The 30/30/30 Plan and Introducing a New Co-Host: Benji Block

WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.540 --> 00:00:02.740 Yeah, 2 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:09.760 welcome back to BTB Growth. I'm dan Sanchez with Sweet Fish Media and today 3 00:00:09.770 --> 00:00:15.490 I'm here with Benji Block, who is going to be the new co host for this show, 4 00:00:15.500 --> 00:00:20.410 BTB Growth. Benji, welcome to your first episode. Thanks dan. It's really 5 00:00:20.410 --> 00:00:25.050 exciting to be here and the kickoff. Benji's first episode I wanted to talk 6 00:00:25.050 --> 00:00:29.490 about essentially a topic that I actually mentioned way back in june 7 00:00:29.500 --> 00:00:34.350 around thought leadership and it was around a methodology that I called the 8 00:00:34.350 --> 00:00:39.780 30 30 30 plan because believe it or not as a podcast host, there is a 9 00:00:39.780 --> 00:00:45.480 tremendous, tremendous opportunity to learn and to grow. It's honestly one of 10 00:00:45.480 --> 00:00:50.260 my favorite parts about podcasting is the amount of growth that happens for 11 00:00:50.260 --> 00:00:54.090 the host, even though the host might do like solo episodes every once in a 12 00:00:54.090 --> 00:01:00.290 while to be able to interview experts over and over and over again on all the 13 00:01:00.290 --> 00:01:03.070 different topics you'd ever want to hear about and have an excuse to reach 14 00:01:03.070 --> 00:01:07.090 out to every author of books you've read. That blew your mind the amount of 15 00:01:07.090 --> 00:01:11.720 career growth and honestly, like I talked about this last summer, the 16 00:01:11.720 --> 00:01:15.180 thought leadership, you can build around a topic just through hosting and 17 00:01:15.180 --> 00:01:20.530 podcasting Is substantial. So we actually wanted to use this episode as 18 00:01:20.530 --> 00:01:24.180 a way to kind of benchmark Benji's journey as a new host to be, to be 19 00:01:24.180 --> 00:01:28.690 growth and honestly someone who is fairly new to B2B marketing but not new 20 00:01:28.690 --> 00:01:32.700 to marketing, to kind of start kick off his journey that way. And then actually 21 00:01:32.710 --> 00:01:37.960 benchmark it along the way to see where Benjie has gone because I know I felt 22 00:01:37.960 --> 00:01:43.100 it in my journey James Carberry, the founder of Sweet Fish and the founder 23 00:01:43.100 --> 00:01:46.460 of this podcast has felt it on his journey. He did the first, I don't know 24 00:01:46.460 --> 00:01:50.490 1200 episodes of the show and didn't know very much about marketing from the 25 00:01:50.490 --> 00:01:54.750 beginning now he does because he's talked to 1200 experts, you know, and 26 00:01:54.750 --> 00:02:00.990 in my 30 30 30 plan, I talk about one, you can use books and reading as one 27 00:02:00.990 --> 00:02:03.850 pillar of learning and Benji is certainly going to be reading a lot, 28 00:02:03.850 --> 00:02:08.070 but the second main pillar is just interviewing the experts and there's no 29 00:02:08.070 --> 00:02:12.090 better way to get in front of those people who know that they really know 30 00:02:12.090 --> 00:02:15.450 what they're talking about because they're practitioners doing the work 31 00:02:15.640 --> 00:02:19.780 than getting on a starting a podcast and actually just asking them and 32 00:02:19.780 --> 00:02:23.640 interviewing them about their expertise, people want to get in front of an 33 00:02:23.640 --> 00:02:26.710 audience and so give them the opportunity to be in front of your 34 00:02:26.710 --> 00:02:30.090 audience by starting a podcast and having them on. That's the very 35 00:02:30.090 --> 00:02:35.070 methodology behind B2B growth. And while we do it to build relationships 36 00:02:35.070 --> 00:02:40.730 with our ideal buyers, we also get the added benefit of learning and becoming 37 00:02:40.730 --> 00:02:44.890 better at our own marketing craft by interviewing these people. So to kind 38 00:02:44.890 --> 00:02:49.920 of kick off and set the benchmark for Benji I wanted to ask you three 39 00:02:49.920 --> 00:02:53.990 questions, one kind of, what's your background, How did you get to where 40 00:02:53.990 --> 00:02:59.580 you are? Yeah, Thanks dan. It's exciting days here at sweet fish and an 41 00:02:59.580 --> 