In this episode of the B2B Brand180 Podcast, Linda Fanaras interviews Jonathan Slain, advisor to middle-market companies and co-author of Rock Your Business. Together, they unpack how Jonathan’s company fell victim to a sophisticated AI-enabled fraud attempt involving email compromise and voice impersonation, and what the costly experience taught him about cybersecurity, risk, and leadership.

Jonathan shares practical insights on strengthening payment approvals, evaluating cyber fraud and social engineering insurance, and keeping employee security training current as AI threats evolve. You'll hear actionable strategies for protecting your business from AI-enabled fraud, identifying gaps in existing safeguards, and building a more vigilant organization without letting fear of technology get in the way of growth.

[01:22] How an AI-Enabled Fraud Scheme Cost the Company $21,000
[03:47] How AI Voice Spoofing Can Bypass Traditional Verification
[12:24] The Four Safeguards Every Business Should Review After a Fraud Attempt
[14:45] Cyber Fraud Insurance and Social Engineering Coverage Explained
[16:20] How Much Cyber Fraud Coverage Should Your Business Have?
[17:49] Why Ongoing Employee Training Is Critical as AI Threats Evolve
[19:13] Rock Your Business: Scaling from $50 Million to $500 Million
[21:11] Rapid-Fire Questions: AI Fraud, Risk, and Leadership

https://www.autobahnconsultants.com

Jonathan's Book: Rock Your Business

Linda's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindafanaras/

Millennium Agency:
Brand Strategy | Marketing | Web Design:
https://mill.agency

How ready is your brand for growth?
Take the free Brand180 Reality Check: 12 quick questions to uncover your biggest brand blind spots before your next stage of growth.
https://brand180.mill.agency/

YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@mill.agency/

Linda's Books:
Claim Your White Space
Passion + Profits: Fueling Business and Brand Success

In this episode of the B2B Brand180 Podcast, Linda Fanaras interviews Chaz Horn, B2B sales expert and creator of the business case process. Together, they explore why companies may be losing revenue even when they have strong products and leads, where value gets lost throughout the buyer and customer journey, and how a structured business case can help close those gaps.

Chaz shares practical insights on replacing traditional discovery calls with value-driven conversations, aligning marketing and sales, and reinforcing value after the contract is signed. You'll hear actionable strategies for improving close rates, shortening sales cycles, and creating more opportunities for referrals, upsells, and cross-sells.

01:55 Why Revenue Leaks Aren’t Always a Lead Generation Problem
07:32 Where Revenue Gets Lost Across the Buyer and Customer Journey
12:26 Aligning Marketing, Sales, and Customer Experience Around Value
15:24 The $200,000 to $3.9 Million Story
22:00 Not Product Service, It's Customer Experience
23:55 Rapid-Fire Questions: Lead Generation, Sales, and Positioning

https://masteryofb2bsales.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chaz-horn/

Linda's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindafanaras/

Millennium Agency:
Brand Strategy | Marketing | Web Design:
https://mill.agency

How ready is your brand for growth?
Take the free Brand180 Reality Check: 12 quick questions to uncover your biggest brand blind spots before your next stage of growth.
https://brand180.mill.agency/

YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@mill.agency/

Linda's Books:
Claim Your White Space
Passion + Profits: Fueling Business and Brand Success

In this episode of the B2B Brand180 Podcast, Linda Fanaras interviews Aly Samaha, known as the Follow-Up King, who has generated millions in sales by re-engaging leads others had given up on. Together, they explore why quiet prospects are not necessarily lost deals, why traditional follow-up often fails, and how sales teams can revive opportunities already sitting in their pipelines.

Aly shares practical insights on non-assumptive language, handling common objections, and following up without sounding pushy or desperate. You'll hear actionable strategies for reconnecting with prospects, creating value in every interaction, and turning overlooked leads into new revenue opportunities.

