Your Marketing Teams Biggest Struggle | Original Research

WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.199 --> 00:00:12.880 Conversations from the front lines and marketing. This is B two B growth. 2 00:00:17.320 --> 00:00:20.960 Here at sweet fish and B two B growth, we place high value on 3 00:00:21.079 --> 00:00:27.039 experimentation in continued evolution. We want to help our clients create incredible shows that 4 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:31.719 leaders proudly say are their favorite, and clearly that's also the vision here internally 5 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:35.320 for our show, B two B growth. With that heart, today is 6 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:39.640 our first try at something brand new. Last year we sat down with a 7 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:44.679 hundred marketing leaders and we began an original research project to get a sense of 8 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:48.799 where teams are actually at, and so we asked questions like what are the 9 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:53.560 marketing KPI s your CEO is looking at regularly? What's the most overrated B 10 00:00:53.640 --> 00:00:57.320 Two B marketing trend? What technology are you looking to add to your tech 11 00:00:57.399 --> 00:01:02.600 stack? What's your most successful marketing channel? And we've compiled the findings to 12 00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:06.879 those questions and more, and today we're gonna Start to bring those to you, 13 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:11.680 so you can expect an episode each week dissecting this research for the foreseeable 14 00:01:11.719 --> 00:01:15.640 future. I want to say a special thanks and give a shout out to 15 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:19.000 all the leaders who gave us their time. They answer these questions, and 16 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:25.519 now we get to glean insights. So let's jump in enjoy this first episode 17 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:36.480 on Your Marketing Team's biggest struggle. Friends, today we're here to tackle your 18 00:01:36.519 --> 00:01:40.840 team's largest hurdle and the thing we've heard time and time again that is a 19 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:45.200 struggle. It's the pain point, the thorn in the side of your marketing 20 00:01:45.239 --> 00:01:49.159 team. We have the data. We're excited to share it. We asked 21 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:53.000 a hundred B two B marketing leaders what their marketing team's biggest struggle is, 22 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:57.599 and I'll tell you our findings in just a second. But before we get 23 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:00.480 there, let me tell you who's here for the discussion. And we got 24 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:05.719 James Carberry, founder and head of marketing, Purrett sweet fish and Logan Lyles, 25 00:02:05.799 --> 00:02:09.479 vp of revenue and innovation. Guys, glad to have you here on 26 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:14.360 B two B growth for this exciting conversation. This is gonna be Super Fun 27 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:16.800 at this original research has been a long time coming, so I'm glad that 28 00:02:16.840 --> 00:02:21.199 we're finally getting to start putting getting to to put some insights out into the 29 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:23.520 world. Thanks for having me back on the MIC. It's been a while 30 00:02:23.560 --> 00:02:27.360 since I've actually been on the show. Benji. People are like, Oh 31 00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:29.639 yeah, look, and I know you from B two B growth, that 32 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:32.599 that new host is a lot better. Just heard that earlier this week. 33 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:37.039 Just well, thanks for dusting off the MIC and I don't know about that, 34 00:02:37.080 --> 00:02:40.319 but I appreciate the EGO boosts. So I want to start with lived 35 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:44.879 experience and then we'll get to the data. The data, however, you 36 00:02:44.919 --> 00:02:47.120 say it all right. So lived experience. Both of you have spent time 37 00:02:47.159 --> 00:02:53.280 building teams. You spent time around marketing and the question that we posed at 38 00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:58.800 a hundred marketing leaders I'll now pose at you. What is our marketing team's 39 00:02:58.919 --> 00:03:01.360 biggest struggle? And, James, why don't you take the first swing here? 40 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:07.240 Yeah, I think it's lack of prioritization. There's so many things you 41 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:14.520 can do to win in marketing today. You can win leveraging a B M, 42 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:19.639 you can win on social, you can win through podcasting, you can 43 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:24.400 win by having a phenomenal Seo Strategy. Like there's just so many ways to 44 00:03:24.439 --> 00:03:30.000 win and and that's overwhelming, I think for marketing leaders. It's like you 45 00:03:30.039 --> 00:03:32.520 hear about a new strategy, you hear a new thought leader come onto the 46 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:37.599 scene out of nowhere, and I know for me personally, like I hear 47 00:03:37.639 --> 00:03:40.520 Alex Harmosey talking about, like how we need to build a better offer, 48 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:45.759 like we've got to focus on the offer, and then you hear Chris Walker 49 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:50.919 going on and on about creating demand and and like you hear Gary v talk 50 00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:54.159 about how you need to document instead of create, and all of them makes 51 00:03:54.159 --> 00:03:59.719 sense and all of those things are working for each of those people and and 52 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:03.560 like how do I take pieces of that and develop our own strategy and our 53 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:09.520 own focus? And it's hard, like you end up, it's just really 54 00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:14.639 easy to not have a clear, coherent vision of this is how we are 55 00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:19.160 going to win, especially someone like myself who is taking in and ingesting a 56 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:24.879 ton of content and just seeing that there's way more than one way to win. 57 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:27.800 You've got people saying building a category is the way to do it, 58 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:31.120 creating demand is the way to do it, have an irresistible offer is the 59 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:34.120 way to do it, and it's just it's just a lot like well, 60 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:38.519 okay, like now we just need to pick one and go yeah, look. 61 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:41.480 And what's your kind of lived experience around this? What do you feel 62 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:45.399 like? Is that that struggle, that hurdle, similar to that but a 63 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:50.279 little bit different, is sticking with something long enough to determine is it a 64 00:04:50.519 --> 00:04:54.720 success. So now some of that comes in the form of what James has 65 00:04:54.759 --> 00:04:57.680 talked about. All right, we're doing this. We're gonna go all in 66 00:04:57.720 --> 00:05:00.920 on original research and that's going to be a pillar to our content strategy and 67 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:04.160 it's going to