B2B > B2C | The Journey

WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.199 --> 00:00:12.880 Conversations from the front lines of marketing. This is B two B growth. 2 00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:20.120 Welcome back to be to be growth. My name is James Carberry, I'm 3 00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:23.399 the founder of Sweet Fish Media and I'm joined today by Dan Sanchez, our 4 00:00:23.480 --> 00:00:29.600 director of audience growth, and we are always playing around with different series on 5 00:00:29.800 --> 00:00:33.799 B two B growth. We have started a series called the echo chamber that 6 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:37.280 we're really excited about, where we just kind of riff and and throw our 7 00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:40.960 two cents on what B Two b marketers are talking about on the Internet. 8 00:00:41.320 --> 00:00:45.119 That's been a really fun series and we decided that we wanted to start another 9 00:00:45.159 --> 00:00:51.679 series where Dan, myself, Emily Benji, basically where our marketing team talks 10 00:00:51.719 --> 00:00:57.200 about the work that we're doing to really invest in B two B growth as 11 00:00:57.240 --> 00:01:00.840 a media property. You're seeing everybody in their mother talk about you've got to 12 00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:04.159 become a media company, a media company, a media company. Obviously Gary 13 00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:07.359 v led the charge with this type of thinking. Now you've got folks like 14 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:12.599 Dave Gearhart that are really bringing this home for B Two b marketers and we 15 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:18.439 are massive advocates of this strategy. I think when you have the attention, 16 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:22.439 you have the leverage, and so we want to document that journey. So 17 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:25.879 you're gonna start seeing at least for the next, you know, few weeks. 18 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:27.599 We don't know how long we're gonna do this. We hope you're getting 19 00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:32.799 value from these journey episodes. But you're gonna see in the headline, just 20 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:37.079 like with the Echo Chamber, you're gonna see a title, these headlines with 21 00:01:37.239 --> 00:01:40.640 whatever the title of the show is, and then you'll see the journey on 22 00:01:40.680 --> 00:01:44.280 the back end of it. So be on the lookout. But today I've 23 00:01:44.280 --> 00:01:48.959 got Dan on and we're gonna be talking about the why, the portion of 24 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:55.920 our journey where we are really refocusing on B Two b. So Dan, 25 00:01:56.400 --> 00:01:59.159 take it from here. Tell us what, uh, yeah, why do 26 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:01.760 we decide to go all in, especially on on a show that we've had 27 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:07.000 for years where B two B is very predominant in the cover art? Give 28 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:08.439 us a little bit of back story about what we were talking about. A 29 00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:13.719 podcast movement sitting by the pool going man, what we need to go all 30 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:17.000 in? Ma'am, I think every marketer that's been in the game for a 31 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:21.599 while has had these points of frustration where you're like wait, what are we 32 00:02:21.639 --> 00:02:24.039 even talking about? Like what are we focusing on. Why do people even 33 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:29.240 want to listen to us? You go around in circles talking about the different 34 00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:31.960 points of view, the different angles you could take, and and then you're 35 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:35.919 like wait, why do people even want to why? Why? Like five, 36 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:39.520 five wise deep Simon snic origin stories, and you just kind of like 37 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:45.560 get lost in this MINUTA and it becomes very Meta very fast. And if 38 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:46.599 you're a marketer, I'm sure you're not on your head because, like, 39 00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:50.919 we've all been in these conversations even as we as we've been trying to talk 40 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:53.039 through taglines and like, you know, why would somebody want to listen? 