00:03:04.240 exciting time to be joining this team. Uh, great question. So how did I get 42 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:10.150 here? I have been involved in marketing more on the social media side and 43 00:03:10.150 --> 00:03:15.180 nonprofit side for several years, helping things grow and trying to get 44 00:03:15.180 --> 00:03:19.460 messages into the world. But when it comes to be to be, I really only worked 45 00:03:19.470 --> 00:03:23.260 in sales and customer service in that space. But there's always been this 46 00:03:23.270 --> 00:03:28.770 interest internally To go man, there's so much amazing things happening here, 47 00:03:28.770 --> 00:03:31.800 but like I'm just new to it and I just want to ask questions and learn and 48 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:36.000 grow. And so the last year in the B2B space has been exciting, but it hasn't 49 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:40.860 been in podcasting, it was in sales and customer service. And so marketing 50 00:03:41.340 --> 00:03:46.760 coming into that from a nonprofit side or social media, my brain loves it. But 51 00:03:46.760 --> 00:03:49.980 now to bring that over to this space and just get to ask experts like you 52 00:03:49.980 --> 00:03:55.240 said is really exciting for me and I know you came with some substantial 53 00:03:55.250 --> 00:03:58.700 experience already on the podcasting side. What were some of the podcast you 54 00:03:58.700 --> 00:04:04.910 were hosting before this show? So for me, podcasting started really just out 55 00:04:04.910 --> 00:04:10.460 of an overflow of passion. I started my own podcast because I tore my achilles 56 00:04:10.470 --> 00:04:15.090 and I was playing basketball, I go up for a rebound. I thought someone hit me 57 00:04:15.100 --> 00:04:19.620 with a bat in the back of the leg and I was like, oh my gosh, so go to the 58 00:04:19.620 --> 00:04:24.450 doctor, find out I tore my achilles. I hop into my closet basically because 59 00:04:24.450 --> 00:04:27.560 they're like, you're going to have to sit for the next six months, like you 60 00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:32.420 can't do anything, you just basically stay in your room, watch tv. That 61 00:04:32.420 --> 00:04:35.970 doesn't work for me. I'm a go getter, I want to do things, I want to learn 62 00:04:35.970 --> 00:04:40.030 things and I'm like, what can I do? I could start a podcast. Uh, so I hop 63 00:04:40.030 --> 00:04:44.560 into my closet. I like had my mac balanced on my hamper. I'm sitting 64 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:48.120 right below my clothes that are hanging in my closet, like calling people from 65 00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:52.680 my closet and podcasting that way. And at that time I was working for a church 66 00:04:52.680 --> 00:04:55.330 and I was wanting to become a better leader and a better creative because I 67 00:04:55.330 --> 00:04:59.670 was a creative arts director. And so I really just started reaching out to 68 00:04:59.670 --> 00:05:04.390 people going, I want to learn from you ask some questions, positioning myself 69 00:05:04.400 --> 00:05:08.380 as a student, positioning myself as a learner. And then over time, like 70 00:05:08.380 --> 00:05:12.340 you've alluded to uh thought leadership came out of that. I started having 71 00:05:12.340 --> 00:05:17.340 different perspectives and I do solo episodes and grew A lot in my in my 72 00:05:17.340 --> 00:05:22.710 20's doing that and podcasting on my own over time. Then people started 73 00:05:22.710 --> 00:05:26.480 asking me questions, how do I start my own podcast? And I was growing in my 74 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:30.030 communication skills, so I'm starting to get to travel and speak a little bit, 75 00:05:30.040 --> 00:05:35.410 and then with time I got started podcasting for author, our and 76 00:05:35.410 --> 00:05:38.930 interviewing authors who had just recently come out with books and so in 77 00:05:38.930 --> 00:05:44.420 different formats, whether as an editor host, sitting behind a mic, podcasting 78 00:05:44.420 --> 00:05:48.260 has been a part of my life for many years now, and I'm excited to do this 79 00:05:48.260 --> 00:05:52.660 in the B two