#5Things: Lori Sullivan

WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:09.070 Welcome back to BB growth. I'm Logan lyles with sweet fish media. Today 2 00:00:09.189 --> 00:00:13.949 is another episode in our five things series where we're talking to marketers, repeat 3 00:00:13.990 --> 00:00:17.670 guests here on the podcast, about the five things they can't live without in 4 00:00:17.870 --> 00:00:21.429 work and in life. I've loved these series because we've gotten some tech tips, 5 00:00:21.699 --> 00:00:24.859 we've gotten some life hacks, we've gotten some fun conversations, and today 6 00:00:24.859 --> 00:00:27.539 we're going to be talking about a little bit of all of that with Lori 7 00:00:27.699 --> 00:00:31.699 Sullivan. She is the director of marketing over at fleete oh. She did 8 00:00:31.780 --> 00:00:36.369 a phenomenal episode with me here back on the show not too long ago about 9 00:00:36.369 --> 00:00:39.450 managing a remote marketing team. Lori, welcome back to the show. How 10 00:00:39.450 --> 00:00:42.810 you doing today? Doing well. Thanks for having me again, Logan, 11 00:00:43.409 --> 00:00:46.530 and absolutely it was. It was a must have to have you back your 12 00:00:46.570 --> 00:00:50.520 first episode. You dropped so many tech tips, so many tangible ways to 13 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:55.679 go about creating a team environment for those that are just starting to make the 14 00:00:55.759 --> 00:01:00.000 shift to remote or they're thinking now, come September, October, are we 15 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:02.679 going to stay remote? What are we going to do? So will link 16 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:04.989 to that in the show notes, but onto the topic get hand. Today 17 00:01:06.030 --> 00:01:07.629 we're going to be talking about the five things you can't live without. And 18 00:01:08.150 --> 00:01:11.950 on the work side, it's your website you were sharing with me offline. 19 00:01:11.989 --> 00:01:18.739 You guys are close to a hundred percent inbound marketing sourced organization. So tell 20 00:01:18.819 --> 00:01:23.019 me a little bit about where that fits into your day to day life leading 21 00:01:23.019 --> 00:01:27.099 the marketing team of fleet you. Yeah, at fleet you, our website 22 00:01:27.500 --> 00:01:34.569 is our most valuable marketing asset. We've really built our company on inbound lead 23 00:01:34.689 --> 00:01:40.129 generation. We're sitting at about ten million annual working revenue right now. Over 24 00:01:40.250 --> 00:01:44.930 ninety percent of that has come from inbound. Specifically, we do have an 25 00:01:45.010 --> 00:01:49.000 outbound engine on the sales side now, but for a long time we were 26 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:55.519 solely inbound, and so obviously is an inbound marketer. A website is the 27 00:01:55.640 --> 00:02:01.030 key to success. We focus a lot on content and communicating the value of 28 00:02:01.109 --> 00:02:07.310 our product getting people into the website, but once they're there, we want 29 00:02:07.390 --> 00:02:10.669 to ensure we are converting them. So whether they are starting a trial of 30 00:02:10.750 --> 00:02:16.740 our product, requesting a demo or giving their email address to download a white 31 00:02:16.740 --> 00:02:22.780 paper, or even interacting with our Chat Bot that's on our site, our 32 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:29.099 website is the most important asset that we have and our team rallies around it 33 00:02:29.340 --> 00:02:35.530 constantly. There's always something being tested or a project being worked on that revolves 34 00:02:35.569 --> 00:02:40.289 around improving the site. It's content and conversion. So I would absolutely say 35 00:02:40.370 --> 00:02:46.479 that that is the one thing that both I and my team definitely cannot live 36 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:50.199 without. I love that. I think I should have made the list for 37 00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:52.639 a lot of other marketers here, but no one. No one's really gone 38 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:54.479 there. This could be a topic for a whole of their podcast. But 39 00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:59.789 any quick notes on optimizing conversion? As you guys have rolled out chat and 40 00:02:59.909 --> 00:03:04.469 you have some more kind of traditional form fill sort of assets. Have you 41 00:03:04.550 --> 00:03:07.270 seen more of that my great over to chat, or do you see there's 42 00:03:07.270 --> 00:03:10.669 a place for both and where if you kind of optimize there? Before we 43 00:03:10.710 --> 00:03:14.340 get into the other four things on your list? Yeah, that's a great 44 00:03:14.340 --> 00:03:19.060 question. We have really invested more in chat in the last year, year 45 00:03:19.099 --> 00:03:23.060 and a half and it definitely has become a really solid customer acquisition tool. 46 00:03:23.300 --> 00:03:28.770 For us. We use a tool called Oh lark, though there's a ton 47 00:03:29.169 --> 00:03:32.409 out there, drift, etc. But we use a Lark and we've really 48 00:03:32.569 --> 00:03:38.969 found that on especially key conversion pages like our pricing page, even when people 49 00:03:39.009 --> 00:03:44.080 get deep into features, pages on our site and have very specific questions. 