41 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:57.439 TO BE TO BE GROWTH? I mean this crap is hard. It is 42 00:02:57.439 --> 00:03:00.919 hard, but the brands that do it well and really tap into something visceral 43 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:05.439 are the morning bruise of the world, they're the hustles of the world, 44 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:12.599 they're the modern day media companies that truly have captivated a massive audience, and 45 00:03:12.680 --> 00:03:16.080 so I think getting this stuff right is big and we had a big Ah 46 00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:21.159 while we were in Dallas a few weeks ago. Yep, but I even 47 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:23.680 just coming back to the point of this series of episodes and hopefully it becomes 48 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:27.800 an ongoing thing. I mean, we even question like do people even want 49 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:30.759 to hear like behind the scenes, at least our last episodes? Anytime we 50 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:35.879 do behind the scenes episode it goes relatively well because people want to know what's 51 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:39.039 going on. The host becomes an important part of the story. So here 52 00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:42.599 we are, like some of the hosts of the show and wanting to share 53 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:46.240 what's actually going on, and we're sharing everything on these journey episodes as it's 54 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:50.560 happening. Like everything we're sharing over the next couple of weeks has happened in 55 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:53.400 the last week or two and we'll share ongoing because wouldn't it be cool if, 56 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:57.360 like, you could unpack some of the stories of how they happened? 57 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:00.479 You know, a lot of stories are hold in retrospect, but what if 58 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:04.439 we had a documented journey of how we actually got to the place we were? 59 00:04:04.919 --> 00:04:08.240 You know, it would be cool to unpack some of the biggest brands 60 00:04:08.280 --> 00:04:12.120 today of like and have like the conversations on tape to be like, how 61 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:15.520 do they decide to nuance it that way? It was really interesting. Who 62 00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:17.360 came up with that? Well, we're hoping to put some of that on 63 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:21.519 recording for people to hear in journey with us, because unpacking these things. 64 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:25.959 Like James says, it's really hard. So we're hoping to make some good 65 00:04:25.959 --> 00:04:29.879 content out of sharing some of our insights along the ways we try to refocus 66 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:33.319 BTB growth and kind of build a bit of a narrative around it, right 67 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:38.680 because you know, if you're on linkedin you're probably learning about the strategic narrative 68 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:42.120 to like all of us. So it's like in all these words like strategic 69 00:04:42.199 --> 00:04:46.600 narrative and category creation and creating demand and all these things floating around our heads 70 00:04:46.600 --> 00:04:48.360 and we're trying to piece them all together like this weird puzzle and the puzzle 71 00:04:48.360 --> 00:04:53.560 pieces don't all quite fit super nice. That's how I feel sometimes. But 72 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:57.040 here we are, we're gonna be talking about it and the way we've decided 73 00:04:57.079 --> 00:05:00.800 to focus BBB growth is just on B two B. I think we were 74 00:05:00.839 --> 00:05:04.680 sitting around like a hotel room or by the pool or something. It's like, 75 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:11.279 what if we just become unapologetically about B two B, because you know, 76 00:05:11.319 --> 00:05:14.439 it seems like B Two b gets kind of a bad rap, and 77 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:16.839 it's not even the BBC marketers, it's usually the B Two b marketers like 78 00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:19.600 saying Oh woe is me. We're not as cool as B two C. 79 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:24.600 Yeah, the more I reflected on that it kind of hit me. Like, 80 00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:27.560 you know, honestly, when I was in B two C, I 81 00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:30.439 was looking up to be two be as doing some of the cool stuff, 82 00:05:30.600 --> 00:05:33.120 because they were all into the tech and the marketing automation and marketing ops before 83 00:05:33.160 --> 00:05:38.240 it was called that, and the way they were doing targeted ads and data 84 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:42.360 driven decision making and like all this kind of stuff and cool drip sequences. 85 00:05:42.439 --> 00:05:46.319 And I was pulling my playbook from Silicon Valley, like the B two B 86 00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:51.199 SAS space like in ten to twelve. That's where I was getting my inspiration. 87 00:05:51.240 --> 00:05:54.319 So I was looking up to be two B and now I'm like, 88 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:58.720 I think we need to make b two be cool again because honestly, it 89 00:05:58.920 --> 00:06:00.839 is for a lot of it. Yeah, I don't know that it's ever 90 00:06:00.920 --> 00:06:04.600 been cool in the past. So making me to be cool again. It 91 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:09.160 might not be the right phrase there, but cool to me. I was 92 00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:13.480 talking to Ben Bradberry from work week while we were in Dallas and he was 93 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:16.079 telling me that. I think he told me that B two B as a 94 00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:21.560 category is not that old. I think it was actually designed in first designed 95 00:06:21.639 --> 00:06:26.800 in the nineties. And when he told me