Marketer of the Day with Robert Plank: Business Growth & Entrepreneur Stories

Marketer of the Day with Robert Plank: Business Growth & Entrepreneur Stories

By Robert PlankBusinessEntrepreneurshipMarketingManagement
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Marketer of the Day with Robert Plank: Business Growth & Entrepreneur Stories episodes

  • 173: The Bacon System: Get Boatloads of Traffic Using Content Marketing and Google Analytics with Brian Basilico
    Brian Basilico joins Robert Plank to explain the publishing process behind his Bacon System. The conversation connects podcasting, blog posts, email, social media, and analytics into a routine that helps a business learn what its audience actually wants.
    Brian describes starting with a short solo recording, transcribing it, and developing that material into a longer blog post. Expert interviews provide another format, and a weekly email digest brings the material together. Each piece has a role in the system, reducing the need to invent an unrelated idea for every channel. Robert also discusses committing to a run of podcast interviews before judging the approach too quickly.
    A client example shows why audience knowledge matters. Brian organized content for different levels of familiarity, from introductory material to advanced topics. The response from experienced visitors helped reveal a valuable audience that a business might overlook by publishing only beginner advice. Analytics and actual inquiries gave the client a basis for deciding which material deserved more attention.
    Brian explains how referral sources, time on a page, entry and exit behavior, and responses to calls to action inform that process. Interest in his own analytics content eventually led him to create a dedicated course. The conversation describes the analytics tools of its recording period, while the central publishing method is clear: create useful material consistently, connect the formats, and use evidence from the audience to guide the next topic.
    A content system that learns from its audience
    Turn one recorded idea into several useful formats.
    Plan content for people at different levels of experience.
    Connect traffic measurements to inquiries and other meaningful actions.
    Use repeated audience interest to identify a potential product or course.
    Resources mentioned
    B2B Interactive Marketing
    The Bacon System
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu1Ds_UHyc0
    29 min
  • 172: Tandem Leadership: Communicate with Partners and Employees to Grow Your Business with Gina Catalano
    Gina Catalano joins Robert Plank to discuss growing beyond an owner's personal capacity through better delegation and a complementary second-in-command relationship. Her Tandem Leadership approach begins with understanding the work, the people doing it, and the communication needed to keep them moving in the same direction.
    Gina suggests taking an honest inventory of what you enjoy, what you do well, and what another person could handle more effectively. Tracking daily activity can reveal repeated work and time drains an owner barely notices. She draws a parallel with manufacturing projects in which observing or recording the process exposed habits that had become invisible to the people doing them.
    The conversation distinguishes shared values from identical skills. Robert describes partnerships in which another person's experimentation and infrastructure work complemented his coding. He also recognizes how limited communication once hid the effort both partners were making, creating room for unfair assumptions about who was contributing.
    Delegation then requires clear expectations, training, accountability, and a dependable rhythm of check-ins. Neither constant interference nor complete disappearance gives a new colleague the support needed to succeed. Gina also describes a proposed business sale that turned out to be a conversation about wanting more personal time. The episode encourages owners to consider whether a better distribution of responsibility could create the freedom they are seeking without discarding a business they still value.
    Delegating with clarity and a communication rhythm
    Observe where your time actually goes.
    Look for complementary strengths supported by shared values.
    Explain the expected result and provide appropriate training.
    Adjust check-ins as trust and capability develop.
    Resources mentioned
    Tandem Leadership
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGgqZwJzcRY
    Resources
    TANDEM LEADERSHIP
    30 min
  • 171: Traffic and Leads: SEO, PPC, Social Media, Landing Pages, Email Autoresponder Followup Sequences and Sales Letters with Lindsey Anderson
    Lindsey Anderson joins Robert Plank to discuss turning website traffic into an ongoing customer conversation. Her approach connects search, paid advertising, social media, a focused landing page, email capture, and follow-up instead of treating a visit as the end of the marketing process.
    Lindsey describes a weight-loss campaign in which a direct webinar invitation did not perform well. Offering an ebook first created a different entry point, followed by an email sequence and a later invitation to the webinar. The example shows why the first offer needs to match how ready the visitor is to engage, not simply the action the business most wants them to take.