50 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:49.840 They are inclined to use that chat and so we consistently see marketing qualified leads 51 00:03:49.960 --> 00:03:53.879 come from our chat and we follow those through the rest of the funnel to 52 00:03:53.960 --> 00:03:58.669 qualification and to revenue as well. So it is a great source for us. 53 00:03:58.870 --> 00:04:01.030 If I would say, if you're out there and you have not tried 54 00:04:01.069 --> 00:04:04.750 that on your site, test it. It's not going to work for everyone, 55 00:04:04.870 --> 00:04:08.469 though I know a lot of people see great results from it, but 56 00:04:08.550 --> 00:04:14.819 it's testable absolutely on a test there and then the more kind of universal tip 57 00:04:15.340 --> 00:04:18.579 I would say from an inbound perspective is just follow the data. We have 58 00:04:18.740 --> 00:04:24.180 so much data in terms of conversion on our site. What are the common 59 00:04:24.370 --> 00:04:28.449 paths to conversion? What do people usually do when they land on our home 60 00:04:28.490 --> 00:04:34.689 page? Where are people requesting demos versus signing up for trials or clicking free 61 00:04:34.769 --> 00:04:41.360 trial buttons? Really understanding that will allow you to test different things and craft 62 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:46.240 your road map moving forward. Absolutely solid advice. All right. Number two 63 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:49.000 on your list is kind of in my favorite area. I'm the one on 64 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:53.750 the sweet fish team that's always pinging everybody with slack with Hey, do you 65 00:04:53.790 --> 00:04:57.149 guys want to figure out how to save five seconds today and every day moving 66 00:04:57.189 --> 00:04:59.470 forward, and some people roll their eyes and some people are like, Yep, 67 00:04:59.589 --> 00:05:01.670 sign me up for the NERD alert. This kind of falls into that 68 00:05:01.870 --> 00:05:06.139 category. thinking it's a google drive shortcut that you use a lot, right. 69 00:05:06.139 --> 00:05:11.220 Yes, I use it all day, every day. So we're a 70 00:05:11.540 --> 00:05:15.540 Gmail Google Organization and so everything we do, everything we create, is stored 71 00:05:15.579 --> 00:05:18.420 on Google drive. So I'm in Google drive a lot. There's a lot 72 00:05:18.500 --> 00:05:23.009 of things to sort through, to sift through to find what I'm looking for, 73 00:05:23.730 --> 00:05:30.050 so I use a google drive search shortcut in chrome. So essentially you 74 00:05:30.129 --> 00:05:33.290 can go into your chrome settings and set it up. Basically you're connecting your 75 00:05:33.689 --> 00:05:41.680 browser window to google drive search, so you can tell it what word you 76 00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:45.839 would like to type to trigger that. So I just use drive pretty easy 77 00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:51.509 and then whatever you type after that, you're actively searching Google drive. So 78 00:05:51.709 --> 00:05:56.750 I use it constantly. I'm a stucker for a shortcut as well, but 79 00:05:56.870 --> 00:06:00.230 that is one that I would say if you are using Google drive regularly, 80 00:06:00.829 --> 00:06:05.939 save yourself a clicker to and definitely get that Google drive search going in your 81 00:06:05.980 --> 00:06:11.579 chrome address bar. It's really easy to set up. That's awesome. And 82 00:06:11.740 --> 00:06:15.740 so it's not a separate extension. It's just something in the settings of chrome 83 00:06:15.939 --> 00:06:18.009 that, if you set up and customize, you can start using exactly. 84 00:06:18.129 --> 00:06:21.810 So you're not having to install an extension. Just go into your chrome settings. 85 00:06:21.889 --> 00:06:25.850 You can set it up from there and it's right in the address bar 86 00:06:25.970 --> 00:06:29.850 of chrome. I love that one that I shared on Linkedin a while back. 87 00:06:29.889 --> 00:06:32.399 In it just like I got so much response from it. I was 88 00:06:32.439 --> 00:06:34.639 like, Oh, I didn't realize this was going to be so cool for 89 00:06:34.759 --> 00:06:39.720 folks. If you type Docs dot knew, and this works for sheets and 90 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:43.839 slides as well, if you type Docs dotnew or sheets dot knew into the 91 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:47.829 URL bar of chrome, it will instantly open up a new google doc or 92 00:06:47.870 --> 00:06:53.029 a new google sheets without having to open drive. Click new, click new 93 00:06:53.110 --> 00:06:57.029 file, click from scratch. Right. That's just that's like five clicks there. 