Be A Marketer with Dave Charest

Sometimes, the security of the corporate world wins over striking out on your own. For Scharrell Jackson, a single mom of three, that was true. 

But after years of working for one company at a time, Scharrell decided she was ready to share her gifts with more businesses. In the last year, she fully leaned into her consulting business and keynote speaking. And just like how she encourages business leaders, Scharrell took the time to reflect on her ideal destiny. 

“You need to get clear on what your destiny is — your end game. That is different from your goals. Oftentimes, we lead our lives based on transactions, as opposed to really lining your life up with what your goals are, in alignment with your destiny for your life,” Scharrell says.

On this episode of Be a Marketer, Scharrell and host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, talk about getting clarity on your marketing strategy, segmenting audiences, and making the most of analytics.

Tune in to hear how to get clear on your destiny, pack your bench for success, and get to the championship game and win it, too. 

👉 Want to attend Scharrell’s next Leadership in Heels event? Get more info here. 

Meet Today’s Guest: Scharrell Jackson of STJ Consulting Services and Leadership in Heels

☕ What she does: Scharrell is an experienced organizational and financial executive, consultant, and keynote speaker. From small businesses to multimillion-dollar companies, she helps business leaders of all sizes. Scharrell especially enjoys working in diversity, equity, and inclusion, women’s issues, and leadership spaces.

💡 Key quote: “Make sure that you have individuals on your bench that can fill in the gaps that you can't. You're one person and you cannot do it all. The goals and objectives that you have for your business are attainable if you have the right people walking alongside you.”

👋 Where to find her: Website | LinkedIn

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Striking out on your own after years in the corporate world is scary. But for a marketing guru like Dave Gerhardt, that transition was a little less daunting. All he needed was the right story.

Dave’s online community, Exit Five, helps B2B marketers unlock the secrets of the industry — and according to him, it all starts with the brand story. Specifically, he recommends asking yourself, “What are you looking to do and for whom?”

Dave joins Constant Contact’s Director of Small Business Success and host, Dave Charest, to share his top gems from his storied career in marketing. 

Listen in as Dave Gerhardt walks you through building a marketing plan from a story, overcoming imposter syndrome, and setting goals for success — even when you’re your own boss. 

Meet Today’s Guest: Dave Gerhardt of Exit Five

☕ What he does: Dave is a former marketing executive and now founder of Exit Five, an online community of B2B marketers. 

💡 Key quote: “You can’t do great marketing without a strong connection to the product that you're building and the customer that you're serving.”

👋 Where to find him: Website | Twitter | LinkedIn | Podcast

👋 Where to find Exit Five: Website | Twitter | Podcast

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Pet health problems aren’t always solved by a trip to the vet — a problem that Pam Roussell knows all too well. A longtime cat lover and holistic health practitioner, Pam’s cat boutique, Purrrfectly Holistic, gives pet owners alternative approaches to healing their furry friends.

For the last seven years, Pam’s been connecting felines and their owners to services and products that look outside the box. In the last year, however, she decided to go full-time with Purrrfectly Holistic and saw significant growth within just 30 days of making the leap.

Though Pam is the sole owner of her business, she’s not in it alone. She credits many people in the pet care community and the apps that support her ecommerce for helping her along the way. On this episode of Be a Marketer, Pam and host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, walk through her experience growing and marketing Purrrfectly Holistic.

Tune in to hear how Pam coordinates her social media and email marketing efforts, her advice for finding your people, and tips for getting the most out of Constant Contact, even as a non-techy person.

Meet Today’s Guest: Pam Roussell of Purrrfectly Holistic

🐈 What she does: Pam is a board-certified holistic health practitioner and longtime cat lover. She owns Purrrfectly Holistic, which provides holistic health products and services to both cat and dog owners looking for alternatives in pet care. She’s been using Constant Contact since she started her business over seven years ago.

💡 Key quote: “Be true to yourself. Don't try to copy other people or other businesses. Don't compromise on your values.”

👋 Where to find her: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Purrrfectly Holistic: Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

If you love this show, please leave us a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.

There wasn’t a lot of forethought before Chris and Mary Ginder decided to start a hot sauce company. Chris had the idea one day and suddenly became obsessed with making and selling their own fresh pepper hot sauce.

It wasn’t simple. Because of their commitment to quality and compliance, it took three years to actually launch the business and sell the first case of Gindo’s Spice of Life in 2011. 

And it hasn’t always been easy since, like when the couple moved from Los Angeles to Illinois to take control of the manufacturing and work with local farmers. Just when things were looking up, the COVID-19 pandemic brought a host of other challenges.

