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

Pete Gosling explains how an AI-first mindset helps B2B SaaS teams stay ahead of disruption and ship revenue-driving marketing. From early shifts like Toy Story-era CG to today's Canva workflows, he says tools evolve but strategy and industry context matter most. He points to an MIT statistic that roughly 95% of enterprise AI projects fail when companies merely graft AI onto existing processes. Instead, he recommends redesigning work AI-first, starting campaign by campaign with a clear outcome, then scaling what works. In Relentless Impact, his weekly 'momentum loop' is: stop, take a breath, observe, proceed. Proceed means choosing one 30-minute prototype, sharing it fast, and iterating rather than waiting for a perfect plan. Biggest takeaway: plan for punches, keep learning relentlessly, and the harder you work, the luckier you get.

Jon Bassford shows how intentional co-parenting can turn a breakup into a calmer two-home life for kids. After years of counseling and a tense separation, he and his ex chose respect and teamwork over winning. The key mindset is "it's not about you": the calendar is your child's time, including friends, birthdays, and grandparents. His rule is to say yes, or "of course", unless you truly need to say no, and he claims 95% of asks are easy. Drop quid pro quo and scorekeeping, and help first so cooperation becomes infectious rather than transactional. He warns the first year is awkward at events, but repetition lowers friction, like the four-minute-mile effect once it's proven. Best takeaway: start with one generous "of course" and keep being curious, not judgmental, to reduce conflict fast.

Jon Bassford is a TEDx speaker, bestselling author, and the driving force behind a movement transforming co-parenting through intentionality, respect, and child-centered strategies. As the author of "The Co-Parenting Secret: It’s Not About You," Jon empowers parents—whether divorced, separated, or in parallel parenting situations—to let go of animosity, nurture genuine relationships, and build supportive environments where children thrive. Drawing on his personal journey and coaching expertise, Jon helps entrepreneurs, business owners, and families turn the challenges of separation into opportunities for growth, clarity, and lasting connection.

In this episode of Marketer of the Day, Jon Bassford joins Robert Plank to reveal the mindset shifts and practical steps that make co-parenting successful—even in high-conflict or complex family situations. Jon shares why focusing on the child’s experience (instead of parental score-keeping) is the key to reducing conflict and fostering deep, lasting relationships. He discusses the initial discomfort of building new co-parenting routines, overcoming external skepticism, and strategies for letting go of the past to create a positive future. Listeners will hear actionable advice on communication, adapting business skills to parenting logistics, and the transformative power of small, intentional choices—like beginning with just one "yes" or "of course."

Quotes:

“If you don’t have a reason to say no, you should always say yes in this type of environment.”

“It’s not about you. It’s about what’s best for the kids: let go of animosity, remove your ego, and focus on their time.”

“Start with one yes. Or, even better, of course—and let it snowball into something more positive for everyone.”

Resources:

Visit Jon Bassford's Website

Connect with Jon Bassford on LinkedIn

Get "The Co-Parenting Secret: It’s Not About You," on Amazon

Kevin Surace lays out an AI-first way to get 10x productivity while keeping humans in control. He says real adoption means using an LLM five times an hour with rich context, not one-line prompts. To answer reporters, he pastes his raw thoughts plus their questions and asks for two or three press-quotable sentences, then edits. In musicals, he can draft lyrics and a demo "I want song" from a script in about an hour for roughly $1 instead of months and $10,000. The advantage is iteration speed: you can run 100 cycles in hours and even refine an eight-second video scene in 30 to 60 minutes. He warns tier-one customer support and software QA scripting are being automated, shrinking $200 to $300 per-test-script yearly costs to a few dollars. Most useful takeaway: keep asking "what can't I do better with AI?" and iterate until the result is genuinely usable.