94 00:06:57.110 --> 00:06:59.589 That's that's the way. Too much. So this one is actually new 95 00:06:59.670 --> 00:07:01.139 for me. I've known that, like you can type in something and if 96 00:07:01.180 --> 00:07:04.579 it's if it's in your recent history, it might pull up, but I 97 00:07:04.620 --> 00:07:09.180 didn't know there was a way to specifically say hey. I won't, man, 98 00:07:09.259 --> 00:07:12.379 I can't say Hey Google or my smart speakers going to turn on, 99 00:07:12.779 --> 00:07:15.850 but you can literally type in and make sure you're only searching drive. That's 100 00:07:15.850 --> 00:07:20.250 really cool. All right. Number three is your notes APP, and you've 101 00:07:20.250 --> 00:07:25.209 got some thoughts here on testing different APPS. This is really interesting to me 102 00:07:25.250 --> 00:07:28.649 because I'm one who's I've used one note, I've used ever note, I've 103 00:07:28.649 --> 00:07:31.759 used Google keep, I've used all sorts of different things and I'm one who 104 00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:35.199 then is like, Oh crap, I've got stuff in four different notes APPS. 105 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:40.199 I need to consolidate and just pick one. What's been your process there? 106 00:07:40.839 --> 00:07:44.829 Yeah, so I'm a freakishly organized person. It's pretty scary, and 107 00:07:44.990 --> 00:07:47.230 I have tried a lot of notes apps as well, just because I'm always 108 00:07:47.310 --> 00:07:53.750 trying to be more organized, be more efficient. I go really now between 109 00:07:53.790 --> 00:07:58.860 two, depending on what I'm taking notes for, what I'm writing it to 110 00:07:58.939 --> 00:08:03.939 do list down for. So I use this simple Mac notes APP a lot. 111 00:08:03.980 --> 00:08:07.660 It's kind of like my daily Scratch Pad, I guess you could call 112 00:08:07.699 --> 00:08:11.540 it. If I'm taking quick notes while I'm on a video chat or jotting 113 00:08:11.579 --> 00:08:15.689 down some thoughts that I want to come back to you later, I just 114 00:08:15.889 --> 00:08:18.970 constantly have one note pulled out. That kind of my daily scratch pad. 115 00:08:20.569 --> 00:08:24.290 And then for a longer kind of thinking that I want to map out, 116 00:08:24.810 --> 00:08:28.920 I will use notion, which we actually use, is our company kind of 117 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:33.279 database or Wiki. We put a lot of documentation in there. But on 118 00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:39.399 the the private version, I will do a lot of longer form thinking and 119 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:45.029 first drafts of things that I don't necessarily think warrants a google doc yet, 120 00:08:45.509 --> 00:08:48.870 and so I kind of switch between those two depending on what I'm doing. 121 00:08:48.590 --> 00:08:52.110 You know, I think for me figuring out what works for you, you 122 00:08:54.190 --> 00:08:58.539 know, is the best thing. And you know I'm lead our marketing team 123 00:08:58.539 --> 00:09:03.419 at fludio. I also and then a jump professor at a local university here. 124 00:09:03.580 --> 00:09:05.860 I'm involved in a lot of organizations. I'd like to think I'm a 125 00:09:05.899 --> 00:09:11.690 fairly social and productive human as well. So I feel like all these different 126 00:09:11.730 --> 00:09:16.769 verticals of your life sometimes take on to do lists and and thoughts and notes 127 00:09:16.970 --> 00:09:22.730 in different places, and so consolidating that is really important. I love a 128 00:09:22.809 --> 00:09:28.200 good post it note when I'm taking quick lists down as well as so I 129 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:33.919 span a few different areas when it comes to note taking and listmaking, but 130 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:37.320 I think figuring out what works for you is the best way to do it. 131 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:41.590 Yeah, absolutely, I love that number four on your list is something 132 00:09:41.669 --> 00:09:46.470 that, selfishly, I'm glad that we're highly lining here. And you know, 133 00:09:46.990 --> 00:09:50.950 consumption of audio content has been something that not only do we talk about 134 00:09:50.950 --> 00:09:54.580 here at sweetfish being a podcast company, but a lot of our guests on 135 00:09:54.620 --> 00:09:58.740 the five things series have have brought