that, I was like, 96 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:31.199 that's really interesting because I've never seen anybody talk about who created the category of 97 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:33.959 B Two b. But when you think about it, of course it's a 98 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:39.040 category. But it might have been late eighties, but I'm pretty sure he 99 00:06:39.079 --> 00:06:43.720 said it was the nineties, that whoever built that is is probably sipping my 100 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:47.959 ties on an island somewhere. They, you know, clearly did a brilliant 101 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:54.000 job of designing that category, because they are now. They either did or 102 00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:57.319 they didn't, right, because we don't know who did it, but everybody 103 00:06:57.399 --> 00:07:00.639 uses that term. B Two B is a is a term that now is 104 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:05.160 is used across the board, but nobody owns it. The person that started 105 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:09.759 it is either rode off into the sunset or there you know, they had 106 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:13.560 an acquisition and they know they no longer have the need to like way that 107 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:17.120 banner. And so we thought we can come in and own that. And 108 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:20.959 and when we think about the category that we've already built in B two B 109 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:27.360 podcasting, that I've been building since when we first pivoted into becoming a podcast 110 00:07:27.399 --> 00:07:30.439 agency, it worked exceptionally well for us. We've talked about you know, 111 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:36.399 do we try to own the owned media category and as we continue to talk 112 00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:41.959 about, like what category do we really want to try to own, when 113 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:46.879 it hit us in Dallas like nobody owns B two B and there's we already 114 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:49.720 have. I mean, when you search B Two B and podcast players, 115 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:54.199 our show POPs up, if not first, one of the very first search 116 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:58.879 results when you search B two B and podcast players. So we're primed too 117 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:03.399 to be the folks that really own it. Now what I want to clarify 118 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:07.040 is, you know, we are still very much for the marketer. So 119 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:11.680 there's a lot of folks in B two B and our content is still going 120 00:08:11.720 --> 00:08:15.720 to air on the side of trying to attract a marketer, just, you 121 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:18.439 know, in transparency building, you know, trying to build sweet fish our 122 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:24.079 business. We don't need sales reps to necessarily know about sweet fish as much 123 00:08:24.120 --> 00:08:28.560 as we need B Two b marketers to know about sweet fish. So our 124 00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:33.200 content is still very much going to be heavily geared towards B two B marketers. 125 00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:37.639 But the brand of the show, it's some of the elements what are 126 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:41.919 going to make this show exciting and what are going to add soul to this 127 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:46.480 show. is going to be our emphasis on the category of B Two B 128 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:50.960 and Y B. Two b should not be this kind of redheaded step child 129 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:54.919 that gets talked about like it's lesser than no, it's it's actually the superior 130 00:08:56.039 --> 00:09:00.120 thing. And, and we're gonna UNPACK WHY, Hashtag B two B is 131 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:03.720 greater than BBC. That's that's kind of like the new model we've been playing 132 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:07.200 with on Linkedin. Seems like it's gotten subtraction. It's been fun. It's 133 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:11.720 funny even. I think a big part of the puzzle that had US refocus 134 00:09:11.759 --> 00:09:16.559 on B two B was trying to find the villain. Right, if you're 135 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:20.399 a fan of Donald Miller and the story, like defining the villain is almost 136 00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:24.360 like half the battle. The problem with marketing sometimes is you end up in 137 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:28.600 these these situations where you end up defining the villain as your customer or something 138 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:31.399 that your customer does, which is not good. Like you don't want to 139 00:09:31.399 --> 00:09:35.759 make your your prospective prospective customers the villain. You don't want to demonize, 140 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:39.480 you don't want to make your customers feel stupid, and that's the problem we 141 00:09:39.559 --> 00:09:41.720 ran into. You. Like, Oh, like, like, like, 142 