IT’S THE NEW AGE OF BRANDING

In this episode of The Business Conversation, Garrio welcomes Michael Stich, Partner at CourtAvenue and Investor and Advisor to various companies. He discusses the challenges being faced by the modern-day CMO and how much evolution this role has seen over the years.

Michael talks about starting with the basics of the language of money and bridging the gap between marketing and sales. He also dives deep into the need for strategic planning and alignment, the journey from data to the creative process, and how to use data to drive business monetization.

HIGHLIGHTS

MICHAEL: BUILD A ROADMAP WITH A CLEAR VISION OF OPTIMAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES

“What the roadmap is is the series of initiatives that we're going to go put in place to achieve those and to realize those experiences that drive that profitable growth for our company. We can tie all that together, that we've got ourselves in alignment and a vision for where we want to go. Many companies will develop a vision but they won't have a journey and they won't have a roadmap. Many companies will have a journey, but it won't ladder up to a Vision and CFO will wonder why you doing all that. Or we want to have a roadmap that delivers on that journey so that everyone can walk around, but they don't understand how their day-to-day jobs to deliver on it.”

MICHAEL: START FROM THE POINT OF SALE AND NOT FROM ABOVE

“Where are we going to start? That's peace, love and happiness is an optimal basis, right? So where do we actually start, where we find that things get self-funded, is by staying close to the point of sale. So that optimal experience is great. But why don't we get some sales going first, within that, and prove to me that all of this great planning results in that you can do that, then great, we can, we can start to build a flywheel around left. But if you start at the top of the funnel, or the point of wealth, etc, coming on this unified framework, you get some companies that lose momentum, or at times lose patience or what have you.”

MICHAEL: YOUR PERSONALIZATION STARTS WITH THE VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER

“So we're sort of the facilitator in that multi-party effort. But we have sort of integrated teams with different audiences, are those different parties that I mentioned, coming together to say, great, what is our personalization roadmap? How are we going to guide that? And it starts with the customer. It starts with understanding what are the requirements. What are the needs that they have. And we're very fortunate that we've got the voice of the customer, like literally primary user research brought into those sessions to tell us what people would like to have more personalized"

Follow the link below to learn more about Michael Stich:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mstich/
• Website: https://courtavenue.com/

This series is being put together in collaboration with AIGA Minnesota - one of the largest chapters of AIGA, that works to enhance the value and deepen the impact of design across all disciplines of business, society, and our collective future.

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Curious

Curious, a group of B2B marketers helping their clients define a conversation that is unique, relevant, and honest with their ideal customers. They then help their clients find their ideal audience to start the conversation by pushing content through the most efficient channels, whether that be traditional or digital.

IT’S THE NEW AGE OF BRANDING

In this episode of The Business Conversation, Garrio welcomes Kelli Schutrop, the VP for Sales and Marketing at Madecraft. She discusses the importance of leadership teams becoming more visible and active online. She explains that this became more of a necessity due to the COVID pandemic, as video connection was a way to better build relationships faster. She also explains that it is important for businesses to have a brand that resonates with their audience, as this is a key part of promoting their message and brand. She emphasizes that it is critical for businesses to have a strong presence online in order to be successful.

HIGHLIGHTS

KELLI: LEADERS ON SHOWING UP ONLINE

“I think what has evolved is just this realization that in a sales capacity in a leadership capacity, even in your own career search, if you put yourself out there online, let's say on LinkedIn or another social platform, people are able to see more of who you are as a personal brand. And that can drive immense opportunity for your business for networking connections for career connections in the future.”

KELLI: DEFINITION OF AUTHENTICITY

“To me, authenticity is really, whether you're hitting the record button, or you're posting something on LinkedIn, even if it's a poll, just the way that you were actually forming your sentences can drive who you are as a person, right? Is it warm and welcoming? Is it more informative and structured? And so part of it is just about continuity and making sure that whatever it is you're providing, is going to be the same experience for someone no matter what environment they see you in.”

KELLI: THINKING ABOUT YOUR AUDIENCE

“Part of it is saying who can I help? So addressing? Who is your audience? Ultimately, who are you trying to impress? What is the industry? What are the company types? What are their levels? Right? And then what is important to them? So what are the key topics, they think about? What is thought leadership trends in your industry? Because this can kind of help break down to distill that. Man, I want to, I want to be more visible, but I have no idea. I don't know, how do I how do I approach that? So those are some of those questions.”

