Elliot Blacklist joins us to share his remarkable journey in scaling a CBD brand through innovative digital marketing strategies, despite fierce competition from well-funded players. We dive into how he leveraged data-driven insights to navigate the complexities of the industry, emphasizing the importance of understanding customer acquisition costs and lifetime value. Elliot’s story is not just about numbers; it’s about building unfair advantages and making meaningful connections with customers through genuine engagement. We also discuss the evolving landscape of local SEO and how it offers unique opportunities for service-based businesses to thrive. Stick around as we explore actionable insights that can help you transform your approach to business in today’s ever-changing market.

Takeaways:

• Creating genuine insights is crucial in today's competitive podcast landscape, as AI-generated content is becoming easier to spot.
• In e-commerce, particularly in the CBD sector, the right marketing strategies can lead to success despite heavy competition and industry challenges.
• Local service businesses have unique advantages, as competition is often limited to the surrounding area, making scalability more achievable.
• Understanding customer acquisition costs versus lifetime value is essential for proper cash flow management in any business.

Chapters

[00:00] Creating Genuine Value in AI Era

[02:12] Building CBD Brand Through Industry Chaos

[05:55] Data Driven SEO and Content Strategy

[11:17] Adapting Marketing for AI Future

[15:16] Measuring Business Metrics for Acquisition

[21:39] Local SEO for Service Businesses

[27:19] Home Services Business Opportunity

[29:12] Competitive Intelligence Using AI Tools

Companies Mentioned

Square - Payment processing platform that terminated the CBD business account due to policy restrictions.

Klaviyo - Email marketing and customer data platform providing attribution tracking and customer lifecycle data.

Woocommerce - E commerce platform used to run the CBD online store.

Google - Referenced for Google Business Profile, Search Console, and Analytics as primary data sources for local SEO.

Meta - Social media platform that banned CBD businesses from paid advertisements.

OpenAI/ChatGPT - AI tools changing search recommendations and content strategy approaches.

Yelp - Review platform heavily weighted by AI recommendations.

Cursor - AI powered tool for processing competitive intelligence data.

Outscraper - Data scraping tool for aggregating competitor reviews.

Guest Information

Elliot Blacklist is a digital marketing strategist and former e commerce founder who successfully built and sold a CBD brand despite heavy industry restrictions. He spent six years growing the business through organic search and email marketing, competing against venture backed competitors with larger budgets.

• After selling the CBD business, Elliot transitioned to helping brick and mortar service businesses leverage local SEO and digital marketing. He specializes in working with home service companies, using data from Google Business Profile, Search Console, and Analytics to drive measurable lead generation and revenue growth. His approach combines technical SEO expertise with practical business metrics, focusing on trackable outcomes like phone calls and quote requests.