“Fun translates into good performance.” The four things every marketer should know before starting their career: Find a skill (channel) that is the most fun to do. Then specialize. Specialization brings money. Specialization solves hard problems that matter. You take this even further by also specializing in a specific industry (e.g. I specialize in marketing for fintech and insurance orgs at the moment). Understand the business you’re marketing. Do your best to think like the CEO. Find an excuse to meet other experts. Personal branding is the easiest way to grow your network of mentors. Create a swipe file. This is not a new or novel suggestion, just one that works. There’s a reason other marketing experts do this! Key moments from marketing experts: Mark Stouse, Episode #93 - https://kennysoto.com/podcast/mark-stouse-defining-a-recession-proof-career-things-to-know-as-a-new-cmo-ep-93/  Steve Toth, Episode #99 - https://kennysoto.com/podcast/steve-toth-understanding-in-seo-can-lead-to-exponential-growth-ep-99/ Jacob Warwick #91 - https://kennysoto.com/podcast/jacob-warwick-how-your-career-narrative-can-help-you-become-a-vp-ep-91/ Maya Grossman, Episode #84 - https://kennysoto.com/podcast/maya-grossman-the-career-advice-you-need-if-you-want-to-be-a-marketing-leader-ep-84/ Sara Pion, Episode #86 - https://kennysoto.com/podcast/sara-pion-navigating-the-startup-world-as-a-new-marketer-ep-86/ Lea Pica, Episode #81 - https://kennysoto.com/podcast/lea-pica-using-data-storytelling-to-spur-action-ep-81/ My “swipe file” of favorite marketing newsletters: Nik Sharma’s DTC newsletter - https://www.nik.co/subscribe Why We Buy - https://customercamp.co/newsletter/ Dave Gerhardt’s B2B Marketing Advice - https://dgmg.davegerhardt.com/email The Marketing Brew - morningbrew.com/marketing//r/?kid=9f1e7657 Stacked Marketer - https://www.stackedmarketer.com/friend-recommended/?utm_source=sparkloop&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=sm_daily&rh_ref=2b82a0e9 SEO-specific newsletters I use for work include: WTF is SEO? - https://wtfseo.substack.com SEONoteBook - https://seonotebook.com Jeremy Moser's newsletter -https://www.jermoser.com Other marketing podcasts to subscribe to: Exit Five - https://open.spotify.com/show/0OJJbQlcUlHiLSvNZoJTYf Marketing School - https://open.spotify.com/show/1NulSGKhstJuty8iYPBMo5 Marketing Against The Grain - https://open.spotify.com/show/3bMqKPfI45OmTK5hENtIOk *Quick editing note: I got the acronym for SCORE incorrect! It’s actually the Service Corps of Retired Executives. I ended up clipping that audio out of this episode.

“SEO takes time…” Steve Toth is a growth-focused SEO Consultant to companies around the world. He’s a trusted resource to over 10,000 subscribers of SEONoteBook.com, a newsletter full of weekly emails about how he’s approaching SEO strategy. Steve was previously the full-time SEO Manager at FreshBooks, but in February 2020 he took the company as a client after getting them to rank #1 for a search keyword that brought in 300K users a month on average. That keyword increased FreshBooks’ organic traffic by 5x in under a year. Steve’s team was named the Best In-House SEO Team for the 2020 Canadian Search Awards. This is the guy who can get a business 50,000 clicks in organic search traffic…daily. Questions and topics we cover include: The clearest definition of SEO. The 3 basic things every marketer should know about SEO (patience for growth, active link building, and commitment of resources). Are AI writing tools useful? What it takes to rank #1 on a super-competitive keyword… The metrics that really make a difference in SEO. Does a business need SEO to succeed in today’s market? When should an SEO Manager start focusing on zero-search volume keywords? How bootstrapped startups can allocate resources for SEO. How Steve Toth keeps up with the changes in the SEO world. And more! You can say hello to Steve via LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevetothjr/ Other podcast episodes you can check out that cover the vast topic of SEO & content include: Interview with Chris Dickey, CEO of Visably – The Basics of Search Engine Visibility & Marketing a SaaS Company – Episode #24 Interview with Andy Crestodina – Understanding Digital Empathy with The MASTER of Content Marketing – Episode #43 Interview with Tommy Walker – Your Content Marketing Efforts Need An Upgrade – Episode #75 Interview with Sean Work – How To Actually Grow Your Website Traffic This Year – Episode #78 Interview with Dave Snyder – Content That Makes Revenue, AI Writing Tools, & Getting Clients To Brag About Your Work – Episode #96

