Independence by Design™ #439: How to Build a Marketing Engine That Ties to Sales, Value, and Cash Flow with Kim Clark
Most business owners are exhausted by marketing that feels like a black box—random tactics, disconnected agencies, and no clear ROI. Kim Clark knows that pain—and she’s built the solution. As the former head of sales and marketing at ITR Economics, Kim helped transform the business from a founder-led consulting firm into a scalable company that exited at eight figures—without relying on Brian or Alan Beaulieu to drive growth. She didn’t just market a product—she built a fully integrated inbound system and tied every activity to measurable outcomes like revenue, value, and cash flow.
In this episode, Kim and I break down the system she used to do it. We walk through how to structure your sales and marketing around your actual business model, how to build a funnel that produces qualified leads, and how to track every activity back to business impact. Kim shares how one of her recent campaigns drove $1.3M in attributable revenue—and why she could track it all the way back to specific marketing activities.
If you’ve ever wondered what a real marketing engine looks like—or how to finally get clarity between sales, marketing, and your growth goals—this is the blueprint. It directly supports the "Maximize Growth" pillar under Build a Valuable Business inside the iBD™ Magic Model.
Kim Clark is a sales and marketing strategist who helped scale ITR Economics from a founder-led advisory firm to a professionally managed company that exited at eight figures. As head of sales and marketing, she built the firm’s first CRM, content strategy, and inbound engine—moving the company from personality-based selling to a system built on data, automation, and strategic execution. Today, she works with business owners to build marketing engines that align with their strategy, team, and long-term cash flow goals—so they can grow without chaos and delegate without losing visibility. Her frameworks are directly aligned with the "Maximize Growth" track inside the Build a Valuable Business module of the iBD™ Magic Model.
Chapters:
- (00:00) Introduction of guest Kim Clark, discussion of her marketing background
- (04:09) Paid social ads and effective marketing spend alternatives
- (08:56) Starting with assessment in the marketing playbook process
- (14:41) The early days: no CRM, no strategy, just Excel sheets and binders
- (19:47) Measuring and tracking marketing efforts with proper benchmarks
- (24:36) Understanding customer psychology through developing buyer personas
- (32:05) Using rolling 12-month data to analyze marketing performance trends
- (35:16) Connecting funnel stages to real metrics, cash, and value
- (43:56) Creating nurture campaigns and interview-based content development
- (47:38) Why automation, content, and tools don't matter without strategy
- (49:47) Click-through rates and developing content that drives action
- (54:05) Content cadence and campaign structure for sustainable growth
- (59:22) Value-focused content that addresses specific customer pain points
- (1:07:54) Integrating industry analysis into marketing planning and execution
- (1:19:39) Cost-effective marketing coaching versus traditional executive hiring
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Ryan Tansom is a seasoned entrepreneur, speaker, and the founder of Independence by Design™, a transformative ownership framework for growth-oriented business owners. After turning around and selling his family business in an eight-figure exit, Ryan spent over a decade dissecting the lessons learned from his journey. His mission is to help other business owners avoid the pitfalls he encountered by providing them with the tools and knowledge to align their business operations with their personal and financial goals.
With a deep understanding of the challenges faced by owner-operators, Ryan developed Independence by Design™ to empower owner-operators to create sustainable cash flow, grow their company’s equity value, and achieve true independence. He has shared his insights on hundreds of stages, including Vistage, EO, and industry associations, and has reached over 500,000 listeners through his podcast.
Ryan is passionate about helping business owners get unstuck from the day-to-day grind and design a business that serves their life, not the other way around.
Resources:
Website: https://v2amarketing.com/
LinkedIn: Kimberly Clark
Independence by Design™ Workshop: https://ryantansom.com/independence-by-design-workshop
Independence by Design™ Ownership Coaching: Ryan Tansom’s Ownership Accelerator programs and coaching https://ryantansom.com/coaching
Ryan Tansom Website https://ryantansom.com/
Ryan Tansom LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryantansom/
Ryan Tansom Twitter https://twitter.com/RyanTansom
Ryan Tansom YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@ryantansom
Ryan Tansom 30-Minute Ownership Strategy Call https://calendar.app.google/tsKk7z6ohugDchWq8
Sound Bites
“It’s not that most businesses are doing marketing wrong—they just have the pieces in the wrong order.”
“Good marketing isn’t about doing more—it’s about doing the right things, in the right order, with the resources you actually have.”
“If your marketing isn’t tied to revenue, value, and cash flow—you’re not building an asset, you’re just spending money.”