    Another test produced a different lesson: brief copy offering an audiobook outperformed a long explanation of an author's background and benefits. Lindsey emphasizes testing because the same length or message does not win for every audience. On the landing page, she favors removing distractions and focusing on one clear action rather than presenting a full set of unrelated navigation choices.
    The follow-up sequence introduces the business, builds credibility, asks questions, and offers relevant next steps over time. Robert and Lindsey also discuss how pressure around a live webinar can create attention without necessarily creating a valuable experience. The episode brings the parts of a funnel back to the customer's path, with measurement and refinement at each step rather than a promise that more traffic will solve an unclear offer.
    Following the prospect from the first click to the next step
    Choose an initial offer that fits the audience's readiness.
    Give a landing page one clear job.
    Use follow-up to add context, proof, and relevant invitations.
    Test messages against actual responses instead of assuming one format always works.
    Resources mentioned
    Lindsey Anderson aka One Click Lindsey
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdIR5V0Hjuo
    31 min
  • 170: Focus, Learning, and Passion: The Commonalities of Enlightened Super-Achievers with Corey Poirier
    Corey Poirier joins Robert Plank to discuss patterns he has noticed while interviewing high achievers. Focus, continued learning, and a sense of purpose appear throughout the conversation, along with a more practical question: how do those ideas become habits someone can maintain?
    Corey describes the importance of choosing what deserves attention and saying no to activities that pull away from it. Books, podcasts, mentors, and other inputs can support that direction when they are selected for usefulness. The point is not to collect more information indiscriminately, but to keep learning in ways that improve the decisions and work in front of you.
    His own attempt to exceed an ambitious daily routine immediately lasted only three days. The example brings a caution about changing too much at once. A later effort to improve eating and exercise included lapses, but he treated them as occasions to resume rather than proof that the entire effort had failed.
    Corey also describes setbacks that later became useful parts of a job application, including an injury and a newspaper that closed. Those experiences looked different when an employer saw motivation and sales experience in them. Robert and Corey connect purpose with trying interests, noticing what remains meaningful, and committing long enough to learn. The episode offers an approachable view of focus and development that includes restarts, imperfect execution, and changing interpretations of an earlier disappointment.
    Building focus and learning you can sustain
    Choose useful inputs that support a clear direction.
    Avoid making a new routine so large that it collapses immediately.
    Resume after a lapse instead of treating it as a permanent failure.
    Reconsider which experiences may have developed a useful capability.
    Resources mentioned
    Corey Porier
    The Speaking Program
    The Passion Cure
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLaKlLILYVI
    45 min
  • 169: The Missing Piece of Amazon Selling: Avoid Account Suspension, Increase Reviews and Scale Your E-Commerce Business Cynthia Stine
    Cynthia Stine joins Robert Plank to discuss the business disruption caused by an Amazon seller-account suspension. Drawing on her work with sellers, she explains why monitoring performance, understanding complaints, and addressing the cause of a problem should be ongoing responsibilities rather than emergency work after revenue stops.
    The conversation examines the information available to a seller and the importance of responding to problems quickly. Cynthia describes appeals and plans of action as they worked at the time of the interview. Her emphasis is on identifying what went wrong, explaining the corrective work, and showing how the same issue will be prevented. The specific policy details and deadlines in the recording belong to that historical context.
    Several examples show how small assumptions can create larger trouble. Cynthia describes sellers losing reviews after a policy change, auditing a large collection of listing images, and dealing with a family member's well-intended review. Robert adds the experience of receiving a pool-cleaning product without the handle shown in its photograph. The example highlights the gap between what a listing appears to promise and what a buyer receives.
    Cynthia also distinguishes different kinds of account problems and stresses that repeated violations cannot be treated casually. For an ecommerce owner, the broader lesson is operational: someone must pay attention to marketplace requirements, customer expectations, and the evidence in the account. The episode offers a view into the consequences of neglecting those tasks, rather than a shortcut or a guarantee of reinstatement.
    Protecting the business before an account problem escalates
    Review customer complaints and seller-performance information regularly.
    Check whether product images and descriptions match what is delivered.
    Treat review practices and listing requirements as compliance responsibilities.
    Address the underlying cause when preparing a response to a suspension.