up. And it's interesting to me because 136 00:09:58.779 --> 00:10:01.580 I had a question earlier today where someone was saying, well, as podcast 137 00:10:01.659 --> 00:10:07.210 consumption really plummeting because people don't have commute times, and both in our experience 138 00:10:07.250 --> 00:10:11.769 with this show, be to be growth and in my own experience we saw 139 00:10:11.809 --> 00:10:16.529 a dropoff in March and April of this year and then back on the same 140 00:10:16.570 --> 00:10:18.250 growth Tra directory. So not just back on too where we were, but 141 00:10:18.690 --> 00:10:24.279 still climbing. And I just think that audio content there is going to be 142 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:28.240 space in our lives where we want to passively consume content. It's like somebody 143 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:33.039 said on a call the other day, audio contents kind of like water in 144 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:35.870 our lives. It's going to fill the empty spaces. So for me that's 145 00:10:35.870 --> 00:10:39.509 been walking the dog and doing the dishes when I don't have a commute time, 146 00:10:39.509 --> 00:10:41.669 which I've not had for two years, not two months. But Anyway, 147 00:10:41.909 --> 00:10:46.750 there are two audio apps that are key to your daytoday. What are 148 00:10:46.870 --> 00:10:50.860 those and why are those specifically? I want to hear you know when you're 149 00:10:50.899 --> 00:10:54.860 filling your time with audio content law and why these two APPs specifically, because 150 00:10:54.860 --> 00:10:58.019 I'm always, always interested from a publisher of audio content perspective. Yeah, 151 00:10:58.139 --> 00:11:03.019 so minor, overcast and audible. So I think as a as a marketer, 152 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:07.330 you have to be a lifelong learner. There's so much great knowledge out 153 00:11:07.370 --> 00:11:11.850 there and I'm always asking people for for audiobook and podcast recommendations because I want 154 00:11:11.889 --> 00:11:18.960 to absorb as much as I possibly can. I pretty much have a podcast 155 00:11:18.120 --> 00:11:26.840 or an audiobook on in most situations if I'm not in focused work or I 156 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:31.200 will listen to music while running, but other than that, in the car, 157 00:11:31.399 --> 00:11:35.269 outside of the car, when I'm cleaning, doing you know, more 158 00:11:35.950 --> 00:11:41.669 non focused work, I constantly have something on. And you know I love 159 00:11:41.750 --> 00:11:46.629 a physical book, but it is so tough for me as a busy person, 160 00:11:46.909 --> 00:11:50.100 as I'm sure this is the case for so many people. As a 161 00:11:50.179 --> 00:11:54.299 busy person, it's really tough to sit down with a physical book and just 162 00:11:54.100 --> 00:11:58.419 focus and read. And then there's so much information I want to absorb. 163 00:11:58.580 --> 00:12:03.570 So that's why it works for me and you know, on the podcast side, 164 00:12:03.610 --> 00:12:09.570 I would say my interest span everything from the obvious like marketing, technology 165 00:12:09.889 --> 00:12:13.970 stass to true crime. Always tell people if they look in my podcast, 166 00:12:15.049 --> 00:12:18.639 you're going to find marketing or murder. So that's a wide range there. 167 00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:26.399 And then with books, it's usually with audio books it's usually business or psychology, 168 00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:33.909 rarely fiction. There's just so much knowledge in and in so many places 169 00:12:33.029 --> 00:12:37.909 on on overcasts and audible I want to absorb as much as I possibly can. 170 00:12:37.350 --> 00:12:41.629 Yeah, is is there a specific reason you're an overcast listener versus apple 171 00:12:41.750 --> 00:12:46.100 podcast or you do you have an android phone? Do you not like the 172 00:12:46.139 --> 00:12:50.740 UI of Apple Podcast? I'm always kind of fascinated by that and we get 173 00:12:50.740 --> 00:12:54.820 a questions a lot about the different PODCAST APPS and we're consumption is moving. 