Audience 1st

“Name a problem in the security world.” That was one loaded question Mike Krass, owner of MKG Marketing and host of “What’s the Problem?” Podcast, asked me. That request got me thinking and sifting through the 101 problems I had listed when prepping for our call. (Remind me to share that with you another time.) Three main issues stand out to me as a marketer and professional in the cybersecurity industry. We’ll dig into that today (or you can just listen to the problems I unravel in Mike’s episode). Join Audience 1st Today Join 450+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/

Dear cybersecurity vendors, please stop doing this. Do THIS instead. Today, I'm doing something special because, well, it's my birthday weekend. I wanted to celebrate and gift you with a nice, little package of the best of the worst. What does that mean? Well, in every episode I ask my guest one critical question: "What's the worst thing you've experienced from a vendor?" So, I've compiled a nice little sh*tlist. What's more, I always ask my guest: "What's the alternative?" Because what does it help us to hear complaints without learning how to do things better? So, do me a favor, have a listen. And if you want to spoil me for my birthday, apply those insights. Join Audience 1st Today Join 450+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/

Even if you never made a sale with somebody, if they brought you 10 people that ended up needing a solution like yours and you were able to help them move their mission forward, it still works out. In this episode, I had a brutally honest conversation with John Gates, Lead IT Security Operations/Threat Response Analyst at a Fortune 500 company, about his challenges, goals, what vendors do that piss him off, and the alternatives. John is currently Lead IT Security Operations/Threat Response Analyst at a Fortune 500 company. Join Audience 1st Today Join 300+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/

If you focus on the foundations first, your conversion and business goals will be met. I had the pleasure of speaking on the Market-to-Revenue Podcast with Chris Morgan. He asked me 6 questions: What are 3 ways that your team converts your market into revenue? What are 3 hard problems that you recently overcame? What are 2 roadblocks that you’re working on now? What are 3 mental models that you use to do your best work? What are 2 techniques that GTM teams need to try? Who are 3 operators that should be our next guests and why? In this episode, I’m going to dig into one specific mental model that has helped me reach my conversion and ARR goals quarter over quarter in the last 12 months. Join Audience 1st Today Join 300+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/

It is inherent to have successful engagement pre and post-sale, but... Many ghost their customers or pop up every quarter for renewals or expansions. And the consequences of those actions are heavy. In this episode, I had a brutally honest conversation with Chris Elliot, Director of Corporate Security and Security Operations at SoFi, about his challenges, goals, what vendors do that piss him off, and the alternatives. Chris previously worked in cybersecurity at the Walt Disney Company and before that, spent 23 years in the U.S. Army as a communication specialist, working on a variety of assignments from special operations to NATO, to the NSA. He got into security while he was in the Army. Join Audience 1st Today Join 300+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/

What are you doing to efficiently reduce manual processes and save tireless hours of those battling threats behind the keyboard? In this episode, I had a brutally honest conversation with Malia Mason, vCISO and Manager of Cybersecurity, about her challenges, goals, what vendors do that piss her off, and the alternatives. Malia served in the United States Navy as a Sonar Technician Second Class and was also in charge of all of the secret data on the ship and of making sure that everyone did their cybersecurity training. She continues to work with several veterans nonprofits as a mentor and career advisor for veterans leaving the military and military spouses as well. She is a strong proponent of getting more women into cybersecurity and tech, serving as a mentor for young girls in inner-city schools. Join Audience 1st Today Join 300+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/

You may not have to articulate that, but ask yourself, "What is the business case? Why would a CISO spend any amount of money with me?" How do you speak in terms that resonate with CISOs? What are their goals and challenges? Have you considered the constraints new CISOs have to undergo in their new roles? When engaging a CISO, have you thought about the tech they have to adopt before pitching to them? In this episode, I had a brutally honest conversation with Brent Deterding, newly appointed CISO of Afni, Inc., about what motivates him, what his challenges are, what vendors do that piss him off, and the alternatives. Join Audience 1st Today Join 300+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/

f you are too much in love with your product vs. how you help your audience solve a problem, you're going to be disconnected from the very people you're trying to reach. Content. The fuel that drives demand today. There is so much of it online. Unfortunately, though, the mass majority of content in the field has left security buyers confused and distracted. The problem that security practitioners find themselves in right now is that they’re bombarded with high quantities of content but also high quantities of higher-quality, product-centric content too. So, how do we go back to the core and create content that focuses on the real problems we can solve for security practitioners so they have the ability to make good decisions? In this episode, I had a candid and practical conversation with Andra Zaharia, creator and co-host of the Cyber Empathy podcast and cybersecurity marketing expert. We discussed the challenges she faces as a content marketing professional in cybersecurity, stereotypes to battle in order to be successful in the field, questions to ask to deliver valuable content, and the framework she uses to produce content. Join Audience 1st Today Join 300+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/

Even if you don't win right now on customer acquisition - you will absolutely win on the churn rate. People will not leave you. They will stay with you forever because they trust you. When I listened to Evan Francen, CEO of FRSecure and SecurityStudio, chat with Ryan Cloutier on their podcast, he said one thing that stood out to me: “I don’t want any friends.” I called bullshit. And so, here we are, having a down-to-earth, candid conversation, full of “F'“ bombs and the “S” word 😱, about what motivates him, what his challenges are, what vendors do that piss him off, and the alternatives. Look how that worked out! Here’s hoping for a continued friendship. Join Audience 1st Today Join 300+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/

The goal is to frictionlessly get security buyers to information in trusted ways so they can self-verify and make wise, educated decisions. How do we build and develop business and communications skills, foster different ideas that allow us to think about how to be more ethical and innovative, and communicate better with our audience? How do we get cybersecurity to be a cool industry that people want to be in? These are questions that Joseph Carson, Chief Security Scientist and Advisory CISO at Delinea, asks himself regularly. In this episode, I had a brutally honest conversation with Joseph on what motivates him, what his challenges are, what vendors do that piss him off, and the alternatives. Join Audience 1st Today Join 300+ cybersecurity marketers and sellers mastering security buyer research to better understand their audience and turn them into loyal customers: https://www.audience1st.fm/