Shape the Conversation

Happy Independence week! In 1776, America made a big decision that changed history. In this episode, Nicole and Jon covered how to think through making big changes that will influence your personal history. Along the way they talked about:

• The risks and perceived risks that come with making big career changes.
• Is there anyway to know if you are truly "ready" to take a leap?
• Emotionally dealing with leaving a team behind and why we are all a little less important than we think.
• Thinking about your day-to-day now as prep for the future

The best we advice we have is to trust yourself to make a hard call if you've put in the work. Talk to people you trust around you. Get some feedback. Build your savings account if needed. But at the end of the day, making a big change is an emotional decision that's on you. 

Taking a big leap can be scary. Drew Hudson, co-founder of Dropbox, says he considers which path to take based on what will lead to obtaining the most knowledge or is the most interesting to him. We like this way of thinking because it can lead to taking on work that you haven't done before but have always wanted to try. 

Reach out to us with any ideas, questions or feedback on the podcast!

✉️ [email protected]
✉️ [email protected]

Jon and Nicole talk about how they define the different types of chatbots and the massive changes that may be ahead as chatbots become even more prevalent. 

• Chatbots as a whole new realm of conversion rate optimization (CRO)
• Are forms dead?
• Chatbot design and how it mirrors landing page optimization in many ways
• Could chatbots complete replace websites for many businesses?

We encourage everyone to get out there and experiment with a chatbot. We can personally vouch for these two platforms for launching your chatbot:

Drift - The "new way businesses buy from businesses". Great for booking meetings with new prospects and sparking conversations with prospects visiting your site.

Landbot - Great way to easily launch a chatbot with low risk. What we love about Landbot is the visual bot builder and options to implement your bot as a sidebar chat, embedded widget or take over the whole page with the bot experience.

Nicole came prepped with research for this episode. Here are the articles and research she referenced:

"The Sudden Death of the Website" - Techcrunch
"Gartner Top Strategic Predictions for 2018 and Beyond" - Gartner
"8 Changes Chatbots Will Bring to the Workplace" - CMS Wire

The best we advice we have is get out there and start experimenting because chatbots are becoming a larger piece of converting prospects to customers.

If you don't have a chatbot strategy yet, you need to think hard about why.

Reach out to us with any ideas, questions or feedback on the podcast!

✉️ [email protected]
✉️ [email protected]

There has been a lot written about voice search but one of the most well thought out points-of-view we have read is Ian Lurie's article, "Beware: Voice Search Isn't That Exciting."

We highly recommend reading Lurie's work before listening to this episode where we touch on his thoughts and more:

• "genuine" vs "non-genuine" voice searches
• voice search vs voice command
• what makes a good candidate for a voice search?
• what is not a good candidate for a voice search?
• voice search's future in your day-to-day life
• what future version of voice search could disrupt traditional searching?

The best we advice we have for marketers is think hard before you implement a 'voice search first' strategy. There are still a lot of queries where a screen is a better place to sort through results then listening to an answer. 

Reach out to us with any ideas, questions or feedback on the podcast!

✉️ [email protected]
✉️ [email protected]

Mary Meeker's 2018 Internet Trends Report. Jon and Nicole cover the top 20 most interesting slides according to them. Click the links to follow along:

• Follow along using the the original slides: Internet Trends 2018
• Follow along with our YouTube video that syncs with the audio of this episode: Shape's YouTube

Reach out to us with any ideas, questions or feedback on the podcast!

✉️ [email protected]
✉️ [email protected]

Managing your stress and emotion is one of the most important things you do during your workday. Not reacting in the moment to every good or bad event gives you space to make better decisions. But it's not easy when things get tough. Jon and Nicole cover topics such as:

• How it can be frustrating to restrain your emotions at all times
• The challenges of remaining calm while inspiring people around you
• Less emotion often means less regrets, better decisions, and being more fun to work with
• Remembering your lows aren't as low as you perceive them to be
• Why you should remain calm when getting feedback
• How to react when receiving bad news to ensure no one is afraid of giving you bad news
• And more...

The best advice we have is that having restraint in the moment will allow you to make better decisions and receive better information from people around you.

Making decisions about what NOT to do can be harder than deciding what TO do. Jon and Nicole cover topics like:

• Being okay with the things you do and don't do
• What Shape does and doesn't do with our marketing
• What Shape does and doesn't do with our product
• What Shape does and doesn't do with our sales process
• Why you do not need to do everything to grow
• And more...

Best advice we have is to remember do what is most valuable for your team and your business, don't get distracted.

Trust yourself to make decisions on what to add/what to cut, don't delay stopping efforts if something isn't working. The long-term success of your business’ can be determined as much by what you don’t do as what you choose to do.

Reach out to us with any ideas, questions or feedback on the podcast!

✉️ [email protected]
✉️ [email protected]

There are good problems to have and then there are bad problems to have in the business world. Jon and Nicole recognize the problems that they faced when starting a company and talk about topics like:

• Differentiating good problems from bad problems
• How to properly address bad problems
• How to build off of good problems
• Taking a problem and turning it into a solution
• Other members of your team will view problems differently 
• And more...

Best advice we have is to remember problems can lead to opportunities.

 Do not look at problems as failures, instead recognize the opportunity for growth that has been put in front of you and your company. To overcome problems, good or bad, shows that your business is mindful of its customers, has the ability to persevere, and is open to change.

Reach out to us with any ideas, questions or feedback on the podcast!

✉️ [email protected]
✉️ [email protected]

Getting your first customer can be the largest hurtle when starting company. Nicole and Jon know this challenge all too well and cover topics like:

• how to market a brand new company
• making your product 'free'/offering a 'free trial'
• overcoming early mistakes
• satisfying investors without making fast sales
• when to publicly announce your product
• the importance of customer service
• and more...

Best advice we have is to remember the world doesn't come to you.

You create a great product and anticipate that people will care, however it takes much more than waiting around to get your first customer. You need to market, sell, promote, and chase after clients if you want to get your business off the ground and on its way.

Reach out to us with any ideas, questions or feedback on the podcast!

✉️ [email protected]
✉️ [email protected]

Going from team member to team manager can be tricky. Nicole and Jon have both gone through it and cover topics like:
- is 'management' even right for you?
- signs you might be ready for management
- ways to gain the confidence of your team
- making delegation decisions
- having 1 to 1's
- the body language of a leader
- and more...

Best advice we have is to communicate a lot with your team. 

Nothing can compensate for communication. The best things are going to happen to managers that are constantly communicating with their team. 

Reachout to us with any ideas, questions or feedback on the podcast!

✉️ [email protected]
✉️ [email protected]

This is a new podcast from shape.io. In the upcoming episodes we'll be talking about our experiences building a SaaS business in Bend, Oregon, the future of digital advertising, talking to some great guests and more.

Don't hesitate to reach out.
Nicole's email: [email protected]
Jon's email: [email protected]