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:43.879 what were some of the villains? We are coming up with like the new 143 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:48.559 shiny like don't, don't change shiny objects, right, because they're distracted all 144 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:50.799 the time. But we're like, oh, we're making them sound like they're 145 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:54.919 distracted, which they are. They've self reported to us. Focuses their number 146 00:09:54.919 --> 00:09:58.919 one greatest struggle. But I don't want to have distraction, like so we 147 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:03.039 demonize the thing, like like what was it? Was it all state who 148 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:07.159 demonized? Um, chaos? Chaos reigns, like the dude. Yeah, 149 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:09.440 right, in the commercials, because you never know where I'm coming. Chaos 150 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:13.639 reigins, you know. Do we want to demonize distractions? So these are 151 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:16.440 the like kind of conversations you have, and it just occurred to me. 152 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:18.879 It's like, well, what if we just make B two see the villain, 153 00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:22.080 right? And maybe it's not like a villain, like it's US versus 154 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:24.919 them, but it would be kind of like it seems like B Two b 155 00:10:26.039 --> 00:10:28.799 tries to beat up on itself a lot. Like what if we just put 156 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:33.399 B two C on a Pinata and take some swings at it? I remember, 157 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:35.039 I mean we were we were in the hotel room and I can't remember 158 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:37.919 if I came up with it or you came up with it. But it 159 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:41.879 was what if B two C was the villain? And it just clicked and, 160 00:10:43.559 --> 00:10:46.960 oh my gosh, like none of our clients are B Two c. 161 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:52.279 We exclusively work with with B two B clients. And could we piss off 162 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:54.840 some people at at massive brands? Well, if we're pissing off people at 163 00:10:54.879 --> 00:10:58.320 massive brands, that means we've we've done what we wanted to do with with 164 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:03.879 our media property. We've we've grown it to the size that people at big 165 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:07.799 BBC brands would actually be offended at. You know, our take on how 166 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:11.039 B Two B is better than B two C. and so there was just 167 00:11:11.080 --> 00:11:15.120 a moment in the hotel room where it Oh man, yeah, that's gonna 168 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:18.000 be our rallying cry. That's gonna be the thing that, you know, 169 00:11:18.039 --> 00:11:20.639 we consistently come back to. That's going to be the thing that we, 170 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:24.720 you know, potentially build taglines around or teach. You know, have have 171 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:28.360 merched around little things about how B two B is better, or we just 172 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:35.320 like we make B Two b the thing and we can stylize it in in 173 00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:39.480 ways that are fun and play with it with with merch and product and I 174 00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:45.879 think there are a lot of people that deeply resonate with being in B two 175 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:50.519 B, and nobody at Thanksgiving really knows, at least in my you know 176 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:54.159 the thanksgivings I go to B Two b. What what is that? But 177 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:58.919 if you know, you know it's an insider thing and everybody wants to belong 178 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:01.759 to something where they're part of a crowd, they're part of a group, 179 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:05.720 right. So I'm like, like, if we can make B two b 180 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:09.039 like like hat and t shirt worthy, where all you have is the acronym 181 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:13.159 B two be on a hat and that's all you need, right, then 182 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:16.080 that's that's the thing. I'm like we like, let's make it a thing, 183 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:18.320 even though it's a silly little acrony and like losing the number in place 184 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:20.679 of the word two has always been kind of silly in my mind. But 185 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:24.399 I'm like, let's make it awesome. I like the reframing it against B 186 00:12:24.519 --> 00:12:28.279 two, C two, because it just makes it easier to make the fun 187 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:31.519 social content. Like I gave you the illustrations of the Pinata, but I'm 188 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:33.519 like, Damn, like how easy it is. It's go buy a two 189 