lead to these others and then we're going to prioritize these two 68 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:09.959 channels to push out those those insights. Right. But then two months into 69 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:13.839 that, something happens. Either there's a new idea, you hear something that 70 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:16.839 we need to pivot on, or something just happens in the business. Right, 71 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:20.120 it's not always just shiny objects syndrome. Sometimes, if you're in a 72 00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:26.959 high growth organization, especially one like ours that's bootstrapped in high growth, sometimes 73 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:30.879 there are factors that just make you have to pivot and you don't really know 74 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:36.279 was that successful, was that on the right track? And so that prioritization 75 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:43.240 from just the shiny objects syndrome, paired with changes in the business and priorities 76 00:05:43.319 --> 00:05:47.360 even beyond marketing, can create this mixture of just I don't know what to 77 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:51.720 do. I don't know if what we've done is working or did work, 78 00:05:51.879 --> 00:05:57.600 or should we keep doing it? So I think sometimes we talk about prioritization 79 00:05:57.639 --> 00:05:59.519 and it's just like, oh, we're a bunch of, you know, 80 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:02.680 distract acted marketers that are onto the next thing. It was clubhouse and now 81 00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:08.920 it's Tiktok and tomorrow it's something different. But there are real challenges to that 82 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:12.720 prioritization that James was talking about. That does have to do with picking a 83 00:06:12.839 --> 00:06:16.079 channel and sticking with it, but also the other factors in the business that 84 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:21.160 surround those decisions and those priorities to the word that keeps resonating in my head 85 00:06:21.399 --> 00:06:29.439 is bandwidth. Like you have all these ideas, you have internal things you 86 00:06:29.480 --> 00:06:31.519 have to execute on, you have the old plan you were running before. 87 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:35.079 How do you and then this goes to the word you guys are both using. 88 00:06:35.160 --> 00:06:40.879 How do you prioritize effectively and where do you spend your bandwidth? How 89 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:43.839 much of it goes to new ideas? How much of it goes to the 90 00:06:43.879 --> 00:06:46.920 way that has been working? How do you talk about the new things you 91 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:49.839 want to try to the market, to inform them of where you're going, 92 00:06:49.959 --> 00:06:55.560 while also executing the thing that got you here? And when you're asking all 93 00:06:55.560 --> 00:07:00.879 those questions at the same time, overwhelmingly what we saw at the response to 94 00:07:00.920 --> 00:07:03.319 this data is what we're all hitting on. The word ends up being focused. 95 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:09.480 Like we struggle to figure out how to focus. And so when you 96 00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:13.639 zoom out on and I'll read some of the specific responses here, when you 97 00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:17.279 zoom on out on what they're saying, they're saying we don't know where to 98 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:21.399 focus. We have so many priorities or things we could be doing. And 99 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:27.160 again, it's not just like shiny objects syndrome all the time. It's just 100 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:29.600 there's a lot of ways you end up in a lack of focus. So 101 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:33.879 I'll read some Ben Slater said they have an ambitious team. So capacity becomes 102 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:36.959 an issue. Right, bandwidth? Did they bite off more than they can 103 00:07:38.040 --> 00:07:42.240 chew? Adam Goyet, I have to say real pause, real quick. 104 00:07:42.519 --> 00:07:46.639 I struggle with last names, so there's a good chance I get last names 105 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:49.240 wrong here. No, Goyette is right. I do know Adam, so 106 00:07:49.319 --> 00:07:53.079 you're good. Good. If I get one wrong and you know it, 107 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:58.000 correct me. But Adam Goyette, focus on the projects that are really significant 108 00:07:58.120 --> 00:08:03.240 for us. Andrew Haley, learning how to do things at scale and to 109 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:07.439 communicate, to add the right amount of process but not get bogged down. 110 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:11.680 And again that becomes like that focus. That's the word that resonates there. 111 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:15.800 Charlie Fashiona, who I anyone want to take a shot at that last name? 112 00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:20.279 Finding enough time in a day. Again, what do I focus on? 113 00:08:20.360 --> 00:08:24.959 And so when you hear those responses, I think there's part of us 114 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:28.120 that goes, we're not in this alone. Then the other part of the 115 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:31.399 discussion is like, okay, so where do we go from here? There's 116 00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:35.480 a lot of ways you end up in a lack of focus. But as 117 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:39.840 you're thinking of this, like what do you feel is the remedy, James, 118 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:43.200 like what is there some things you found? Yeah, when? So, 119 00:08:43.240 --> 00:08:46.360 when we first got this insight back, as timmy was was digging into 120 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:50.960 the data and and we were talking about it the other day, the thing 121 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:54.240 that I was actually really encouraged by was, you know, the problem of 122 00:08:54.320 --> 00:09:00.120 focus can actually be solved in a very tangible way by what we do for 123 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:03.519 our clients. And and obviously this is biased because we're a podcast agency, 124 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:11.000 but if your focus is on creating your market's favorite show and you are rallying 125 00:09:11.080 --> 00:09:18.200 your resources around creating your market's favorite show, there are things that are natural 126 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:24.360 byproducts of that show that fuel all of the things that typically would be seen 127 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:30.120 as competitive to a particular strategy. But when you're focused on creating this great 128 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:35.360 show that is fueling micro content for social it's allowing you to build community, 129 00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:41.279 it's allowing you to create demand because if you're doing your show right, you're 130 00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:43.559 taking your brand story, your points of view, you're pressing them up against 131 00:09:43.639 --> 00:09:50.320 market input and then you're you're pushing that content into your market. So you're 132 00:09:50.360 --> 00:09:54.000 creating demand. You can do a B M depending on how you do the 133 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:58.399 original research or your guest strategy, if you're if you're building