01:54 Why Quiet Prospects Aren’t Necessarily Lost Deals
03:09 Why Salespeople Give Up on “Dead” Leads Too Soon
05:18 The Three Reasons Prospects Ghost You
07:26 What to Send a Prospect Who Went Quiet Months Ago
11:10 Non-Assumptive Language: Following Up Without the Pressure
12:58 The Breakup Message That Gets Prospects to Respond
16:22 Handling Price, Budget, and “Let Me Think About It” Objections
20:11 How to Revive the One Deal You Thought Was Dead

https://alysamaha.com/linda

https://www.facebook.com/samsonsamaha

Linda's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindafanaras/

Millennium Agency:
Brand Strategy | Marketing | Web Design:
https://mill.agency

How ready is your brand for growth?
Take the free Brand180 Reality Check: 12 quick questions to uncover your biggest brand blind spots before your next stage of growth.
https://brand180.mill.agency/

YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@mill.agency/

Linda's Books:
Claim Your White Space
Passion + Profits: Fueling Business and Brand Success

In this episode of the B2B Brand180 Podcast, Linda Fanaras interviews Mark Skalla, founder of Fulcrum Fractional and author of The Leverage Point. Together, they explore why growth can expose hidden operational weaknesses, how founders become bottlenecks in their own businesses, and what leaders need to change to scale without everything depending on them.

Mark shares practical insights on delegation, accountability, decision-making, and building systems that allow teams to take greater ownership. You'll hear actionable strategies for identifying operational bottlenecks, using AI and automation to improve visibility, and creating the structure needed to support sustainable business growth.

01:47 When Founders Become the Bottleneck to Growth
03:42 Why Growth Amplifies a Broken Business
06:45 The Leverage Point: How to Know When You’re the Bottleneck
09:14 Using AI and Automation to Improve Accountability
10:03 The “Founder Hero” Problem: When CEOs Stay Too Tactical
16:54 Why 80% Delegation Can Outperform 100% Founder Execution
17:39 Why Marketing Growth Exposes Operational Weaknesses
22:58 Rapid-Fire Questions

https://leveragepointbook.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markskalla/

Linda's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindafanaras/

Millennium Agency:
Brand Strategy | Marketing | Web Design:
https://mill.agency

How ready is your brand for growth?
Take the free Brand180 Reality Check: 12 quick questions to uncover your biggest brand blind spots before your next stage of growth.
https://brand180.mill.agency/

YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@mill.agency/

Linda's Books:
Claim Your White Space
Passion + Profits: Fueling Business and Brand Success

In this episode of the B2B Brand180 Podcast, Linda Fanaras interviews Jenna Hannon, founder and CEO of Hatter, an AI search agency helping brands increase visibility in Google and AI-generated answers. Together, they explore how AI is reshaping search, why traditional SEO strategies are no longer enough, and what businesses need to do to stay discoverable in the new era of AEO.

Jenna shares practical insights on the differences between SEO and AEO, building content that AI platforms actually cite, and measuring success beyond traditional search rankings. You'll hear actionable strategies for improving AI search visibility, creating content that aligns with how buyers search today, and positioning your brand to compete as search continues to evolve.

01:02 Why Brands Are Losing Google Traffic in the AI Era
01:32 SEO vs. AEO: What Most Agencies Are Getting Wrong
02:14 Building Content That AI Search Actually Recommends
03:45 How AI Chatbots Are Changing the Customer Journey
08:32 The First Steps Every CEO Should Take with AEO
11:34 Measuring AEO Success and Staying Ahead of Competitors
12:10 How to Audit and Improve Your AI Search Visibility
13:10 Rapid-Fire Questions

https://www.gethatter.ai/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennahannon/

Linda's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindafanaras/

Millennium Agency:
Brand Strategy | Marketing | Web Design:
https://mill.agency

How ready is your brand for growth?
Take the free Brand180 Reality Check: 12 quick questions to uncover your biggest brand blind spots before your next stage of growth.
https://brand180.mill.agency/

YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@mill.agency/

Linda's Books:
Claim Your White Space
Passion + Profits: Fueling Business and Brand Success

In this episode of the B2B Brand180 Podcast, Linda Fanaras interviews Alec Broadfoot, founder and CEO of VisionSpark and author of Hiring Your Right Number Two Leader. Together, they explore why leadership misalignment is one of the biggest barriers to scaling entrepreneurial companies and how founders can overcome it by building the right leadership team.