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:37.120 dollar or five dollar Pinata from the dollar store and just put the words B 190 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:39.279 two, C on it. And like just take a gift of me, 191 00:12:39.399 --> 00:12:43.360 like swinging at it, and then out pops like a bunch of really boring 192 00:12:43.399 --> 00:12:46.200 B Two c items, you know, that nobody cares about. You know, 193 00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:48.559 like B two C, like there's a lot of sexy items, like 194 00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:52.399 everybody thinks of like a Porsche and like fun cars and all birds and all 195 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:54.399 these fancy brands. But I'm like, Dude, B two C is just 196 00:12:54.440 --> 00:12:58.799 full of things. Like I remember working at a Shopper Marketing Agency and we 197 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:01.919 were like fabreeze would have been a hot deal. I'm like, for freaking 198 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:03.799 for breeze? I don't know, I don't want to create a creative in 199 00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:07.960 cap on Walmart for for breeze. I'm like, but that would have been 200 00:13:07.960 --> 00:13:13.399 a big job. That would have been cool, and I'm like, uh, 201 00:13:13.480 --> 00:13:18.639 that's B two C. so, but I think when other people think 202 00:13:18.679 --> 00:13:22.279 of B two s they're they're thinking about the sexy stuff. They're thinking about 203 00:13:22.360 --> 00:13:28.720 the brands that everybody loves and you know, Tesla and and all of these 204 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:33.759 like really sexy consumer brands. They're not necessarily thinking about the item at the 205 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:35.519 bottom of the grocery store like you talk about, you know, the item 206 00:13:35.559 --> 00:13:39.759 at the on the bottom shelf at Walmart. Like that's also B two C 207 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:45.039 and that's actually the majority of B two C, but nobody wants to talk 208 00:13:45.080 --> 00:13:48.080 about that. Now you're seeing brands like dollar shave club get acquired for I 209 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:52.279 think, if it wasn't a billion, it was close to a billion dollars 210 00:13:52.279 --> 00:13:56.320 a few years ago. I think Gillette bought them, and so you're seeing 211 00:13:56.360 --> 00:14:01.000 those, like kind of more commodity items being taken through the D two C 212 00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:07.159 direct to consumer like go to market motion, and those brands are are really 213 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:09.679 fun. They're, you know, figuring out how to market a razor, 214 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:13.960 like the most boring product ever, but they went to market in a fun 215 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:18.279 way. And so that's not to say that other, you know, other 216 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:22.279 things in B twoc can't be marketed better, but we can do the same 217 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:26.000 thing and B two B. and I think when you look at the complexities 218 00:14:26.039 --> 00:14:31.759 of B Two B and how B Two B is like what we've been saying, 219 00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:35.039 like it's like sitting at the adult table when you look at having to 220 00:14:35.159 --> 00:14:41.039 manage multiple stakeholders in a deal and and managing a pipeline that is in the 221 00:14:41.080 --> 00:14:46.559 tens of millions of dollars. The weight that comes with the deals that you're 222 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:52.200 working and responsible for as a B Two b marketer, like your impact on 223 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:54.240 the business as a B two B marketer as opposed to a B two C 224 00:14:54.399 --> 00:15:00.440 marketer, your per deal impact is crazy, and the creativity that you can 225 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:05.240 inject into doing things like a b m and doing things that are hyper targeted 226 00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:09.120 towards the you know that Sally Works at IBM and that this product would be 227 00:15:09.159 --> 00:15:16.159 great for IBM and that IBM could spend seven, maybe eight figures on on 228 00:15:16.360 --> 00:15:20.559 your solution. Like let's get outside the box with how we try to reach 229 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:26.360 Sally at IBM, and I love the creativity that can be had in B 230 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:30.919 two B that I think we're just going to be waiving the flag on for 231 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:35.639 the next, hopefully several years. And I can't over emphasize enough the power 232 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:39.399 of finding a villain. Is Brings so much clarity. It's hard. It's 233 00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:43.039 hard to find the right villain because it's hard to even define what category you're 234 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:46.879 going to try to go after or become known in. Like we played around 235 00:15:46.919 --> 00:15:50.960 with becoming known as owned media, because podcastings owned media, you know. 236 00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:54.000 So we're like, but do we really want to demonize paid media, considering 237 00:15:54.039 --> 00:15:58.960 that we need to use paid media to grow