KURT: GETTING CONNECTED HELPS WITH YOUR SKILLS

“if a prospective employer, if someone you're networking with a prospective client, whatever that person may be if they go to your LinkedIn, we all see that activity feed. And they can see like, wow, this is cool. Like they've been posting content that's really intriguing. And you can even feature you know, as LinkedIn is current user experience stands, you can feature posts, so you can kind of control that narrative. It's really your own website, and you don't have to pay to host it, you get to make it what you want. And so the more that you can pour into it, the more it's going to create opportunities for you, but also benefit others, specifically, you know, within that, that stream of that audience, you're looking to support.”

Follow the link below to learn more about Kelli Schutrop:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellischutrop/
• Madecraft Website: https://onlymadecraft.com/

This series is being put together in collaboration with AIGA Minnesota - one of the largest chapters of AIGA, that works to enhance the value and deepen the impact of design across all disciplines of business, society, and our collective future.

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Curious, a group of B2B marketers helping their clients define a conversation that is unique, relevant, and honest with their ideal customers. They then help their clients find their ideal audience to start the conversation by pushing content through the most efficient channels, whether that be traditional or digital.

NETWORKING IS NOT SO BAD

For a long time, networking had an unpleasant reputation of being just a means of achieving one’s targets or quotas. Today, Garrio welcomes Kurt Schmidt to prove them wrong. He is the President of Foundry, and author of “The Little Book of Networking: How to Grow Your Career One Conversation at a Time”. Kurt shares his own definition of networking, why it’s important for every person, why it should not be viewed as a selfish act, and how it can help you in your career. Find out more in this latest episode of The Business Conversation.

HIGHLIGHTS

KURT: DEFINITION OF NETWORKING

“What networking truly is, is about finding ways to let people know what your value is, what your worth is, and then understanding what their value and their worth is, and trying to find opportunities to work together”

KURT: BEING A STEWARD OF CONNECTIONS AND GOALS

“It should be going out and finding out what people's needs are and trying to connect those people who have those needs, and being that good connector and steward of their goals.”

KURT: NETWORKING IS A LIFETIME ENDEAVOR

“Networking is a lifetime endeavor. You've heard the terms before networking is your net worth and all those things, it's absolutely true. So you've got to find the time to invest in those things, and I've found that building systems around it, that allow you to help you has been really powerful.”

KURT: GETTING CONNECTED HELPS WITH YOUR SKILLS

“It really let me hone my pitch and get good at pitching, I got better and better at anticipating what the questions were that were going to come up, I got better at anticipating and changing my pitch to address questions before they even showed up. Because I saw commonalities in how I was pitching. And my confidence was going up in my pitch”

KURT: FIND THE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO TALK TO YOU

“You've got to talk to people that want to talk to you, they got to understand what you're looking for what your value is. And then they have to also understand that you're off there looking out for them as well. Like I said, these micro partnerships, which I find to be super valuable, I built a multimillion-dollar business on it. Let's just put it that way.”

Follow the link below to learn more about Kurt Schmidt:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/-kurtschmidt/
• Foundry Website: https://www.foundrymakes.com/
• The Little Book of Networking: How to Grow Your Career One Conversation at a Time: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Book-Networking-Career-Conversation-ebook/dp/B0BPB2ZTHZ?ref_=ast_author_mpb

This series is being put together in collaboration with AIGA Minnesota - one of the largest chapters of AIGA, that works to enhance the value and deepen the impact of design across all disciplines of business, society, and our collective future.

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Curious, a group of B2B marketers helping their clients define a conversation that is unique, relevant, and honest with their ideal customers. They then help their clients find their ideal audience to start the conversation by pushing content through the most efficient channels, whether that be traditional or digital.

IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING…

Joshua Fedie is a sales expert who has been working in the field for over 20 years. He and Garrio are discussing how leaders can rebuild their sales organizations from scratch and how sales, marketing, and customer success can work together. Sales and Marketing have been apart for so long and it is high time for them to start working together. Stay tuned as Joshua will be sharing some tips on how sales and marketing can work together with some stories from his career, only here, in the latest episode of The Business Conversation.

HIGHLIGHTS

JOSHUA: HOW MARKETING SHOULD REACH OUT TO SALES

“If you're in marketing, reach out to someone in sales, and I don't even care who it is reach out to someone in sales right now and say, Would you mind sitting down for 15 minutes with me to teach me about sales and to teach me about your process in this organization, I want to see if there's anything I can do to help the sales team better, and I want to use you as a guinea pig. If you're in marketing, do that tomorrow.”

JOSHUA: HOW SALES SHOULD REACH OUT TO MARKETING

“If you're in sales, I want you to reach out to someone in your marketing team, I don't care who it is, I want you to reach out to somebody in your marketing team. And I want you to say, I want to start creating more stories around what we do here, through myself on social channels, and I need some help coming up with some creative ways to go about this.”