But the Ginders adapted by making a plan and staying connected with their community.

Listen in to the latest episode of the Be a Marketer podcast to hear Mary and Chris discuss the ups and downs of their business with host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact. 

Find out how the Ginders try to bring the engagement of their in-person events online, keep sales consistent throughout the year, and maximize results from their bi-monthly newsletter.

Meet Today’s Guests: Chris and Mary Ginder of Gindo’s Spice of Life

💵 What they do: Chris and Mary are hot sauce makers and owners of Gindo’s Spice of Life, a line of handcrafted, award-winning hot sauces with ingredients from local farmers. They had the idea in 2008, launched the business in April 2011, and then moved it to Illinois in 2015.

💡 Key quote: “[Community] is a huge part of our business. Our mission statement is we make fresh pepper hot sauces designed to inspire creativity in the kitchen and support local farms and businesses. It’s everything for us.” –Mary

💡 Key quote: “We took it as an opportunity. How can this business survive a move at this stage in the game from Los Angeles to the Midwest? What are the things that were working? What are the things we want to change? How are we going to approach our business? It was almost like we got to start over. And diving into the community and becoming immersed in that was a big part of it, for sure.” –Chris

👋 Where to find them: Website | Twitter | Chris' LinkedIn | Mary’s LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

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Becoming a serial entrepreneur wasn’t in Ramon Ray’s original plan.

As a child, he dreamed of becoming an FBI agent. But Ramon had an entrepreneurial spirit and launched a one-person computer consulting side hustle while he was still working full-time at the United Nations. While that business wasn’t the right fit for Ramon long-term, it fueled his hunger to run his own business and introduced him to the online space and the world of content.

After owning five businesses, selling three, and preparing to launch several more, Ramon can see how his experiences have changed how he runs his businesses. 

“In 2005, buying the first domain — it was transactional, just survival. But, as we get older, we get wiser, and now I’m very purposefully thinking, I want to build generational wealth. I want to give money to others. I want to live a little better life today,” he explains.

Ramon joins host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, on this week’s episode. Ramon shares his continued focus on incorporating marketing into all aspects of his business and leaning into social media trends.

Meet the Guest: Ramon Ray of ZoneofGenius.com

💵 What he does: Ramon is an entrepreneur, small business expert, and motivational speaker. He has sold three of the five businesses he has owned. His current projects are Zone of Genius and BWC Daily. 

💡 Key quote: “Some people out there [are] always looking for a buck. … Instead of looking for the sale first, why not consider doing things just to build brand and awareness? Sometimes people ask me, You do this for free? You don't make any money? Why did you fly there just to speak, when they didn't pay you? You never know who is in the audience — someone is sitting in the front row and then he hires me to speak. So, if I can add value, why not live that way?”

👋 Where to find him: Website | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

If you love this show, please leave us a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.

Running a tea house is one of the last things you’d picture for a WNBA star and four-time Olympic gold medalist. In fact, it’s not even what Tamika Catchings saw herself doing. 

But in 2017, Tamika bought Tea’s Me Cafe in Indianapolis, Indiana. She has since expanded to a second location — even while navigating the business challenges that arose from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

For Tamika, bringing people together is foundational. “I didn't get into it to get rich. I got into it because of the community and … to bring people together and build this,” she says on the premiere episode of Be a Marketer, a podcast designed to help Constant Contact customers make progress at any stage of their marketing journey.

What has worked for Tea’s Me Cafe so far? On the debut episode of Constant Contact’s new podcast, Be a Marketer, Tamika and host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, unpack the tea house’s marketing opportunities and challenges. Tune in to hear how Tea’s Me uses social media to engage its community, what’s working for email list building, and how the tea house launched an ambassador program to complement these efforts.

👉 Check out the full recording of the event mentioned in this episode.

Meet the Guest: Tamika Catchings

☕ What she does: Tamika is a WNBA Hall of Famer, four-time Olympic gold medalist, speaker, community leader, and the owner of Tea’s Me Cafe in Indianapolis, Indiana. She purchased the business in 2017 and expanded to a second location. She has been a Constant Contact customer since April 2022. 

💡 Key quote: “You can’t be me, and I don’t want you to be me, but I want you to be the best that you can be. Because when you operate at your best, no matter where you go in the world, whatever happens next, you will be better, and you will continue to operate at your best. That’s the only thing that I want.”

👋 Where to find her: Website | Twitter | LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Tea’s Me Cafe: Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

If you love this show, please leave us a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.