Episodes

They say fortune favors the bold, and that’s definitely the case for Brooke Janousek. After decades in the marketing industry, she decided to strike out on her own, and needed to take any opportunity she could get to help her business grow. So she took her shot by asking Sara Blakely’s (founder of SPANX) husband, during his talk, in front of 800 people, for a chance to meet her. 

According to Brooke, you need to be bold in your own business- “if you don’t have a seat at the table, you need to make one.” Those bold moves turned her into a successful fractional CMO. And if you’re wondering if this path is right for you, you need to listen!

Are you missing the boat on user-generated content? User-Generated Content (UGC) isn’t just for getting testimonials on social media. In fact, today’s guest, Tory Gray, says we can use it for almost anything: SEO, user research, social proof, FAQs, and so much more. And she should know! Tory is a highly experienced digital marketing consultant and the Founder of The Gray Dot Company. With more than 15 years of experience in SEO and growth strategy, Tory has helped numerous businesses achieve their goals through digital strategy with a focus on technical and strategic SEO. On top of the great advice, we walk through a scenario: building a landing page from scratch with UGC. Don’t miss it! Plus, in the PRO show, we talk about the mother of all UGC websites: Reddit.

“I despise social media.” This was my first impression of Tim Stoddart, and I was hooked. If you’re feeling frustrated and discouraged by the lack of engagement relying solely on social media posts, you are not alone! But you, like me, might be taking the wrong approach. Tim says long-form content is king, and he should know. He’s the CEO of Copyblogger and writes prolifically. If you’ve been struggling to make an impact through short-form content, this interview is a must-listen.

What do you get when you follow the pack instead of doing what’s best for you? A bad content strategy. A year ago, I decided to focus on short-form content because I saw all the “thread Bois” doing it and thought it would help my business. 

It didn’t. But luckily, you can course-correct your strategies. And thanks to some key talks and inspiration from CEX and Craft+Commerce, I’ve decided that long form is the best strategy for my business (and probably yours, too).

We live in an age where everything needs to be fast, easy, and in high volume. I’ve seen people say, “I’m going to write 8 books this year.” Josh Bernoff thinks that’s a load of crap. See, if you want to write a good book, just like anything of quality, you need to spend time on it. Josh’s new book, Build a Better Business Book, is a master class on how to do that. And today, he’s giving us the best parts of that book. In the PRO show, things get real as we talk more about the charlatans of writing, as well as ghostwriting.

Are you a “Field of Dreams” marketer? Someone who thinks, “If I build it, they will come.” I was for a long time. Sometimes it feels like I still am. That’s why I was excited to talk to Julian Garsdean. He blends psychology and business in a way I haven’t seen before to help business owners stand out and sell more. As creators, we can learn a ton from addressing the 6 basic needs in our own content and products. Listen for these top takeaways:

It would be a dream of mine to grow a newsletter from 0 to 8,000+ in less than 6 months. But that’s exactly what Chenell Basilio did. The way she did it? Deeply researched, super-helpful content. See, she teaches people how successful creators grew their newsletters to 50,000+ subscribers. And today, she’s going to tell us all about her process. And in How I Built It PRO, we talk about money and goals for the next 6 months.Podchaser

Pitching the media is tough. Afterall, you’re competing with basically anyone who has something to say. So how do you make yourself stand out? That’s what Christina Nicholson is teaching us today. She’ll cover everything from coming up with an idea to landing the media spot to converting those viewers to your audience. This one is a MUST listen. 

A Rube Goldberg machine is an overly complex device that performs a simple task through a series of chain reactions. If you’re not familiar with automation, it can often feel like building a Rube Golberg machine. But it doesn’t have to! Today, I’m going to tell you how automation can be simple, and give you 12 examples from my own life that prove the point. In the PRO show, I tell you all about why I moved to Thrivecart, and how my “writing on Medium” experiment is going.