Growth:
- How Rob transitioned from working in recruitment to starting his own coaching business.
- Social networking and how to build a global network.
- The power of community engagement when growing your personal brand.
- How to harness the power of LinkedIn.
- Why building a personal brand is so important.
- The new book Rob has written about being your authentic self.
Resources:
- Presale Link for Rob's Book The Social Soul
- Hapday Group
- Rise Up Coaching
- Steal Like An Artist
Connecting with Rob Napoli:
Connecting with the host:
Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
Travis Woods has been working in business development since 2007 and is CEO of Fort Point IT. He’s passionate about providing small businesses with IT solutions that support not just their technology, but also their vision and business objectives. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Podcast Led Growth:
- How B2B service companies can level up their development.
- How Fort Point helps startups and small growing companies.
- Cybersecurity and the IT infrastructure that Fort Point helps manage.
- Business development activities that Fort Point is investing in.
- The tools Travis uses to identify and convert new potential clients.
- The importance of constructing a buyer persona for your business.
- Effective web strategies and how to improve your email campaigns.
- Why timing is so important when approaching new prospects.
Resources:
- Fort Point IT
- Apollo
- HubSpot
- Traction
Connecting with Travis Woods:
Connecting with the host:
- Sean Boyce on LinkedIn
The Consulting Trap features consultants that solved major challenges experienced by consultants in an effort to grow their business.