owned media. It's hard. 238 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:00.120 So we're coming up. We were team and stuff on Linkedin, kind of 239 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:04.240 like, oh, stop, stop begging and paying to be on other people's 240 00:16:04.279 --> 00:16:08.679 platforms, build your own, which is still kind of true and we still 241 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:11.039 agree with that. But at the same time I didn't want to make it 242 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:15.000 the villain. I didn't want to demonize all the paid marketers, knowing that 243 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:17.799 we were gonna have to run some serious paid media at the same time in 244 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:21.600 order to get there. So I'm like, it feels weird. It takes 245 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:23.399 some time to rustle with and we've been wrestling with this for well over a 246 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:26.879 year and it's finally become clear that B two B is the thing we want 247 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:30.120 to we want to own, we want to celebrate, we want to make 248 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:33.080 B two B marketers feel like they're part of a tribe, like we're all 249 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:37.919 in it together. We're all business nerds that just love talking business. That's 250 00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:41.120 my one of my favorite things about it. Business is my hobby and I 251 00:16:41.159 --> 00:16:44.000 love work, like Work Force Fund to me. I love getting on podcasts 252 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:48.600 and just talking about you know, how to villainize BBCs was a great time. 253 00:16:48.039 --> 00:16:52.159 Um, I love talking about profit margins and how to make Grand Slam 254 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:56.759 offers, how to talk to customers and get insights from them like this is 255 00:16:56.799 --> 00:17:00.000 this is a good time. So we want to attract those kinds of people. 256 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:03.519 We're hoping that the that you listening to the show are the kind of 257 00:17:03.559 --> 00:17:06.359 people that like to nerd out over business stuff, especially, of course, 258 00:17:06.839 --> 00:17:10.400 business marketing, because that's what this show is about and that's what we're about. 259 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:14.880 But that's the kind of brand we want to create. Is Like nerds 260 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:18.839 and people that really are nerd out over B two B marketing all and all 261 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:22.680 its goodness and occasionally just take some chief shots of B two C just for 262 00:17:22.839 --> 00:17:26.759 that. And what was interesting is we're talking through this in Dallas. You 263 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:30.960 know, you often talk about your BBC experience being in Higher Ed and how 264 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:36.400 you were trying to attract, you know, students into the school, so 265 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:42.079 very much a b two s motion and how in outlandish Lee challenging that was 266 00:17:42.680 --> 00:17:47.319 and how much respite you have found. And B two B because, like, 267 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:51.480 I actually know who I'm marketing to now. I don't have to spray 268 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:55.839 and pray and guess, and my background is actually in B TWOC to my 269 00:17:55.960 --> 00:18:00.559 first tech company that I started, a company called wirthday uh was a tool 270 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:04.599 design to help people plan really incredible days for for their loved ones, and 271 00:18:06.039 --> 00:18:08.920 that was a B twoc product. I think I spent like twenty grand on 272 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:12.319 a credit card trying to figure out how to get this product to market. 273 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:17.079 We had it built, found a developer built it. On the day that 274 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:19.440 the site went live, my developer got a full time job had to bail. 275 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:22.680 I tried finding folks in India to keep the product going. I just 276 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:27.519 couldn't do it. But that's what got me into marketing, was trying to 277 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:32.519 figure out how to market this B two C technology product. But it ended 278 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:34.640 up, you know, we were charging like ten dollars one time to use 279 00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:38.640 the product. I knew nothing about business. I didn't. I probably couldn't 280 00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:41.799 have even told you the difference between B Two B and B two c back 281 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:48.559 then, but it was very much a B twoc product and I graduated up 282 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:52.480 to be two B and that's you know, now we've got sweet fish, 283 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:55.799 you know, two timing, five thousand company and I credit all the time 284 00:18:55.799 --> 00:19:00.000 when I'm talking to