content with your 134 00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:07.840 ideal buyer. So there's so many different pieces around executing your markets favorite show 135 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:13.039 and being the person that hosts and runs your markets favorite show that touch all 136 00:10:13.080 --> 00:10:16.080 of these other things. So when I first heard it, that's where my 137 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:18.679 my mind initially when I was like, man, how incredibly blessed are we 138 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.440 as a business to be championing this because, as I think about it for 139 00:10:24.519 --> 00:10:26.480 us, I'm like, what if we were to solely focus on B two 140 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:30.399 B growth? And I think about all the different things we've been able to 141 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:33.200 do with that. We've been able to build marketing squads on the back of 142 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:37.799 that by inviting our guests to join us in micro communities. We fuel our 143 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:43.120 linkedin content with videos like what we're recording here from an episode of B twob 144 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:46.840 growth. But we're also getting the massive benefit of having this long form content 145 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:54.159 that people can consume passively and build affinity toward our brand by spending just volumes 146 00:10:54.200 --> 00:10:58.440 of time with us. So that's that's where my head went. I think, 147 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:01.559 even zooming out from there, that's why pillar content becomes so crucial, 148 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:07.080 because then you know where you're centering your focus and then essentially the planets that 149 00:11:07.240 --> 00:11:11.519 orbit around that, and that's what you want in your strategy. That's why, 150 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:18.480 even organizationally, when you have those goals that everyone is behind for your 151 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:22.000 marketing team, that's why that gets harped on right like. Then we know 152 00:11:22.679 --> 00:11:28.200 what the main focus is. It's interesting to use the podcast as an example 153 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:33.600 because I think it does it solidifies so much of the rest of the strategy. 154 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:35.679 Yeah, that's really good. You guys. I'm thinking three things. 155 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:43.639 One is around this pillar or hub content at the center of your strategy. 156 00:11:43.080 --> 00:11:46.639 The second is around something you just alluded to, Benji, is goal setting 157 00:11:48.200 --> 00:11:52.159 that I think has been transformative, a work in progress, not perfect here 158 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:54.159 at sweet fish. And then the third is something kind of granular. But 159 00:11:54.279 --> 00:11:58.320 to take the first one that we were talking about is, if you think 160 00:11:58.360 --> 00:12:03.399 about your podcast or something else that you're already that you're already doing, being 161 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:07.080 that pillar or being that hub in the middle of your strategy, and your 162 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:11.759 other strategies are spinning off from that, your a b m strategy, your 163 00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:16.000 research strategy, your SEO strategy, right instead of all those lining up and 164 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:20.440 you know, looking at six different columns and and you're going back and forth 165 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:22.840 and what do I focus on? It's focus on that hub in the middle 166 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:28.720 and then the execution goes out from there. So I think that that makes 167 00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:33.480 it a little bit less overwhelming. And you know something that Justin Simon at 168 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:37.799 metadata talks about a ton is that so many marketing teams are trying to create 169 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:43.240 new content and they don't spend enough time thinking about repurposing and distributing. This 170 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:48.279 hub and spoke model really addresses that because you're focusing on that hub or that 171 00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:52.639 pillar in the center and then the other pieces become easier to repurpose and to 172 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:58.360 just focus on a consistent distribution strategy. Right. The second piece for us, 173 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:03.480 since we had opted e O s, the entrepreneurial operating system, we 174 00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:07.840 found that setting rocks, which are the quarterly goals right. Some some teams 175 00:13:07.879 --> 00:13:11.399 are used to okay RS or other goal setting formulas, if you use for 176 00:13:11.559 --> 00:13:16.120 d x or something like that, but having quarterly goals has really changed the 177 00:13:16.120 --> 00:13:18.799 game for us. Now we've found that you can't just set quarterly goals. 178 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:24.120 You have to create a system for setting those, for accountability, for review. 179 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:26.120 There's actually more that goes into it than you would actually think. I 180 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:31.039 understand why there are tech companies built around okay RS and e o s and 181 00:13:31.080 --> 00:13:35.279 those sorts of things now, but about ninety days is the time that it 182 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:39.399 takes to lose energy, to lose focus, to use the word of the 183 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:43.480 day. And so, whether it's e o s or something like that, 184 00:13:43.639 --> 00:13:48.720 a system for goal setting and execution in your marketing team, paired with that 185 00:13:48.840 --> 00:13:52.080 hub and spoke model of your content in the center that feeds the rest, 186 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:56.039 really can be a great combination. And then I think the third thing to 187 00:13:56.120 --> 00:14:01.279 get really granular. I heard something about this on the customer experience podcast with 188 00:14:01.480 --> 00:14:09.039 Ethan Butte the other day is talk about talking, talk about your communication strategy 189 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:11.840 internally, because marketing teams are doing creative work, they're doing a lot of 190 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:18.879 different things. So I think marketing teams are especially susceptible to communication fatigue, 191 00:14:18.919 --> 00:14:22.000 to channel overwhelmed. Right I'm slacking someone about this, I'm texting someone about 192 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:26.600 that, I'm calling, we're emailing here. So on your team, set 193 00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:31.799 some priorities or set some kind of bright line rules for hey, this is 194 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:35.720 where we communicate, what we communicate about in a sauna. This is what 195 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:39.080 we use slack for, this is when and how we text each other. 