B space being a little bit new to me, but feeling like man 80 00:05:52.670 --> 00:05:55.660 chopping it up with some of these people is going to be extremely 81 00:05:55.660 --> 00:05:59.180 important for my growth, but also to give them a platform to share what 82 00:05:59.180 --> 00:06:03.960 they're learning and uh that's gonna be so beneficial for our audience. What 83 00:06:03.960 --> 00:06:07.690 are some of the things you're hoping to learn from interviewing B two B 84 00:06:07.690 --> 00:06:13.740 marketing leaders? Yeah, I want to understand the full depth, I think when 85 00:06:13.740 --> 00:06:19.150 you're talking to practitioners, it's very different than visionary 86 00:06:19.150 --> 00:06:22.250 leadership right? Where it's like, this is where we want to be down the road 87 00:06:22.640 --> 00:06:25.910 talking to a marketer and a B two B space is like, okay, what's working 88 00:06:25.910 --> 00:06:29.430 right now today? And you're gonna obviously, I'm gonna have to learn a 89 00:06:29.430 --> 00:06:34.320 lot of new terminology uh that excites me, I love learning different languages, 90 00:06:34.320 --> 00:06:38.580 like you talk to somebody and they're really in a space and you're like you 91 00:06:38.580 --> 00:06:41.820 are saying so many words that I do not understand yet, right? So I've been 92 00:06:41.820 --> 00:06:45.880 like flipping through B two B glossaries of words and just trying to 93 00:06:45.880 --> 00:06:51.310 get fully integrated there. I'm excited to understand account based marketing a 94 00:06:51.310 --> 00:06:55.820 little bit more and really understand how that works and and meet marketing 95 00:06:55.820 --> 00:07:00.710 leaders just from different circles and uh to get to pick their brains on a 96 00:07:00.710 --> 00:07:04.180 variety of topics. I just think when you're doing as many podcast as we're 97 00:07:04.180 --> 00:07:08.360 doing here at Sweet Fish and with B two B growth, the opportunity is honestly 98 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:12.050 limitless. There is a lot of opportunity and you will have the 99 00:07:12.050 --> 00:07:16.440 chance to interview some of the best minds And not just B2B marketing, but 100 00:07:16.440 --> 00:07:20.280 marketing in general. I know it's been one of my favorite parts about hosting 101 00:07:20.290 --> 00:07:24.700 this show. Um and honestly anybody who is a listener of the show gets the 102 00:07:24.710 --> 00:07:29.650 added benefit of hearing everything, all the conversations, it's almost like 103 00:07:29.650 --> 00:07:32.890 podcasting is not even fair is you get to sit in on all these like what could 104 00:07:32.890 --> 00:07:35.590 have just been a coffee shop conversation. You get to sit down and 105 00:07:35.590 --> 00:07:39.680 listen to the master's uh spill their, their favorite campaigns or what 106 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:45.180 they're experimenting with our thinking about now. So I think the one, the one 107 00:07:45.180 --> 00:07:48.400 thing you get as a host though is you get to, you get to ask you my favorite 108 00:07:48.410 --> 00:07:52.310 questions and bring up your specific and want things that maybe as a 109 00:07:52.310 --> 00:07:55.690 listener, you don't have the exact same chance unless you go find them on 110 00:07:55.690 --> 00:08:00.340 social or something or just start your own podcast and interview them yourself. 111 00:08:00.350 --> 00:08:04.450 They'll probably say yes. So lastly, where do you expect to be six months 112 00:08:04.450 --> 00:08:09.190 from now? It's kind of a vague and like vague question and can lead to a lot of 113 00:08:09.190 --> 00:08:13.670 different places, but just so we can actually play this episode back six 114 00:08:13.670 --> 00:08:18.370 months from now at a separate recording and kind of maybe laugh or be like, oh 115 00:08:18.370 --> 00:08:22.670 we got even farther than before where paint a picture of what six months from 116 00:08:22.670 --> 00:08:28.190 now could look like. I don't know, I will say that first, I can tell you 117 00:08:28.200 --> 00:08:32.809 there will be a level of depth in my knowledge and there will be things that 118 00:08:32.809 --> 00:08:37.720 I agree and disagree with right now, it's learning and so it's going to be a 119 