174 00:12:56.220 --> 00:13:00.929 spotify has been trying to play aggressive to compete with Apple. As a listener, 175 00:13:01.009 --> 00:13:03.049 as a user of PODCAST APPS, why is it overcast for you? 176 00:13:03.730 --> 00:13:07.970 Yeah, so I have an Iphone, so I definitely could use the the 177 00:13:07.049 --> 00:13:11.610 apple podcast APP. I made a decision to download overcast and let that be 178 00:13:11.769 --> 00:13:18.279 my podcast APP years ago and that was more of a Ui thing and now 179 00:13:18.360 --> 00:13:22.279 I'm just kind of a creature of habit, honestly. Yeah, absolutely, 180 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:26.669 all right. So you talked about spanning marketing to murder in your podcast, 181 00:13:26.909 --> 00:13:30.830 in your podcast APP and listening, and we're going to make kind of a 182 00:13:31.070 --> 00:13:35.590 big jump from some of the things in daytoday life and and your work as 183 00:13:35.629 --> 00:13:39.830 a marketer, with your website being number one on your list, Google drive 184 00:13:39.269 --> 00:13:43.779 search, shortcut notes APP, we've talked about your audio listening apps. Number 185 00:13:43.860 --> 00:13:48.220 five on your list is kickboxing. Yes, the best one on the list 186 00:13:48.340 --> 00:13:52.620 right. Absolutely, tell us, tell us why you can't live without kickboxing. 187 00:13:52.659 --> 00:13:54.850 I saw this on your list and I was just like, I'm dying 188 00:13:54.889 --> 00:13:58.490 to know. Oh, yes, so I would suggest it to anyone. 189 00:13:58.570 --> 00:14:05.049 It's a wonder it's wonderful exercise. So I started kickboxing gosh, maybe five 190 00:14:05.090 --> 00:14:11.960 years ago now, maybe a little more, and it was something I started 191 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:16.000 doing just to see if I liked it. I was kind of sick of 192 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:20.799 the the gym routine I was doing at the time and thought well, this 193 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:24.110 will be interesting and I just fell in love with it. I've done it 194 00:14:24.230 --> 00:14:30.870 for years. I think it is phenomenal exercise that's always different, it's never 195 00:14:31.029 --> 00:14:37.990 the same. It keeps your attention you're always learning new combinations and figuring out 196 00:14:37.149 --> 00:14:41.779 how to be more accurate and what you've already learned, which I really like, 197 00:14:43.460 --> 00:14:48.820 and it's also really great self defense just to have in your arsenal if 198 00:14:48.860 --> 00:14:54.129 you ever needed it. It's a wonderful release, like I feel like I 199 00:14:54.529 --> 00:14:58.889 punched and kick harder on Monday's than any other day of the week, so 200 00:14:58.049 --> 00:15:03.970 it's great to to let out stress as well and of course it's excellent exercise. 201 00:15:03.809 --> 00:15:07.480 So it's been you know, I've tried a lot of different gems and 202 00:15:07.639 --> 00:15:11.960 and fitness classes and and different things, but kickbox, saying, I always 203 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:16.159 go back to it. I love it. I would recommend it to anybody. 204 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:22.070 Absolutely stress relief, work out and baked in Selfdefense. God forbid you 205 00:15:22.149 --> 00:15:24.909 ever needed Mary. Hey, it makes sense to me. I asked the 206 00:15:24.909 --> 00:15:28.110 question and you summarize it really well. Well, Laurie, this has been 207 00:15:28.190 --> 00:15:31.350 fantastic. It's a pleasure getting to know you a little bit more. What 208 00:15:31.509 --> 00:15:35.740 makes you tick and and what are the things that you can't live without? 209 00:15:35.740 --> 00:15:41.299 And hopefully listeners took away a tip or two whether they're gonna take up kickboxing 210 00:15:41.340 --> 00:15:43.700 or they're going to use the chrome shortcut to find their files. One way 211 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:48.500 or another, folks are hopefully going to be able to, you know, 212 00:15:48.740 --> 00:15:52.370 touch on something that you mentioned, and that's one of our core values here 213 00:15:52.370 --> 00:15:54.210 at sweetish. Never Stop Learning. Folks listening to this can't see, but 214 00:15:54.250 --> 00:15:58.690 I'm actually wearing a sweetfish shirt that says that right now. So Very Meta 215 00:15:58.769 --> 00:16:02.330 today, very great conversation where he's been a pleasure having you back on if 216 00:16:02.409 --> 00:16:06.720 anybody listening to this is their first time hearing from you, what's the best 217 00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:10.279 way for them to reach out or stay connected with you? Yeah, connect 218 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:12.279 with me on Linkedin. It's Lori Sullivan, and if you want to learn 219 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:17.320 more about Fleetia, just go to fleeteocom. I love it, Lri, 220 00:16:17.480 --> 00:16:19.389 thank you so much for being our guest again today. Thanks for having me 221 00:16:19.509 --> 00:16:26.389 back. Is Your buyer a BP marketer? If so, you should think 222 00:16:26.389 --> 00:16:30.950 about sponsoring this podcast. BB growth gets downloaded over a hundred and thirty thousand 223 00:16:30.029 --> 00:16:34.379 times each month and our listeners are marketing decisionmakers. If it sounds interesting, 224 00:16:34.419 --> 00:16:37.740 Sin Logan and email Logan at sweetfish Mediacom