196 00:14:39.159 --> 00:14:43.240 Not to be kind of dogmatic about it, but to set some bright line 197 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:48.559 rules that allow you to focus and get the deep work done that needs to 198 00:14:48.600 --> 00:14:52.639 happen. I love all three of those Logan. I think that's some key 199 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:56.960 insights and it had this question rolling around in my mind. I am so 200 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:03.279 guilty of always thinking in questions. But I under where are people currently asking? 201 00:15:03.720 --> 00:15:05.720 What should we stop doing? Like, where's the meeting? Where that 202 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:09.159 shows up, and how does it show up? Where do you actually go 203 00:15:09.240 --> 00:15:13.679 back and forth with the team on we've been running this for a long time 204 00:15:13.080 --> 00:15:16.039 and now it needs to change or shift, and it doesn't mean like, 205 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:20.639 okay, we were using written content and now we don't use written content at 206 00:15:20.679 --> 00:15:24.559 all, but we're renegotiating how much written content we come out with or having 207 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:28.879 like, for us, around B two B growth, going from five episodes 208 00:15:28.919 --> 00:15:31.879 to three, or what's the future look like? That makes the most sense 209 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:37.440 in this current season, where you have that recurring conversation, matters a lot 210 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:41.399 because the more that you have these like new goals, new things that you 211 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:45.480 want to do, they again we'll run into a bandwidth issue, you're going 212 00:15:45.559 --> 00:15:50.919 to run into a capacity problem if you don't have a conversation around what can 213 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:54.559 you actually manage right now. So that question to me and finding a place, 214 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:58.639 a recurring meeting where that question can be asked becomes really compelling and I'd 215 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:03.360 say if you're a marketing leader, you need to be the one who initiates 216 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:07.080 that. There are probably members of your team who are thinking that, but 217 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:10.960 they don't want to be the one to say should we stop doing this webinar 218 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:14.919 series because it was the VPS idea right. It's gonna be hard for them 219 00:16:14.919 --> 00:16:18.559 to raise their hand and say maybe we should next that right, but if 220 00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:21.879 you, as the leaders say look, everything is on the table. What 221 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:26.720 should we think about stopping right now? And I think you'll be surprised at 222 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:32.080 what your team may bring up if you're the one who prompts that m that's 223 00:16:32.120 --> 00:16:37.320 what I love so much about e o s. two is it creates a 224 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:42.519 system. It creates rhythms for surfacing those issues. So in in the weekly 225 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:48.039 what they call Elton Level Ten meeting Um that departments have and that the company 226 00:16:48.120 --> 00:16:52.600 leadership team has, that anyone can can bring up an issue to throw on 227 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:56.960 the issues list and they call it the I D s list because it's identified. 228 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:02.120 You first have to identify what is the root issue and then you discuss 229 00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:06.319 it and then you solve it, and when you solve it, that issue 230 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:11.000 should not pop back up on the list. And so what I found as 231 00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:17.960 the CEO is really having to over communicate that people put issues on the list. 232 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:22.359 Like, don't be afraid to put issues on the list. I cannot 233 00:17:22.359 --> 00:17:26.720 be the only one seeing issues. Across the business everyone's seeing issues. But 234 00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:30.880 to your point earlier, can I bring this issue up because it was James's 235 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:33.680 idea six months ago, and if I say that it's not working then you 236 00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:37.640 know, or I don't really want to rub my boss the wrong way, 237 00:17:37.720 --> 00:17:41.400 because I know they were really championing this thing. And so that's what's so 238 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:45.640 cool about us, the Rock Setting piece of Eos, just the way they 239 00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:49.640 do quarterly rocks and and annual that roll up to annual rocks that are roll 240 00:17:49.720 --> 00:17:53.319 up to an annual annual goals and then a three year picture and a ten 241 00:17:53.400 --> 00:18:00.839 year plan like that's transformed our business. But the weekly like rhythm and cadence 242 00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:04.960 of meeting discussing these issues. But you're not going to get the most out 243 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:10.599 of those meetings if you're not invited constantly, like making sure everybody knows, 244 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:15.720 like you are responsible for bringing issues, any problems you see across the business, 245 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:18.319 like we're not going to talk about them if you don't bring them. 246 00:18:18.359 --> 00:18:23.000 And so to your point, Benji, it's like that idea of like somebody 247 00:18:23.079 --> 00:18:26.960 needs to bring an issue to say, like what what do we need to 248 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:30.279 stop doing right now, like I'm feeling overwhelmed, drama, obser everything that 249 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:33.680 somebody else on my team is overwhelmed, like what do we need to stop 250 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:37.640 doing? And the more we can not only make it okay but make people 251 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:44.400 like know how critical that bringing issues to those meetings are, so that that's 252 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:45.680 what I like. The structure of e O s, to me, is 253 00:18:45.720 --> 00:18:56.119 phenomenal because it creates space for those kind of questions to be asked. Hey 254 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:57.880 everyone, if you've been listening to be to be growth for a while, 255 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:03.079 you know that we are big proponents of putting out original, organic content on 256 00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:07.000 Linkedin, but one thing that's always been a struggle for a team like ours 257 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:12.319 is easily tracking the reach of that linkedin content. That's why we're really excited 258 00:19:12.440 --> 00:19:17.960 about shield analytics. Since our team started using shield, we've been able to 259 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:22.880 easily track the reach and performance of our linkedin content without having to manually log 260 00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:27.880 it ourselves. It automatically creates reports and it generates dashboards that are incredibly useful 261 00:19:29.240 --> 00:19:33.440 to determining things like what content has been performing the best, what days of 262 00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:38.000 the week are we getting the most engagement and our average views per post. 263 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:45.000 Shield has been a game changer for our entire team's productivity and performance on Linkedin. 