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:40.850 lot of like, oh, what's your perspective on that? I think six months 120 00:08:40.850 --> 00:08:44.480 from now, Benji has perspectives on things that goes, I don't know if I 121 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:48.900 agreed with that, you know what I mean? Like I have perspective gained because 122 00:08:48.900 --> 00:08:52.590 of all the people that I've talked to and I think that is what I'm probably 123 00:08:52.590 --> 00:08:56.240 most excited for and know will happen six months from now because when you 124 00:08:56.240 --> 00:09:01.370 talk about your 30 30 30 plan, a big part of that was also books and taking 125 00:09:01.370 --> 00:09:04.530 in the books that I've taken in so far, even you're starting to see, okay, 126 00:09:04.530 --> 00:09:08.250 there's some different schools of thoughts on certain things, but I think 127 00:09:08.250 --> 00:09:11.660 six months from now, I probably know a little bit more about where I fall, 128 00:09:11.660 --> 00:09:15.740 where I like asking follow up questions and podcasting in this space is 129 00:09:15.740 --> 00:09:20.900 exciting to me because it is a little bit of a new zone to just focus in on 130 00:09:20.900 --> 00:09:25.460 and go, okay, let's learn as much as we possibly can here in the first, Like 131 00:09:25.460 --> 00:09:29.150 you said, six months and I'm looking forward to it. One of my favorite 132 00:09:29.150 --> 00:09:32.430 things to do as a marketer is just to talk shop with other marketers and 133 00:09:32.440 --> 00:09:35.680 honestly sometimes throw down over different things like, no, it's this 134 00:09:35.680 --> 00:09:40.020 way, no, it's that way, no dimensions. The best, no demand gen is just, it's 135 00:09:40.020 --> 00:09:43.050 just rehashing what marketers have been saying for a bring back friendly 136 00:09:43.050 --> 00:09:47.110 divisions. I love it. It's usually happening on lengthen every day. I'm 137 00:09:47.110 --> 00:09:50.330 always up for debates. In fact, I think I have a scheduled debate for B2B 138 00:09:50.330 --> 00:09:56.370 growth coming up. Sure. Do I saw that linked in comment. So that's the best 139 00:09:56.370 --> 00:10:00.560 part is we learn and grow together. I know Benji will be learning and growing 140 00:10:00.560 --> 00:10:04.920 by talking to a number of Even listeners to the show, but B- two B 141 00:10:04.920 --> 00:10:08.910 marketing leaders that are, that are doing some great stuff. So Benji, thank 142 00:10:08.910 --> 00:10:12.640 you so much for joining me on the show today. Um, we are all looking forward 143 00:10:12.640 --> 00:10:16.020 to hearing the experts that you're gonna be hosting on the show and 144 00:10:16.020 --> 00:10:19.220 learning from them all together. Yeah, absolutely. The best days are ahead, 145 00:10:19.230 --> 00:10:23.760 excited. And uh if you want to connect with me, definitely reach out now on 146 00:10:23.760 --> 00:10:28.740 linkedin and I would love to talk to you guys and excited to get to start 147 00:10:28.750 --> 00:10:32.210 interviewing some of the amazing people that are doing great work in this B two 148 00:10:32.210 --> 00:10:35.340 B space dang. I was just gonna plug linkedin. I'm like, if you want to 149 00:10:35.350 --> 00:10:39.250 follow in Benji's journey, like get in early, go connect with him on linkedin 150 00:10:39.640 --> 00:10:43.860 and we'll have a link in the show notes of course to make it a little easier to 151 00:10:43.860 --> 00:10:44.510 find them there. 152 00:10:46.340 --> 00:10:46.550 Okay, 153 00:10:47.640 --> 00:10:51.500 one of the things we've learned about podcast audience growth is that word of 154 00:10:51.500 --> 00:10:56.190 mouth works. It works really, really well actually. So if you love this show, 155 00:10:56.190 --> 00:11:00.100 it would be awesome if you texted a friend to tell them about it. And if 156 00:11:00.100 --> 00:11:04.430 you send me a text with a screenshot of the text you sent to your friend, meta. 157 00:11:04.440 --> 00:11:08.070 I know I'll send you a copy of my book, content based networking, how to 158 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:11.520 instantly connect with anyone you want to know. My cell phone number is 159 00:11:11.520 --> 00:11:17.360 40749033 to 8 Happy texting