“You gotta be flexible but, not spineless.” JD Dillon lives by the principle of "Mission First, People Always." A U.S. Army veteran and graduate of the United States Military Academy, JD has spent his career in Corporate America focused on profitable top-line growth while investing in individuals and organizational development. Currently, the CMO for renewable energy upstart Tigo Energy, his career has spanned a variety of functions while being focused on bringing value to his customers and his employees. Questions and topics we covered include: The unique marketing challenges within the energy sector. The mental frameworks every marketer needs to know, just to be a better professional. What does it mean to be a successful CMO? Who measures the success of a CMO’s work? What’s the right way to set expectations and manage-up when working with the CEO? JD’s approach to internal marketing and why all marketers need to learn this skill. The most important type of meeting CMOs need to have. Are organizational charts (company org. charts) still necessary? How marketing teams can use the RACI matrix to get tasks done faster. The “quick wins” new CMOs should focus on during their first 90 days. Can a marketer do sales and marketing at the same time? What are some “old-school” practices that still work, regardless of what changes are going on in the market? And more! You can say hello to James via his LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jd-dillon/

“The key thing in all of this really is understanding the value that you give and that you have, and then getting other people to help tell that story for you…” Christina’s love of marketing started during her undergraduate days, when under the wise guidance of her grandmother she decided to do a marketing and management degree and hasn’t looked back. Having held various roles in marketing in different sectors, managing teams of different sizes, she is now the head of marketing at Paid, a UK tech start-up that is changing the way procurement teams work with their smaller suppliers, making the process more efficient and cost-effective for both parties. In her words, she is “excited about the opportunity for marketing to shake things up, and deliver real value.” Always in learning mode Christina also holds an MBA and she likes to keep up to date on what is going on in marketing and other things that interest her. She also runs Ara and Obi, which is a bedroom and bathroom linen brand for babies and toddlers with eczema. Questions and topics we covered in this episode include: Why Christina champions the generalist approach to growing in her marketing career. How can B2B marketing companies create demand for sales? Is content the main lever to pull? What is the best approach to crafting the right go-to-market strategy? Using a podcast to understand your ICP’s pain points. Is lead scoring still useful for B2B marketers? Does it create the wrong incentives for marketers? The main reason why you should never buy a list of leads. What’s Christina’s general approach to building her marketing team? What does the CEO care about when it comes to marketing? (Preview = revenue…) You can say hello to Christina via her LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-patrick-b7116939/ *When listening to this episode, if Christina makes a mention of Paid, she’s referring to her company and not Paid Media or ads.

“Carpenters aren’t scared of nail guns. It can replace the hammer but, it can’t replace the carpenter. I think that is what AI is and represents.” Dave Snyder is the CEO of CopyPress. His background in SEO, social media, and content marketing led Dave to look for a better way to scale and create content. That search led to the formation of CopyPress. Today, CopyPress is one the most trusted content providers online working with brands like Linkedin, Zenefits, Sears, Macy's, IHG, and Stitchfix. With help from CopyPress, clients are able to increase their organic web traffic, improve their search engine rankings, and build their brand awareness. Questions and topics we covered include: Dave’s story from how he transitioned from teacher to getting his first SEO job. The story of how is first agency merged with Search Engine Journal (it was called Search and Social). How he kicked off CopyPress and when he began to see the early signs of success. How to keep a long-term relationship with your clients? Why should content marketers care about AI? What is your sales strategy, how are you getting consistently big clients? What can they do now to prepare for future changes in the craft? Why should content marketers care just as much about attribution as they care about the content they are making? Why should all marketers study sales letters? How should companies build a blog in 2022? How can content marketers find the right balance between creating content people want to read and creating content that ranks on search? You can find Dave through his website (https://copypress.com), his Twitter, (https://twitter.com/davesnyder), and his LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davesnydercp/). PS - My favorite moment in this podcast was “sure if you want to be a generalist, you’ll get paid like a generalist.” If you want to make the big bucks as a marketer, you have to be known as an expert in one specific thing. That’s how you prove you’re reliable and that you can bring in revenue.