    Resources mentioned
    EGrowthPartners
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FEpdtpPx4k
    43 min
  • 168: Increase Your Traffic: On-Page and Off-Page Search Engine Optimization, Google Analytics, HubSpot, Metrics and Analytics with Scott Gombar
    Scott Gombar joins Robert Plank to discuss increasing website traffic through search optimization, useful content, and regular measurement. The conversation links the technical condition of a site with what visitors do after arriving, so marketing decisions can be based on evidence rather than a ranking or traffic total alone.
    Scott describes reviewing traffic sources, visitor locations, time on a page, and unexpected changes in activity. A sudden decline calls for investigation: the explanation might involve the website, a search change, or another problem. He also discusses whether visitors find what they expected when they follow a search result or advertisement. The analytics terminology reflects the tools available when the interview was recorded.
    On the website itself, the discussion covers titles, image attributes, URLs, keyword variations, broken links, and other details that help a page communicate its subject. Scott connects this work with activities outside the site, including publishing and building relevant connections. He also describes using tools in his own business before applying them to a client's work.
    A moving-company example illustrates why the basics matter. Scott found neglected optimization and an unreliable hosting situation, changed the foundation, and reported stronger traffic afterward. He also explains simplifying his own content-heavy site so useful material was easier to reach. For a business owner, the episode encourages a practical sequence: understand what is happening, address obstacles, make the content easier to find, and continue checking whether the changes help visitors.
    Connecting search traffic with a usable website
    Investigate changes in traffic instead of assuming a single cause.
    Review technical details alongside the page's message and purpose.
    Make valuable content easy to reach through clear navigation.
    Use measurement to decide what needs attention next.
    Resources mentioned
    Scott Gombar
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IwydzktQRg
    29 min
  • 167: Social Entrepreneurship: Business with a Purpose that Creates Social Change with Adam Force
    Adam Force, founder of Change Creator, joins Robert Plank to discuss building a business around a social or environmental problem. He explains social entrepreneurship as a model that combines profit with meaningful impact, with attention to the cause of a problem and the business's ability to keep doing useful work over time.
    Adam traces his interest in purposeful work to a trip to Costa Rica. Finding a direction took experimentation: caring about a cause did not immediately tell him which business to build. His background in marketing, design, and user experience eventually pointed him toward education and media. A conversation about digital magazines helped him see how those skills could support other entrepreneurs who wanted to create change.
    Change Creator became a way to bring interviews, articles, video, and interactive material together around that mission. Adam discusses the publication's subscription model and its commitment, at the time of the interview, to contribute ten percent of subscription sales to charity: water. The example connects the practical demands of paying for a publication with an explicit commitment to an outside cause.
    Other examples widen the discussion beyond publishing. Adam describes using popular culture to challenge harmful attitudes toward women, and an entrepreneur creating a market for products made with Guatemalan artisans' fabrics. In each case, the conversation looks at how an activity can connect customers, revenue, and a larger purpose. For someone still choosing a direction, Adam suggests examining personal values, existing skills, experience, and the problems they care enough to keep working on.
    Finding a sustainable way to create change
    Define the problem your business addresses and why it matters to you.
    Look for a fit between your strengths and the work needed to address that problem.
    Consider how the business will support its mission financially over time.
    Use media and real examples to make purposeful entrepreneurship more understandable.
    Resources mentioned
    Change Creator Magazine
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_Z6-Wv1N4E
    33 min
  • 166: Clean Up Your Credit Score with Damon Damarr
    Damon Damarr joins Robert Plank to explain his approach to understanding credit reports and helping people organize the information behind a credit score. The conversation looks at why an unfamiliar account, inquiry, or negative entry deserves careful attention, and how the work of helping clients led Damon to develop self-service materials.
    Damon discusses the three major credit bureaus, the different information a report contains, and the factors he considers when reviewing someone's credit history. Robert recalls paying for a credit check before learning about sources for a free report, opening a discussion about understanding what you are obtaining before paying for a service.
    Much of the interview concerns Damon's dispute-letter approach as he described it at the time of recording. He talks about written communication, verification requests, keeping track of responses, and following a documented process. Topics include collection accounts, inquiries, medical debts, and other records that can make a report difficult for a consumer to interpret. These portions describe the guest's historical approach; the episode does not establish that a negative item is inaccurate or that a particular result is guaranteed.