new our entrepreneurs, they're asking me about like how we've 285 00:19:00.039 --> 00:19:04.119 done it. I'm like a massive part of it was figuring out that B 286 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:07.680 two B was the way to go, and so I've been advocating for B 287 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:11.759 to be for a long time and so this it just clicked because it's your 288 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:17.880 story, it's my story, and we know this story. Story is powerful 289 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:21.559 and it's what resonates with people, and so I'm super excited that we've got 290 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:25.559 that, we've got locked in. We really you and I are super aligned 291 00:19:25.559 --> 00:19:27.599 on this Um and I think I think there's gonna be a lot of folks 292 00:19:27.640 --> 00:19:30.880 that are going to be attracted to it. I feel like we need to 293 00:19:30.920 --> 00:19:33.519 make a ritual, like when somebody graduates out of B two C and too 294 00:19:33.559 --> 00:19:37.920 B two B, you know, and just like find people every time we 295 00:19:37.960 --> 00:19:41.440 see someone on like linkedin talking about changing jobs to a B two B situation, 296 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:47.160 like we have a ritual we go through of like congratulations, you've graduated, 297 00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:49.680 welcome to the ranks, and B two B, Yes, well done. 298 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:56.000 Start creating rituals like that. Send him like a cap, like the 299 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:00.640 graduation cap. I don't know something, there's something there. We need to 300 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:03.039 start finding rituals for it, because there's probably they're probably all in there. 301 00:20:03.160 --> 00:20:07.519 But the graduation and like the coming to the adults table, like where to 302 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:10.799 B Two c marketers that have that have come over to the adult table now 303 00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:17.319 to do you some real stuff and see superior marketing is certainly easier, more 304 00:20:17.400 --> 00:20:19.960 profitable and can be just as fun as B two C. It's easier in 305 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:25.039 some ways and it's more complex and in other ways, but to me it's 306 00:20:25.079 --> 00:20:32.400 more fun because, uh, it's less lift for more impact. And that's 307 00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:34.759 not to say that that if you're in B two B that you're lazy. 308 00:20:34.920 --> 00:20:40.680 You want less lift, but you have more tools and resources at your disposal 309 00:20:40.920 --> 00:20:44.720 because you actually know who you're selling to. You know their names, you 310 00:20:44.759 --> 00:20:48.279 know their job titles, you know the companies they're at like. You know 311 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:52.960 the specifics of who you're going after and when you when you know who someone 312 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:56.559 is, the game gets really fun. So that's kind of wrapping it up 313 00:20:56.599 --> 00:21:02.119 for this week. On the beginning of this series in the journey how we're 314 00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:04.200 refocusing it on B two B, in the back story of why we're focusing 315 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:07.079 on B two B and now we're excited about it. In the next episode 316 00:21:07.079 --> 00:21:11.319 of the journey we want to tease the mission. What we're thinking is going 317 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:12.880 to be the mission of B two B growth and this whole B Two b 318 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:18.559 category that we're going to be passionately celebrating. So stay tuned for that next 319 00:21:18.599 --> 00:21:22.359 episode. We've got our villain. We talked in depth about our quote unquote, 320 00:21:22.440 --> 00:21:26.440 villain. I'm really excited, Dan, to to get into the mission 321 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:30.200 and again, it was one of those things that, because a lot of 322 00:21:30.200 --> 00:21:34.640 the work that we've done with sweet fish, ended up bleeding into and making 323 00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:38.200 the mission a whole lot easier than than it was to define the villain. 324 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:41.400 But I'm I'm excited next week to talk about that. If you like this 325 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:45.319 episode and you want to make sure that we continue to do more episodes of 326 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:48.359 the journey on B two B growth, make sure we reach out to Dan 327 00:21:48.519 --> 00:21:52.480 or myself on Linkedin. James Carberry, C A R B A R Y, 328 00:21:52.839 --> 00:21:56.680 Dan Sanchez on Linkedin, shoot us at D M or just send us 329 00:21:56.680 --> 00:22:00.680 a connection request with a personalized message it. It just says hey, listen 330 00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:03.920 to the episode. You should definitely keep doing them. That is our fuel 331 00:22:04.039 --> 00:22:08.160 for really letting US know if this content is resonating with you, the listener. 332 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:14.799 So we are really, really excited about this particular series and we hope 333 00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:15.519 to talk to you soon