If you work in e-commerce, you need to listen to this podcast interview. Joel Garthwaite is the CMO of Harbour Lifestyle, the UK's fastest-growing outdoor furniture brand. With 10 years of experience working with global companies, Joel specializes in paid media programming, demand generation, data analytics, PR, and more. He has a proven track record not just in the DTC space—developing and leading world-class marketing teams across B2B and B2C. He has also advised and led multiple companies across tech, commodities, and finance through successful IPOs. Prior to moving client-side, he worked in the agency space too—helping clients like Nike, Nestlé, Shell, AstraZeneca, and more. Questions and topics we covered include: The differences between selling commodity/impulse purchase products versus luxury products. The different methods to use to build trust when your business doesn’t have social proof. The right tactics to use to gain more product reviews and UGC. Is the single-channel strategy dead in the world of e-commerce marketing? How is Joel's team doing customer research and customer discovery this year? Why do marketers need to have a strong awareness of macro events in culture and news? What Joel looks for in potential marketing hires. How can CMOs stand out as candidates when being evaluated by hiring managers at the c-suite level (CEOs, executive recruiters, etc.)? And more! You can say hi to Joel via LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelgarthwaite

“Just niche down on one thing…People have been saying SEO is dead for 20 years. Focus has allowed to double in size almost every year.” David Finberg has been building websites since the age of 9 and he decided to go all-in on the digital marketing industry in 2015 when he founded Peaks Digital Marketing. Since then, he’s generated tens of millions of dollars in revenue and has a passion for growing small businesses and corporations through data-driven ROI-centered strategies. As a "Digital Sherpa" for his clients, he helps guide them on the best online path for the success of their businesses. He defines success as doing what you want to do and making an impact in the lives of others. Questions and topics we covered in this episode include: The story of how David got into website development at the age of 9. How he launched and grew his 7-figure agency, Peaks Digital Marketing. The common mistakes businesses make when creating a marketing strategy. Where should SEO sit within a marketing team? What are the core functions of an SEO team and what qualities to look for when finding the right people for that team? And more! You can say hello👋 to David on Twitter - https://twitter.com/davidafinberg/ Or on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidfinberg/

“Just like you need to understand the business, you need to help them [the c-suite] understand the realities of marketing…” Mark is the CEO of Proof Analytics (http://www.proofanalytics.ai/), a marketing analytics platform that helps CMOs and CFOs bridge the ROI gap by providing cause-and-effect analytics that shows marketing and sales true business impact and financial worth. The company's 'Proof Business GPS' guides through the whole marketing lifecycle, and provides a complete picture of a company's marketing efforts. Their solution enables planning, budgeting, and optimization of marketing in all channels. An award-winning B2B CMO and CCO, Mark is one of the first leaders to connect all types of marketing investments to revenue, margin, and cash flow impact in complex, long-cycle companies. Questions and topics we covered included: The story of how Mark built upon the Honeywell brand, in a sector within a slow sales-cycle industry (aerospace), How Mark approaches building marketing teams today (including how to pick out the right VP of Marketing/CMO), Why do investments in brand always get seen as wastes of money (by leadership) and how to fix that, How Mark defines the T-shaped marketer, What is the biggest enemy all CMOs will face in their career? Why forecasting is such an important skill for CMOs to know (so they can keep their jobs), Who should ultimately own attribution in a marketing team? How can marketers at all stages in their careers remain recession-proof? What is the OODA loop and why does it matter in data science? And more! You can say hello to Mark via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markstouse Tweet to him at: https://twitter.com/markstouse

“The art of persuasion lives in the craft of writing…if you want to catapult your writing skills, write a book.” Léandre Larouche is an author, speaker, and writing consultant based in Toronto, Canada. He is the author of Hétérochrome (2017), Write a Book That Matters (2021), The Architecture of Grammar (2021), and The End of Nonsense (forthcoming). Léandre is a writing activist. He believes that writing is the most powerful skill in the world and that writing well isn’t hard with the right mindset and approach. Questions and topics we covered in this episode include: Léandre’s obsession with writing and how he learned to become a writer with English as his second language. Using a book to build authority in any industry. How to start writing a book? What are the some popular “best practices” that Léandre doesn’t agree with? The right writing habits to keep. Léandre’s approach to editing. When is the right time to request feedback on a book? When should you hire a ghostwriter? Self-publishing or going through a publisher—which is the right path? And more! Connect with Léandre via his: Website - https://www.leandrelarouche.com/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/leandrelarouche/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/leandre_larouche/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/leandre-larouche/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/leandrelarouche

Jacob Warwick is the CEO of ThinkWarwick, an executive leadership and career growth firm. He's on a mission to help more people love what they do. Prior to starting his own business, he grew into c-suite marketing and product roles in Silicon Valley and was the CEO of a multi-million dollar a year career management company. Questions and topics covered: What the transition between marketing tactician to marketing leader looks like. How can marketers who are trying to grow, make themselves recession-proof? What is a career narrative and why is it important to have this clearly defined? How Jacob has created a newsletter that actually helps grow his business. The advice Jacob has for anyone trying to grow their LinkedIn audience this year. Is it possible to become a CMO without a personal brand? And more! Connect with Jacob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobwarwick/ And check out his articles on executive leadership here: https://www.thinkwarwick.com/blog