Rod Khleif shares how to bounce back after losing $50 million in the 2008-09 crash and rebuild through mindset-first leadership. A Dutch immigrant, he credits a mentor for teaching that 80-90% of success is psychology, not mechanics. His process starts with goal setting on steroids to create burning desire, then deciding, committing 100%, and taking the first step. He reframes fear as false evidence, warns against the top regret of dying, and says action mitigates fear and exposes limiting beliefs as BS. To pay the price, he trains focus with meditation, curates inputs, plays to strengths, and chooses peers who are already doing the work. He pairs achievement with gratitude and giving back, feeding 150,000 kids, and is now targeting senior housing as 10,000 Americans turn 65 daily. Most useful takeaway: define what you want, commit, take a step today, and let service keep you fulfilled.

Rick Williams breaks down how leaders make hard calls that protect value and keep teams moving forward. Using Tesla's board weighing an incentive plan that could reach $1 trillion, he shows why process matters as much as the outcome. His Create the Future framework starts by defining the opportunity and what success looks like, then widening options with outside input. Next, leaders test execution barriers, clarify the values the decision should express, and commit to measurable goals the board can track. He argues boards should be "value accelerators" not friends, and should act as both boss and coach by hiring and guiding the CEO. Examples like the $55 billion Musk package and his 50,000-reader newsletter show how incentives and storytelling drive accountability. The takeaway: choose the right people, define success clearly, and make decisions deliberately so you create the future instead of reacting to it.

A youth baseball coach explains how resilience and AI feedback can turn frustrated kids into confident athletes. Jason Taylor says sports remove shortcuts, forcing players to practice through failure until the skill clicks. His core lever is "belief transfer" from a mentor, so athletes borrow conviction until they build their own. He teaches visualization as a magnet, strengthening a clear vision that pulls players through adversity and criticism. Jason shares how he walked on in college, threw 95 to 96 mph, and gained 75 pounds in two months to meet a coach's catcher requirement, then switched schools to keep his path. His academy now adds AI swing analysis where players upload a phone video, get positive and constructive notes, drills, and a one-week follow-up. The best takeaway is to find your pack and keep coaching toward who you can become.

Darity Wesley shows how facing death directly can reduce fear and help you live with more peace right now. She urges families to start the hard conversations early, so no one is guessing in a hospital room. From her lawyer perspective, basic end-of-life planning includes stating your wishes even if you fall into a coma for eight weeks. To break the taboo, she recommends shifting from fear to curiosity, using near-death experiences as "empirical evidence" that consciousness continues. Her community hosts certified evidential medium sessions on Zoom every Thursday, where visitors hear specific details that spark recognition and comfort. As an author coach, she starts with a clear book description for the back cover, then crafts a media-friendly title and guides a narrative arc to a finished self-published manuscript. Most useful takeaway: talk about death now, write down wishes, and let curiosity replace dread.

This explains how agentic AI turns ecommerce chats into conversions and lower support costs. Luca Borreani built Zipchat AI to answer shopper questions instantly, 24/7, in 95+ languages so buyers do not bounce after hours. Setup pulls in a store's knowledge base by connecting to Shopify or crawling pages, then optionally adding PDFs, links, and past chat or email history to match tone. Instead of brittle workflows, merchants prompt behaviors and let the agent use tools like product lookup and Shopify coupon creation. A common play is starting with a 5% offer and escalating up to a capped 20% or 30% discount based on context like recent spend. He also highlights multi-channel recovery on WhatsApp plus newer email support and upcoming Instagram and Messenger replies to catch inbound from ads. Most useful takeaway: adopt AI early because the agent improves from every conversation, compounding into a lasting advantage.

Podcast guesting becomes a revenue engine when you prepare, promote, and repurpose each conversation instead of hoping listeners magically buy. Kristen Nolan matches experts to shows by first confirming the podcast's target audience and listening to a few episodes for the host's style. She builds a podcast prep document with likely questions and key pain points so guests feel ready without sounding scripted. After the interview, she recommends a single welcome page rather than rattling off 15 handles while listeners multitask. Results grow when you promote the episode, tag the host, and capture extra SEO and LMO value while strengthening referral relationships. To keep it sustainable, she time-blocks a 10 to 15 minute LinkedIn timer and resets expectations that one live episode rarely floods you with leads. Do a little extra in follow-up and repurposing, and each appearance keeps working long after the recording ends.