Alec shares practical insights on identifying the ideal second-in-command, aligning visionary thinking with operational execution, and avoiding the common hiring mistakes that create organizational bottlenecks. You'll hear actionable strategies for improving leadership alignment, empowering executives to focus on their strengths, and building a company that can grow without relying on the founder for every decision.

01:13 Leadership Misalignment: The Hidden Growth Killer
03:00 Why Every Visionary Needs the Right Number Two Leader
04:22 Setting Expectations and Aligning Around Vision
06:06 Why Founders Struggle to Get Teams to Execute
07:42 Hiring for Alignment Instead of Experience
09:58 Defining the Ideal Number Two Leader
14:33 Practical Advice for Founders Ready to Scale
15:48 Rapid-Fire Leadership Questions

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alecbroadfoot/

https://visionsparksearch.com/

Linda's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindafanaras/

Millennium Agency:
Brand Strategy | Marketing | Web Design:
https://mill.agency

How ready is your brand for growth?
Take the free Brand180 Reality Check: 12 quick questions to uncover your biggest brand blind spots before your next stage of growth.
https://brand180.mill.agency/

YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@mill.agency/

Linda's Books:
Claim Your White Space
Passion + Profits: Fueling Business and Brand Success

In this episode of the B2B Brand180 Podcast, Linda Fanaras interviews William Anderson, senior business and consulting leader, strategic advisor, and author of The Room Goes Quiet: How to Close High-Stakes Service Deals by Owning Customer Risk. Together, they unpack why even the strongest B2B solutions often fail to close when buyers lose confidence in the people behind them.

William shares how executive decision-making is driven less by product features and more by trust, credibility, and perceived risk ownership. You’ll hear practical insights on how leaders can recognize “the room goes quiet” moments during high-pressure conversations, how brands unintentionally erode trust over time, and why credibility has become one of the most important competitive advantages in modern B2B relationships.

00:01:18 Why Strong B2B Solutions Still Fail to Close Deals
00:03:13 The Trust Breakdown Behind Stalled Executive Decisions
00:05:19 A Real Example of Winning Trust in a High-Stakes Deal
00:07:33 Why Business Decisions Are More Emotional Than Leaders Realize
00:10:39 How Sales Teams Accidentally Damage Credibility and Trust
00:11:58 The “Room Goes Quiet” Moment in Executive Decision-Making
00:15:10 How Brand Promises Break Down in Real Business Environments
00:18:07 Rapid Fire Questions on Leadership, Risk, and Strategic Selling

https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-anderson-b65a0b

https://www.virtuosostrategy.com/

Linda's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindafanaras/

Millennium Agency:
Brand Strategy | Marketing | Web Design:
https://mill.agency

How ready is your brand for growth?
Take the free Brand180 Reality Check: 12 quick questions to uncover your biggest brand blind spots before your next stage of growth.
https://brand180.mill.agency/

YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@mill.agency/

Linda's Books:
Claim Your White Space
Passion + Profits: Fueling Business and Brand Success

In this episode of the B2B Brand180 Podcast, Linda Fanaras interviews Mike Barton from AudioEye to unpack one of the most overlooked barriers in digital marketing today: website accessibility. While most companies focus heavily on SEO, lead generation, and customer experience, many unintentionally exclude a significant portion of their audience because their websites are not built for accessibility.

Mike shares how inaccessible forms, vague links, missing image descriptions, and poor site structure create real obstacles for users with disabilities while also impacting conversion performance, SEO, and AI discoverability. The conversation explores why digital accessibility is no longer just a compliance issue, but a business growth opportunity tied directly to customer experience, loyalty, and revenue.