264 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:48.839 I highly suggest checking out this tool if you're publishing content on Linkedin for 265 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:55.000 yourselves or for your company. You can get a ten day free trial at 266 00:19:55.000 --> 00:20:00.839 shield APP DOT AI, or you can get a discount with our Promo Code 267 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:04.240 B. Two B growth. Again, that's shield APP DOT AI, and 268 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:10.920 the Promo Code is B, the number to be growth. All one word 269 00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:15.039 for a discount. All right, let's get back into the show. So 270 00:20:15.079 --> 00:20:18.720 that that's what I like. The structure of e o s to me is 271 00:20:18.759 --> 00:20:25.640 phenomenal because it creates space for those kind of questions to be asked. Yeah, 272 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:29.079 for anybody that's not familiar with the e O s, just Google level 273 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:32.599 ten meeting, even if you're not adopting e o s like we have here 274 00:20:32.599 --> 00:20:36.920 at sweet fish, what James is talking about here with the ID s list, 275 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:41.519 the issues lists and the way that you can structure a meeting to encourage 276 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:44.599 your team to bring up issues. I'm glad you said that, James, 277 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:49.000 because just last week you mentioned to me and two of our directors that, 278 00:20:49.079 --> 00:20:53.920 Hey, I noticed you guys haven't put any issues on the list for next 279 00:20:53.960 --> 00:20:57.319 week's meeting. It wasn't like, Hey, make sure you don't bring up 280 00:20:57.359 --> 00:21:00.559 anything and complain in next week's meaning. It was like you need to bring 281 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:03.839 something because I know that you're experiencing issues, and that was a good example 282 00:21:03.880 --> 00:21:08.160 of what I was mentioning earlier that oftentimes it needs to come from the leader 283 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:12.000 to create those prompts. If you Google level ten meeting and look at some 284 00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:17.799 examples out there, you can start implementing an issues list for your marketing team 285 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:22.200 that could foster exactly what we're talking about here. I'll give two books. 286 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:25.839 What the heck is the OS? That's a book that you know we would 287 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:27.400 recommend here. Clearly it's going to walk into the whole system. And then 288 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:32.599 deep work by CAL Newport. From just a focused perspective as far as like 289 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:37.319 I'm gonna Time Block out when I'm available to other people and like, that's 290 00:21:37.319 --> 00:21:40.319 more on a personal level. But if you can get a rhythm of deep 291 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:45.160 work, especially if you live in the content marketing space where it's easy to 292 00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:48.720 just check social and then look up and be like where did I just lose 293 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:53.200 forty five minutes, that book will help you really prioritize and figure out where 294 00:21:53.559 --> 00:21:56.240 you can focus. Logan. I wanted to ask you a follow up question 295 00:21:56.240 --> 00:22:03.039 on something you said earlier because you had mentioned one of our internal things that 296 00:22:03.079 --> 00:22:07.079 we can we can struggle with is not running an experiment for long enough so 297 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:11.759 when we're talking about wanting to Nix something. I think the pushback I hear 298 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:15.440 in my own brain that I'd love to hear you talk you riff on a 299 00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:18.880 little bit, is how do you balance the two, like, okay, 300 00:22:18.119 --> 00:22:22.880 it's time to kill this, versus we haven't run the experiment long enough to 301 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:26.839 actually know if we're getting a result. Sometimes it comes down to where you 302 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:32.880 started, because we can get really excited about something and we can even set 303 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:34.720 up plan in place of okay, we're gonna do this, then this, 304 00:22:34.839 --> 00:22:38.200 then this, over the next ninety days or the next two quarters. But, 305 00:22:38.599 --> 00:22:42.039 whoops, we forgot to ask how are we going to measure success? 306 00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:45.440 How are we going to measure if we're on track or off track at thirty 307 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:48.839 days in, at sixty days in, right, and just like a good 308 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:52.880 sales rep would ask you if they're qualifying a situation, what does success look 309 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:57.279 like if you were able to do this or use our product or start with 310 00:22:57.319 --> 00:23:00.839 our service to accomplish whatever you're trying to accomplish? You need to ask that 311 00:23:00.920 --> 00:23:04.079 of your team because just have you, just because you have a plan in 312 00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:08.039 place of what you want to do when, doesn't mean you've taken the time 313 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:15.440 to identify the leading indicators and the success metrics that you want to look at 314 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:18.160 to determine if you're on track or off track. So I think it starts 315 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:22.119 with not skipping that step initially. Right, and then you can look at 316 00:23:22.200 --> 00:23:26.400 some patterns, like maybe you're like, well, we've mixed a few things, 317 00:23:26.440 --> 00:23:30.759 like four things over the last year that we were only forty five days 318 00:23:30.920 --> 00:23:34.559 into. Right, okay, then maybe you need to swing the pendulum to 319 00:23:34.599 --> 00:23:38.400 the other side. As most things in life, I think there's wisdom in 320 00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:41.960 moderation and in the middle, and so if you notice that you're swinging to 321 00:23:42.039 --> 00:23:47.720 one side of starting too many things and mixing them quickly, then you probably 322 00:23:47.720 --> 00:23:51.000 want to err on the side of moving the other direction. If you're sticking 323 00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:55.039 with things too long and noticing that, Oh Dang, we look up and 324 00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:57.920 Oh, I can't believe we're doing it because that's the way we've always done 325 00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:03.400 it. How did get there, then you probably need to air on the 326 00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:07.559 other side. So looking at those patterns of your team's performance and the way 327 00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:10.920 you talk about things, I think can help Logan. You just mentioned something 328 00:24:11.119 --> 00:24:15.759 that made me think of this. You know, at least my my responsibility 329 00:24:15.880 --> 00:24:21.559 for adding in our organization for adding, a lack of like for creating and 330 00:24:21.720 --> 00:24:25.519 a culture of of lack of focus. So much of it comes down to 331 00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:30.279 like what you had mentioned around you know, it's the newness of an idea, 332 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:33.720 and so I'll hear somebody talk about something, I'll think it's brilliant. 