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

Alex Sanfilippo explains how podcast guesting can build trust, create better interviews, and turn outreach into real opportunities. He frames podcasting around "know, like, and trust," saying listeners connect faster when they hear someone speak for 10 or 15 minutes. For guest outreach, he recommends leading with value, making a meaningful request, offering credibility, and mentioning episode sharing. He suggests spending one hour per week on outreach while making rejection easy for hosts. PodMatch grew from a need he validated after 100 podcasters said they struggled to find ideal guests. PodcastSOP addresses the 90% failure rate he cites by using repeatable checklists, due dates, team tags, and templates. The most useful takeaway is to treat podcasting as a consistent system for serving people, not a one-off promotion tactic.

The post 836: PodMatch: Network with Podcast Guests and Hosts to Build Your Reach, Influence, and Traffic with Alex Sanfilippo first appeared on Marketer of the Day with Robert Plank: Business Growth & Entrepreneur Stories.

Amy Anderson explains how outsourced marketing leadership helps growing companies turn scattered activity into measurable momentum. She starts with strategy, using customer personas, empathy maps, and quarterly planning instead of outdated 12 to 18 month plans. Her model combines fractional CMO guidance with implementation teams spanning SEO, PPC, branding, content, video, social, and Salesforce. She shows why one person marketing teams often need support when freelancers and small agencies become disjointed. Strong execution depends on useful content, database segmentation, lead scoring, and clear benchmarks like a 3% conversion rate. She also stresses time blocking, clarity breaks, and empathy for teams working through fast market changes. The key takeaway is to define the strategy first, then use focused specialists and simple metrics to scale what works.

The post 835: Leading Teams Effectively to Grow your Business with Amy Anderson first appeared on Marketer of the Day with Robert Plank: Business Growth & Entrepreneur Stories.

John Warrillow explains how entrepreneurs can build a company that grows, runs, and sells without depending on them. He frames valuable businesses around standard operating procedures, owner independence, and the shift from a glorified job to a transferable asset. A key obstacle is the Colby profile pattern where many founders score high in Quick Start but low in Follow Through. John warns that the rainmaker's dilemma caps growth when revenue depends on the founder personally selling. His strongest practical advice is to stop cross selling when it dilutes a clear, differentiated niche. Stephanie Breedlove's payroll company shows the payoff, growing to $9 million in revenue and selling for $54 million. The useful takeaway is to focus on one defensible offering and build systems that let the business succeed without you.

The post 834: Built to Sell: Create a Business That Thrives On Its Own with John Warrillow first appeared on Marketer of the Day with Robert Plank: Business Growth & Entrepreneur Stories.

Darshan Mehta explains how better consumer conversations lead to clearer insights and smarter business decisions. He defines an insight as an "aha moment" that combines facts, observations, and trends to reveal what motivates people. His framework starts with qualitative conversations, including 10 to 12 person focus groups, to uncover triggers, feelings, and buying patterns. Those patterns can then be validated through surveys and extrapolated to a larger population with confidence. One retailer discovered that opening at 9:30 instead of 10:00 matched shoppers' routines and paid for the research within a week. Darshan also stresses that 95% of decisions are subconscious and that customers now buy complete experiences, not just products. The best takeaway is to listen deeply before optimizing, because the market often points directly to the simplest useful change.

The post 833: Have Meaningful Customer Surveys and Conversations to Create Meaningful Ideas with Darshan Mehta first appeared on Marketer of the Day with Robert Plank: Business Growth & Entrepreneur Stories.

Michael Keplinger explains how CPG brands can use packaging, testing, and consumer insight to win customers before a product reaches the shelf. He starts with Squiggles, a kids' gummy vitamin line, where rising Amazon competition pushed the team from ingredient-focused claims toward parent need states. His framework begins with a strong product, reliable manufacturing partners, and packaging that shapes perception through words and visuals. Instead of guessing, he recommends simulating a buying experience, testing multiple ideas, and validating subtle design choices before printing thousands of labels. He also warns that Amazon mistakes, like a Terms of Service issue, can derail a listing for three months. A Red Gold tomato project shows how visual contrast, Tomato Love, and younger millennial appeal can revive a boring aisle. The key takeaway is to use consumer testing early so bold packaging decisions are safer and more effective.

The post 832: Brand Strategy 101: Market and Product Research, Product Design, and Brand Awareness with Michael Keplinger first appeared on Marketer of the Day with Robert Plank: Business Growth & Entrepreneur Stories.