    The business story is also instructive. Damon says recurring client situations and repeated verification replies prompted his team to research procedures and turn their work into reusable packages. He describes balancing that product model with a desire to assist people who could not afford the package. For entrepreneurs, the discussion shows how a recurring service problem can reveal an opportunity for clearer instructions, templates, and a more organized customer experience.
    Credit-report literacy and a service built from repeated questions
    Understand the information on a report before assuming what a score means.
    Keep written records when addressing a disputed item.
    Distinguish the guest's described process from a guaranteed outcome.
    Notice repeated customer questions that could become clearer educational materials.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY6Kl7sFTS4
    30 min
  • 165: All-in-One E-Commerce Solution: Setup a Shopify Store to Create a Money-Making Website Today with Kurt Elster
    Kurt Elster joins Robert Plank to discuss building an ecommerce store that explains the product clearly and helps an unfamiliar visitor feel comfortable buying. Shopify provides the technical setting for the conversation, but positioning, trust, product demand, and the customer's path receive as much attention as the platform.
    Kurt recommends a concise explanation of what is sold, whom it serves, and why that person would choose it. Strong photography, useful reviews, understandable policies, and accessible contact information support that explanation. A store can process a payment and still leave visitors uncertain about the product or the people behind it.
    Everest Bands provides a case study in explaining an unfamiliar offer. Kurt describes helping communicate replacement watch straps and watching the business expand beyond its initial product. Material from that project also became the basis for a longer educational resource, showing how useful client work can become content for other store owners.
    The interview covers customer information, email connections, fulfillment, and reaching people who leave before purchasing. Kurt also cautions against adding so many applications that costs and page performance suffer. Platform features and advertising examples reflect the recording period. The broader sequence is practical: establish that people want the product, communicate its value, remove avoidable uncertainty, and keep the store simple enough to operate and use.
    Making the store clear enough to earn a first purchase
    Explain the product, intended buyer, and reason to choose it.
    Use photography and policies to answer common doubts.
    Build a direct relationship with customers beyond a single transaction.
    Consider the cost and performance effect of each added application.
    Resources mentioned
    Kurt Elster
    EtherCycle
    E-Commerce Bootcamp
    Everest Bands
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGHbsk910yc
    33 min
  • 164: Get Off the Treadmill: Redefine Success, Question Your Priorities and Become a Better Role Model with Dr. Joe Martin
    Joe Martin joins Robert Plank to discuss redefining success when professional achievement is not producing the family life or character a person wants. His account includes becoming a professor at a young age, earning a doctorate, and later recognizing that those accomplishments had not supplied a blueprint for being a husband and father.
    A visit with a long-married mentor and father of eight gave Joe a different example of leadership. Seeing the household and relationships closely challenged the measures he had been using. The conversation asks what it means to admire someone's occupation or reputation without also knowing how they treat the people closest to them.
    Joe describes the end of an earlier marriage and the priorities he brought into a later one. His own ordering places faith, spouse, children, and other relationships ahead of professional calling. He presents that as a personal framework for keeping important responsibilities from being displaced by the next achievement.
    Robert and Joe also discuss role models, legacy, and teaching by example. A classroom conversation in which students struggled to identify a respected male role model at home sharpened Joe's concern about the subject. The episode encourages listeners to examine what their current schedule and decisions are actually building. It moves the question of success beyond compensation and credentials toward the relationships and influence a person wants to leave behind.
    Choosing measures of success that include the people closest to you
    Ask what professional accomplishment is leaving unaddressed.
    Learn from a role model's relationships as well as their career.
    Make personal priorities visible in everyday decisions.
    Consider the example and legacy your choices are creating.
    For a practical way to put those priorities into your week, read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in Practice, which connects Joe’s perspective on success with planning, important work, and relationships.
    Resources mentioned
    Dr. Joe Martin
    Real Men Connect
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrG4itsXoMc
    37 min

About Marketer of the Day with Robert Plank: Business Growth & Entrepreneur Stories

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Marketer of the Day with Robert Plank is a daily business podcast for entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, consultants, agency owners, coaches, authors, speakers, and expert-led service businesses that want…