00:01:24 Why Most Companies Overlook Digital Accessibility
00:03:08 Accessibility as a Customer Experience and Revenue Issue
00:04:44 The Legal Risks and Growing Pressure Around Accessibility
00:06:46 How Screen Readers and Assistive Technology Actually Work
00:07:30 The Three Biggest Accessibility Failures on B2B Websites
00:13:39 Why Accessibility Impacts SEO and AI Search Visibility
00:15:32 The First Steps Companies Should Take to Audit Their Websites
00:18:14 Rapid Fire Questions

https://www.linkedin.com/in/omnibarton

https://www.audioeye.com/

Linda's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindafanaras/

Millennium Agency:
Brand Strategy | Marketing | Web Design:
https://mill.agency

How ready is your brand for growth?
Take the free Brand180 Reality Check: 12 quick questions to uncover your biggest brand blind spots before your next stage of growth.
https://brand180.mill.agency/

YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@mill.agency/

Linda's Books:
Claim Your White Space
Passion + Profits: Fueling Business and Brand Success

In this episode of the B2B Brand180 Podcast, Linda Fanaras sits down with sales leadership expert and author Todd Caponi to challenge one of the biggest problems in B2B sales today: broken pricing and negotiation practices. They unpack why traditional discount-driven sales tactics are eroding trust, slowing deals, and training buyers to believe the price is never really the price.

The conversation explores Todd’s “Four Levers Negotiating” framework and how sales teams can replace reactive discounting with a transparent, structured approach built around volume, payment timing, commitment length, and deal predictability. You’ll hear practical insights on why quarter-end discounts often backfire, how transparency accelerates trust, and what leaders can do to create more confident, collaborative negotiations that benefit both buyers and sellers.

00:01:24 Why Traditional Sales Negotiation Needed to Be Challenged
00:04:23 What Happens When Salespeople Get Nervous at the Finish Line
00:07:13 Creating a Structured Approach to Proposal and Negotiation
00:10:05 Replacing Reactive Discounting with Strategic Decision-Making
00:12:46 Taking Emotion Out of Pricing Conversations
00:13:21 How to Respond When Buyers Push for Bigger Discounts
00:16:52 Transparency, Trust, and Collaborative Negotiation
00:18:37 Rapid Fire Questions

https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddcaponi

https://toddcaponi.com/

Linda's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindafanaras/

Millennium Agency:
Brand Strategy | Marketing | Web Design:
https://mill.agency

How ready is your brand for growth?
Take the free Brand180 Reality Check: 12 quick questions to uncover your biggest brand blind spots before your next stage of growth.
https://brand180.mill.agency/

YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@mill.agency/

Linda's Books:
Claim Your White Space
Passion + Profits: Fueling Business and Brand Success

In this episode of the B2B Brand180 Podcast, Linda Fanaras speaks with Eli Igra Serfaty, CEO & Co-Founder at MAIA Digital, about why so many executives are still behind on one of the most important B2B platforms. They break down the gap between simply posting and actually building a presence that drives trust, credibility, and meaningful business conversations.

The discussion focuses on what a high-performing LinkedIn strategy really looks like, common mistakes leaders make, and how to shift from lead generation to opportunity generation. You’ll also hear a practical framework, ARC—Attract, Relate, Convert—that executives can use to turn LinkedIn into a consistent driver of visibility and growth.

01:39 The LinkedIn Gap: Why Executives Are Still Behind
04:20 Posting Isn’t a Strategy: Why Activity Alone Falls Short
07:38 Executive vs. Company Presence: Who Should Be Showing Up?
11:04 The Biggest Mistake Executives Make on LinkedIn
13:41 What High-Performing LinkedIn Strategies Actually Require
18:17 Distribution Over Posting: Building Trust, Authority, and Reach
21:57 The ARC Framework: Attract, Relate, Convert
23:20 Rapid Fire Questions

https://www.linkedin.com/in/eli-igra-serfaty/

https://team-maia.com/

Linda's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindafanaras/

Millennium Agency:
Brand Strategy | Marketing | Web Design:
https://mill.agency

How ready is your brand for growth?
Take the free Brand180 Reality Check: 12 quick questions to uncover your biggest brand blind spots before your next stage of growth.
https://brand180.mill.agency/

YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@mill.agency/

Linda's Books:
Claim Your White Space
Passion + Profits: Fueling Business and Brand Success