333 00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:37.960 And what's so great about E O s? It's a filtering mechanism because if 334 00:24:37.960 --> 00:24:42.440 we've already set our rocks for the quarter, I know that I can't I 335 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:48.200 can't go in and change those rocks. So I have to park that idea 336 00:24:48.839 --> 00:24:53.359 in our you know, kind of potential rocks list on a sauna and if 337 00:24:53.400 --> 00:24:59.759 I'm constantly adding ideas throughout the quarter, what I've found is just being able 338 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:03.480 to sit on some of these ideas for even a couple of weeks. We'll 339 00:25:03.559 --> 00:25:07.880 get to our rocks setting session and we'll go and obviously look at. Okay, 340 00:25:07.880 --> 00:25:12.079 what rocks did we say that could be potential rocks last quarter as we're 341 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:15.480 setting our new rocks, and I go now that it's not relevant anymore. 342 00:25:15.799 --> 00:25:22.839 Now that's not relevant anymore because I just the system allows for time to be 343 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:27.319 in place between the newness and freshness of when you had the idea and when 344 00:25:27.359 --> 00:25:32.160 it's like okay, time to rally the troops and the team around actually executing 345 00:25:32.200 --> 00:25:34.640 this, where before e o s we didn't have that. So it was 346 00:25:34.680 --> 00:25:38.240 like ideas just flying around. Yeah, I have an idea. In the 347 00:25:38.279 --> 00:25:42.559 middle of the night on a Tuesday and Wednesday I'm like we're going this way, 348 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:48.000 and everybody's like what the Hell? Like this, this is chaos. 349 00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:53.079 It's like the wisdom in what I've heard some people say is like they set 350 00:25:53.079 --> 00:25:57.680 a benchmark of over a hundred dollars or over a thousand dollars, whatever it 351 00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:02.599 is. If I'm going to send more than X, I'm going to sleep 352 00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:04.200 on it or, you know, if it's over a thousand, I'm gonna 353 00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:08.640 wait a week right and see how I feel. But having a spot to 354 00:26:08.839 --> 00:26:14.079 park those ideas, whether that's in Asana or a Google Doc, that your 355 00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:18.960 team, you know, has consistent access to across the team, to where 356 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:22.400 you don't feel like you're letting good ideas slip through the cracks, but you're 357 00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:26.960 not oh Dang, if we don't get started on this tomorrow, nothing is 358 00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:32.079 ever going to happen that again. It's that moderation. It is moderation. 359 00:26:32.119 --> 00:26:34.920 But where, I think, where it gets more complex is some things are 360 00:26:36.039 --> 00:26:40.400 clearly rocks, like they're clearly the the high value, like this would be 361 00:26:40.440 --> 00:26:45.119 a whole quarter project. But that might not be the thing that distracts. 362 00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:48.920 It's like all these little things that come up that would never be a rock. 363 00:26:48.039 --> 00:26:52.759 So now we have a thousand things on our to do list that are 364 00:26:52.880 --> 00:26:56.880 like technically side projects. They're not actually going to be the big things that 365 00:26:56.920 --> 00:27:00.079 move the company forward, but they ended up on our list because they're not 366 00:27:00.680 --> 00:27:03.480 quite big enough for rocks. But so we can probably implement them next week. 367 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:08.160 You know, that's where you have to balance that tension of like does 368 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:14.119 this just distract from from what we currently have on our plate? Because it's 369 00:27:14.119 --> 00:27:15.440 a good idea, but it's not quite a great idea, you know. 370 00:27:15.880 --> 00:27:21.279 Yeah, yeah, it relates to time blocking, as you talked about with 371 00:27:21.720 --> 00:27:26.759 what you were mentioning with Count Newport's book, and where the idea for rocks 372 00:27:26.839 --> 00:27:30.599 come from. So the reason that quarterly goals in e o s are called 373 00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:34.160 rocks is from that old analogy where a professor takes a jar, put some 374 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:37.480 big rocks in it and asked the class is it full? Yes, it's 375 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:41.079 full. Then he dumps pebbles in. Oh, now is it full? 376 00:27:41.160 --> 00:27:44.400 Yeah, dumps some sand in. Now is it full? Yeah, then 377 00:27:44.559 --> 00:27:47.920 puts water in. Right, but if you started with the water you couldn't 378 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:51.559 have gotten all those other things in. So you have to set those goals 379 00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:55.359 and you have to time block and have accountability to that. That way you 380 00:27:55.400 --> 00:27:57.799 can say no, I do not have time for this because I'm starting with 381 00:27:57.839 --> 00:28:02.599 the rocks, not the sand and the water. It's good. James, 382 00:28:02.599 --> 00:28:07.160 you posted about focus and and our findings on Linkedin and you've got a number 383 00:28:07.400 --> 00:28:11.039 of responses. You want to talk about some of what you were seeing in 384 00:28:11.079 --> 00:28:15.240 some of the feedback? Yeah, so, so some of the comments that 385 00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:18.920 we got just, you know, kind of reading through here. One said 386 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:25.000 I require new ideas every year into the marketing plan and budget. That's how 387 00:28:25.039 --> 00:28:27.920 we keep it fresh and the team innovating and engaged. I love that. 388 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:33.720 A requirement for fresh new ideas in our organization. I probably because I'm the 389 00:28:33.799 --> 00:28:36.880 leader of it. We have no shortage of new ideas. Um So I 390 00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:40.079 don't think we was like, sounds like a limit for us. It's not. 391 00:28:40.359 --> 00:28:45.519 Maxim another one, somebody else had mentioned implementing Eos has been a game 392 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:49.200 changer. Another person the majority of conversations I've had about this issue. It's 393 00:28:49.240 --> 00:28:53.640 because the leadership team wants to please everyone. So when VP of sales needs 394 00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:57.079 something, it's a top priority, when CEO wants something, it's a top 395 00:28:57.079 --> 00:29:00.599 priority, and the team is on a able to focus on their rocks because 396 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:06.960 they're pressured to chase these shiny objects. And and that's where I think to 397 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:11.480 me, you know that that's a culture problem and if if the leadership is 398 00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:14.799 not creating an atmosphere where people feel like they can push back and say, 399 00:29:14.839 --> 00:29:18.079 Hey, you know, even as me as a CEO, Hey, I've 400 00:29:18.119 --> 00:29:22.119 asked you to do something, but it's like, Hey, I'm really focused 401 00:29:22.119 --> 00:29:25.720 on this rock right now and I'm not gonna have bandwidth to finish the rock. 402 00:29:25.880 --> 00:29:29.799 And this