Online video can turn simple content into traffic, leads, and sales. Augie Johnston explains that creators can start with an iPhone, decent lighting, good audio, and depth of field before upgrading after 50 videos. He says topics should come from the ideal customer avatar and what that person searches for on YouTube. The key YouTube metrics are watch time, binge watching, suggested views, and browse views. Instead of relying on ads, he recommends sending viewers to a link, squeeze page, or free workout where YouTube traffic converted near 40%. He also highlights jump cuts, crop-ins, full-screen titles, end cards, and pattern interrupts to keep viewers engaged. The biggest takeaway is to publish consistently first, then improve production and outsource editing when the business can support it.

The post 831: Grow, Build and Generate Leads for Your Business Using Video Editing Tools with Augie Johnston first appeared on Marketer of the Day with Robert Plank: Business Growth & Entrepreneur Stories.

Rose Radford explains how coaches can stop constant launches and build steadier revenue with evergreen high ticket group coaching. She helps "roller coaster coaches" remove low ticket offers, simplify platforms, and focus on clients who create better results. Her model reframes each funnel as a million dollar asset instead of a one time launch. Early live funnel tests reveal the messaging, avatar, objections, and conversion points that need improving. Rose tracks weekly ad spend, revenue, and profitability, citing $4,000 in ads leading to a $200,000 month. She favors small weekly tweaks, 1% better each week, over rebuilding everything every six months. The key takeaway is to grow by simplifying, testing, and building recurring high ticket revenue patiently.

The post 830: Unlock Your Income Potential Using Online Marketing & Sales Strategies with Rose Radford first appeared on Marketer of the Day with Robert Plank: Business Growth & Entrepreneur Stories.

Brad Smith explains how boring content operations can turn into a scalable growth advantage. He breaks down how Wordable moves approved Google Docs into WordPress and other CMS platforms while cleaning code, preserving formatting, and moving images. The pain is clear at scale: Codeless publishes 300 articles a month, and each post can take 30 to 60 minutes to upload, format, and optimize. Brad focuses on removing recurring tasks like image compression, alt text, external link settings, and messy span tags. He also shares the challenge of rebuilding acquired software without disrupting existing customers too much. His framework is simple: build systems, hire strong people, reward them, and keep attacking the same content and SEO problem for a decade. The takeaway is to get better at boring because repeatable operations create freedom.

The post 829: Optimize Your Content Workflow and Export Publish-Ready Content to Your Website with Wordable CEO Brad Smith first appeared on Marketer of the Day with Robert Plank: Business Growth & Entrepreneur Stories.

Steve P. Young explains how app businesses can grow downloads and revenue with clearer app store marketing and smarter monetization. His core service centers on app store optimization, including titles, subtitles, descriptions, screenshots, and creative testing to improve organic rankings. He also emphasizes conversion rate optimization, retention rate optimization, and app audits as ways to help apps make more money after the download. For subscription apps, he says 80 to 90% of purchases often come from the onboarding flow and the app's main page. About 60% can come from the welcome flow pricing page when it uses reminders, social proof, and clear benefits. He also shares that longer pricing pages produced results like 12x revenue growth and a 65% revenue increase. The key takeaway is to make upgrades obvious, persuasive, and easy to buy.

The post 828: App Masters: Optimize and Market Your Mobile App in the App Store and Do Your Best with Steve Young first appeared on Marketer of the Day with Robert Plank: Business Growth & Entrepreneur Stories.

Luke Van Der Veer explains how renting lead generation websites can create passive income from local business demand. The model starts by choosing a niche with search volume, building a site, and ranking it on the first page of Google. Calls use local tracking numbers and forms route leads by email, so a plumber, roofer, tree service, or concrete contractor receives prospects automatically. Before charging, Luke suggests sending free referrals to prove value and build trust with owners already using HomeAdvisor, Thumbtack, Groupon, or Google ads. Once a site produces leads, the owner rents it for a monthly fee, often through Stripe autopay. The goal is an asset that keeps producing with little maintenance. The key takeaway is to prove demand first, then rent the asset instead of selling services upfront.

The post 827: Website Rental Coaching: Build a Predictable Passive Income Using Small Business Lead Generation and Search Engine Optimization Traffic with Luke Van Der Veer first appeared on Marketer of the Day with Robert Plank: Business Growth & Entrepreneur Stories.