July 11, 2020

#5Things: Lori Sullivan

Apple Podcasts podcast player icon
Spotify podcast player icon
YouTube Channel podcast player icon
Google Podcasts podcast player icon
Castro podcast player icon
RSS Feed podcast player icon

In this episode of the 5 Things Series we talk to Lori Sullivan, Director of Marketing at Fleetio.

Lori shares the 5 Things she can't live without:

1) The Fleetio website

2) Google Drive search shortcut for Chrome

3) A good Notes app

4) Overcast & Audible

5) Kickboxing


Are you getting every B2B Growth episode in your favorite podcast player?

If not, you can easily subscribe & search past episodes here.

You can also find us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Transcript
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