when given. I can only speak for me. I can't 403 00:29:29.799 --> 00:29:33.000 speak for other leaders, but like for you're to tell me that okay, 404 00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:36.720 like focus on your rock, like the thing. I just either didn't realize 405 00:29:36.759 --> 00:29:38.000 it was going to be that heavy of a lift or I you know, 406 00:29:38.160 --> 00:29:42.119 I wasn't aware that you had this other rock. And so I think that's 407 00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:45.960 that's a culture issue. If you're in an organization where you don't feel like 408 00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:48.039 you can where you can push back, that's a tough spot to be. 409 00:29:48.160 --> 00:29:51.759 I would probably try to find somewhere else to be. You know, earlier 410 00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:55.920 we were talking about as a leader. What do you do to facilitate that, 411 00:29:55.920 --> 00:29:57.880 that hand raising of we have an issue here. I've got too much 412 00:29:57.960 --> 00:30:03.960 bandwidth. We need to change direction. From the perspective of managing up, 413 00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:08.559 one of the things that you can do is if your team has a goal 414 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:14.039 setting and tracking system in place, like rocks with e o s is, 415 00:30:14.200 --> 00:30:17.160 when your boss comes to you and says we need to do this, or 416 00:30:17.319 --> 00:30:19.680 do you have time for this? That allows you to say, I can 417 00:30:19.720 --> 00:30:22.559 say yes to this, but if I say yes to this, I'm saying 418 00:30:22.599 --> 00:30:26.839 no to what I've already been asked to do. I'm saying no to half 419 00:30:26.839 --> 00:30:30.720 of this project. Or that means this project that was supposed to be done 420 00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:36.160 July is now into August. Is that okay, because this is what I 421 00:30:36.200 --> 00:30:38.240 need in order to say yes to that? Or this is what's going to 422 00:30:38.319 --> 00:30:42.519 happen if I say yes to that, and that language can be really empowering 423 00:30:42.599 --> 00:30:47.839 for you to manage up to your boss or your supervisor, and it's really 424 00:30:47.920 --> 00:30:52.319 it's really easy to assume that your leader, especially if it's like your boss's 425 00:30:52.359 --> 00:30:59.079 boss, it's really easy to assume that they know what you're focused on, 426 00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:03.279 what what context of your situation. So it's really easy to hear that and 427 00:31:03.319 --> 00:31:06.599 go, do they not know that? I've you know that so and so 428 00:31:06.720 --> 00:31:08.319 just asked me to do this, this and this, and I've also got 429 00:31:08.319 --> 00:31:12.079 this. No, actually, they don't know. Like they're thinking about a 430 00:31:12.079 --> 00:31:18.440 wide variety of things, and so hopefully the culture of the organization is for 431 00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:22.759 you to see. I mean how Logan phrase that was was beautiful. It's 432 00:31:22.839 --> 00:31:26.240 hey, if I focus on this and I do this, it means I'm 433 00:31:26.279 --> 00:31:29.240 not going to do this. Is that what you want? And so you're 434 00:31:29.240 --> 00:31:32.000 putting it back on them and, like I said earlier, more often than 435 00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:33.119 not they're gonna say, Oh, no, no, I didn't realize that. 436 00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:38.880 Well, you've just saved yourself weeks of distraction and probably frustration across your 437 00:31:38.960 --> 00:31:45.400 organ by having this posture of pushing back a little bit and not just blindly 438 00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:48.680 taking it because it's like, oh, it's my boss's boss, I've I've 439 00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:51.279 got to do this right. I think that's a fast path to burn out 440 00:31:51.319 --> 00:31:55.839 too. In any position that you go into as a leader, if you 441 00:31:55.880 --> 00:32:00.279 can start by laying the ground rule that you want push back and you can 442 00:32:00.279 --> 00:32:04.599 say it early and often, you set yourself up for success. The more 443 00:32:04.680 --> 00:32:07.920 you say it and give people permission, the more they'll do it. But 444 00:32:07.960 --> 00:32:10.839 a lot of people are not going to do what we're advocating for right now 445 00:32:12.200 --> 00:32:15.759 because the culture doesn't exist to actually push that forward. It sounds so great 446 00:32:15.799 --> 00:32:19.720 in theory, but if you were to go to your boss or your boss's 447 00:32:19.759 --> 00:32:22.559 boss and give that type of pushback, it would seem so out of left 448 00:32:22.599 --> 00:32:27.160 field because it's it might not be commonplace. So that's where to me from 449 00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:30.200 a leadership standpoint. Hey, in this room again, if it's if it's 450 00:32:30.200 --> 00:32:34.920 your staff meeting or if it's just your marketing team meeting, whatever, the 451 00:32:34.960 --> 00:32:39.119 rooms are where you want the ideas to really go back and forth and you 452 00:32:39.160 --> 00:32:44.079 want to fight for the best idea, you could establish that every time you 453 00:32:44.160 --> 00:32:46.519 have one of those conversations. Hey, I want pushback. Hey, I 454 00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:50.880 want you to tell me where this has holes in it. The more often 455 00:32:50.920 --> 00:32:53.519 you do that, the culture gets reinforced. There was one more James on 456 00:32:53.559 --> 00:32:57.519 here. Do you want to highlight that before we start to wrap here? 457 00:32:57.799 --> 00:33:00.839 This last comment was it mostly happens because if Momo and many time marketing leaders 458 00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:05.079 and teams have a need to show that they are doing a lot. This 459 00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:08.000 speaks to what, you know, we said earlier. There's a barrage of 460 00:33:08.079 --> 00:33:14.880 things that can work and the fear of missing out on not doing category creation 461 00:33:15.400 --> 00:33:20.640 because you're doing, you know, a demand creation strategy, or the feeling 462 00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:23.079 of missing out of all of these potential, you know, all of this 463 00:33:23.160 --> 00:33:27.759 site traffic that you could get come into your site, because there's this arbitrage 464 00:33:27.799 --> 00:33:30.480 to rank for all these keywords related to this. You know, Wide Open 465 00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:35.000 set of words that you know you could rank four, but it's like, 466 00:33:35.079 --> 00:33:37.279 if we are doing that, then we're that we're not doing this, and 467 00:33:37.319 --> 00:33:42.240 so that fear of missing out one really resonated with me because I think that's 468 00:33:42.720 --> 00:33:45.880 that's that's what feels crippling to me. oftentimes it's like, oh, but 469 00:33:45.960 --> 00:33:47.559 I know all these different things can work and I just want to do all 470 00:33:47.559 --> 00:33:52.480 of them. Yeah, it's I think the one that I think of see 471 00:33:52.519 --> 00:33:55.440 a lot of content specifically, is when you go to a website and they 472 00:33:55.480 --> 00:34:00.319 have like every social media link imaginable, like, Oh, if I click 473 00:34:00.359 --> 00:34:04.319 on this, I know about to hit a graveyard on like at least four 474 00:34:04.359 --> 00:34:07.519 of these platforms where you tried for like two weeks and it was way beyond 475 00:34:07.559 --> 00:34:13.320 bandwidth, way beyond focus, and now you're gone and I think hopefully we're 476 00:34:13.360 --> 00:34:20.480 realizing you can pick one or two channels where your potential ideal buyer is most 477 00:34:20.519 --> 00:34:22.760 active and just live there. But man, that's the one where I'm like, 478 00:34:22.920 --> 00:34:25.519 yeah, we have Fomo, oh I have to be on whatever the 479 00:34:25.599 --> 00:34:29.880 latest channel is because everybody else is there and that's we're gonna miss out. 480 00:34:30.239 --> 00:34:34.679 That's such a great call out. That is literally the visualization of what we're 481 00:34:34.719 --> 00:34:37.840 talking about. and Go to a B, two B brand's website, scroll 482 00:34:37.920 --> 00:34:44.000 to the bottom, look at one how many different social media icons and links 483 00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:47.599 are there and how many of them are a graveyard? If that happens, 484 00:34:47.679 --> 00:34:53.119 then you've probably got a lack of focus on that marketing team. But I 485 00:34:53.480 --> 00:34:59.079 think about like yeah, and and again, I am the most guilty culprit 486 00:34:59.239 --> 00:35:04.440 of lack of focus, but I just recently stepped into owning the marketing function 487 00:35:05.079 --> 00:35:09.519 as REX Baverston left the organization to get back into consulting and one of the 488 00:35:09.519 --> 00:35:14.400 things that I wanted to do with our team, with with emily and Benji, 489 00:35:14.639 --> 00:35:16.719 is said it very like be as clear as I possibly could be about 490 00:35:16.760 --> 00:35:22.199 like we are going to create demand by dominating linkedin. And so what we 491 00:35:22.239 --> 00:35:25.519 are doing today by recording this, speaking to what I was referring to earlier, 492 00:35:25.559 --> 00:35:28.679 with a show, being able to do, all of you know, 493 00:35:28.719 --> 00:35:32.320 a wide variety of these tactical executions of marketing. If we're going to dominate 494 00:35:32.360 --> 00:35:37.320 Linkedin, we know that video is the best way to do that because it 495 00:35:37.320 --> 00:35:42.159 builds affinity and that's aligned with our brand story. What we we want to 496 00:35:42.199 --> 00:35:45.079 drink our own champagne. We're telling our clients they need to build affinity. 497 00:35:45.320 --> 00:35:49.440 We need to build affinity. So, you know, creating demand by dominating 498 00:35:49.519 --> 00:35:52.920 Linkedin is like our rallying cry. Will that be our rallying Christ six months 499 00:35:52.920 --> 00:35:57.599 from now? Maybe, like something might adjust, something might happen in the 500 00:35:57.599 --> 00:36:00.760 business. We need to focus somewhere else, but I'm trying, as you 501 00:36:00.800 --> 00:36:04.320 know, I'm trying very hard, and Benji could probably, you know, 502 00:36:04.400 --> 00:36:08.039 tell everyone how effective is that. It actually is, but like trying to 503 00:36:08.079 --> 00:36:15.199 focus all of our resources around that. It's crazy how freeing it is whenever 504 00:36:15.320 --> 00:36:16.880 you have that kind of focus, because it's like, nope, that's not 505 00:36:16.920 --> 00:36:21.320 relevant, that's not going to help us create demand by dominating linkedin. Now, 506 00:36:21.519 --> 00:36:23.079 that's that's not gonna do it either. Oh Yep, I'd love to 507 00:36:23.159 --> 00:36:27.159 hire that team of writers to try to rank for those keywords, but it's 508 00:36:27.159 --> 00:36:30.000 not gonna be this quarter. But, but it's still a constant struggle. 509 00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:32.360 I mean here we are talking about it and I'll probably end up sending Benji 510 00:36:32.519 --> 00:36:37.599 or emily a text message in six hours, but with some new article that 511 00:36:37.639 --> 00:36:40.000 I saw the hours that will only be eight o'clock. Probably more like twelve 512 00:36:40.079 --> 00:36:45.039 hours in the middle of the night. You've gotten better at the middle of 513 00:36:45.079 --> 00:36:49.159 the night ideas coming through via slack so that you know team members don't get 514 00:36:49.239 --> 00:36:52.079 texts immediately. Yeah, I try to do this later on slack function. 515 00:36:52.159 --> 00:37:00.880 Now this has been such an insightful conversation. I'll end with the quick story. 516 00:37:00.920 --> 00:37:04.559 It's actually an old Indian parable that I feel like just sums this up 517 00:37:04.599 --> 00:37:07.840 so well. It's just this idea of there's this old ancient Indian stage he 518 00:37:07.880 --> 00:37:14.320 has two disciples and the first one comes to him and there bow and Arrow. 519 00:37:14.920 --> 00:37:16.719 He says focus on the bird's eye. And then he says what do 520 00:37:16.760 --> 00:37:22.039 you see? And this disciple, this follower, goes I see the clouds, 521 00:37:22.119 --> 00:37:27.000 I see the forest, I see the trees, I see all every 522 00:37:27.039 --> 00:37:29.960 he just starts describing. I see that squirrel over there. And then the 523 00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:32.440 stage asks the second disciple, the second follower, what do you see? 524 00:37:32.440 --> 00:37:37.039 And he says I see the eye of the bird and that's focus. Right. 525 00:37:37.039 --> 00:37:39.239 He says, okay, shoot your shot. To me, that's it 526 00:37:39.480 --> 00:37:45.960 like when you know that exact Arrow, like very specific, that's the exact 527 00:37:45.960 --> 00:37:49.800 spot target I want to hit, and that's all you see. Everything else 528 00:37:49.800 --> 00:37:52.400 that's in the periphery goes away. It's like, I see the bird's eye. 529 00:37:52.079 --> 00:37:55.480 That's a very different mentality. You know exactly where you're headed. You 530 00:37:55.519 --> 00:38:00.840 know exactly where you're going. That's what we're hoping for for you, for 531 00:38:00.880 --> 00:38:04.199 your organization. That's why B two B growth exists, hopefully not to just 532 00:38:04.239 --> 00:38:09.039 give you abundance of ideas, but to help you continue to grow and to 533 00:38:09.159 --> 00:38:14.159 shape your thinking on some of this stuff. This has been a fascinating conversation. 534 00:38:14.639 --> 00:38:16.320 We're so excited to get to share more of these in the future. 535 00:38:16.360 --> 00:38:19.599 If you want to connect with James, if you want to connect with Logan, 536 00:38:19.599 --> 00:38:21.800 if you want to connect with me on Linkedin, we'd love to chat 537 00:38:21.840 --> 00:38:24.920 with you about marketing, about business, about life. Fellas, it was 538 00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.840 a pleasure, it was an honor to record this with you. Let's stay 539 00:38:29.880 --> 00:38:34.400 focused this week and, uh, do the work that matters. And Benji, 540 00:38:34.480 --> 00:38:37.239 I don't know if we want to tease the next insight that we're going 541 00:38:37.280 --> 00:38:39.599 to be dropping, but like, like you mentioned, we interviewed a hundred 542 00:38:39.639 --> 00:38:44.480 B two B marketing leaders. We asked him fifteen different questions and the next 543 00:38:44.519 --> 00:38:49.440 insight we're gonna be dropping is an insight that we developed around the question of 544 00:38:49.599 --> 00:38:55.519 what is the number one metric your CEO is measuring marketing success? One really, 545 00:38:55.519 --> 00:38:59.960 really interesting. I've been talking with Timmy about this at the last, 546 00:39:00.320 --> 00:39:04.000 you know, seven or eight of our of our lunches. So really excited 547 00:39:04.039 --> 00:39:06.679 to share that in one of the one of the future episodes. It probably 548 00:39:06.679 --> 00:39:09.079 won't be the very next episode that you listened because we're we're still working on 549 00:39:09.119 --> 00:39:13.320 tweaking some different things with B two B growth, but it's it's coming down 550 00:39:13.320 --> 00:39:16.000 the pipe soon. Yeah, excited for all the future conversations and to share 551 00:39:16.039 --> 00:39:21.880 what we've been learning from this original research that we've been doing. Stay tuned. 552 00:39:21.920 --> 00:39:37.519 We'll be back real soon with another episode. If you enjoyed today's show, 553 00:39:37.639 --> 00:39:40.559 hit subscribe for more marketing goodness. And if you really enjoyed today's show, 554 00:39:40.679 --> 00:39:45.480 take a second to rate and review the podcast on the platform you're listening 555 00:39:45.519 --> 00:39:49.639 to it on right now. If you really really enjoyed this episode, share 556 00:39:49.679 --> 00:39:52.880 the love by texting it to a friend who would find it insightful. Thanks 557 00:39:52.920 --> 00:40:00.679 for listening and thanks for sharing. Boo