Follow the link below to learn more about Joshua Fedie:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshfedie/
• SalesReach.io: https://www.salesreach.io/

This series is being put together in collaboration with AIGA Minnesota - one of the largest chapters of AIGA, that works to enhance the value and deepen the impact of design across all disciplines of business, society, and our collective future.

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Curious, a group of B2B marketers helping their clients define a conversation that is unique, relevant, and honest with their ideal customers. They then help their clients find their ideal audience to start the conversation by pushing content through the most efficient channels, whether that be traditional or digital.

Garrio Harrison welcomes Nicole Middendorf, as they discuss the origin story of Prosperwell, how difficult dreams sometimes need to be achieved, and how positivity and a strong mindset are key to success.

In the conversation, Nicole describes how she became a financial advisor after originally intending to go to law school. She talks about how her husband encouraged her to enter the financial industry instead, leading her to start the journey of being a wealth advisor. Find out more about Nicole in this latest episode of Business Conversations.

HIGHLIGHTS

NICOLE: LIVE A LIMITLESS LIFE

“When you're living these limitless experiences, you're boosting your confidence and like I feel like I can do anything.”

NICOLE: LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST

“I really believe in, in the word of having a blast, like living life to the fullest today, but also being very thoughtful and planning to live life to the fullest in the future when you retire.”

NICOLE: JUST DO IT

“Go do it, go take those risks and delegate along the way.”

NICOLE: GIVE YOURSELF SOME GRACE

“Give yourself some grace along the whole process and enjoy, enjoy the ride, because that's what life is all about.”

Follow the link below to learn more about Nicole Middendorf:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolemiddendorf/
• Prosperwell Financial: https://prosperwell.com/

This series is being put together in collaboration with AIGA Minnesota - one of the largest chapters of AIGA, that works to enhance the value and deepen the impact of design across all disciplines of business, society, and our collective future.

&

Curious, a group of B2B marketers helping their clients define a conversation that is unique, relevant, and honest with their ideal customers. They then help their clients find their ideal audience to start the conversation by pushing content through the most efficient channels, whether that be traditional or digital.

HIGHLIGHTS

• What is a brand? 
• Manage your brand's "Association Bundles", or consumers will
• Marketing has become trajectional because of technology
• Agencies no longer invest as much on their people with training
• Just because you can, doesn't mean you have to 
• The rebirth of traditional knowledge
• Just talk to real people 
• On refreshing brand associations for the modern consumer 
• Find the most relevant associations of your brand and nurture them
• Marketing doesn't have to be complex
• Always be looking for differentiation
• Refreshing and unique ideas do not come from your comfort zone

QUOTES

Ulli: "The brand is the sum of all the associations consumers have about your offering." 

Ulli: "As a marketer, if you don't manage these associations or decide which associations you want to build, consumers will create automatic associations, that's just how the brain is wired."

Garrio: "The prevailing narrative right now is the customers define what the brand is, and so on. But by taking this intentional approach and understanding the mechanics that a user will use to define your brand, the marketer now has a little bit more control over architecting the kind of experience they want to have."

Ulli: "People look at brands as coming back to bundles of association. Which are the ones you want to nurture and which are the ones you want to build, and which are the ones you want to move away from? It's not about a framework with 26 little buckets inside on strategic nuances and details. It's either you are an expert, or you have soft paper, or you are the bear, or you are really cheap. It's as basic as that." 

Ulli: "Empathy is not, 'we're both educated, we both believe in these social issues, we empathize together.’ No, empathy is really empathizing with someone whose point of view you completely disagree with. And that is so extremely difficult and that's what we have lost over the last 10 years." 

Follow the link below to learn more about Ulli Appelbaum:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ulliappelbaum/
• Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09RM46WFB/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk

This series is being put together in collaboration with AIGA Minnesota - one of the largest chapters of AIGA, that works to enhance the value and deepen the impact of design across all disciplines of business, society, and our collective future.

&

Curious, a group of B2B marketers helping their clients define a conversation that is unique, relevant, and honest with their ideal customers. They then help their clients find their ideal audience to start the conversation by pushing content through the most efficient channels, whether that be traditional or digital.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The 3 Levels of Digital Transformation, explained
• Technology is forcing brands to change their communicative approach
• Why a marketer should study the "creator economy" 
• Creators vs Influencers
• Listen with an open mind
• Know when to go fast and when to go slow
• Effective internal communication is crucial to organizational success
• Being a good manager is more important than learning the latest tech
• Choosing kindness goes a long way

QUOTES

Jim: "Every experience that we have with Amazon or Apple or Starbucks sort of sets the bar for what every other company should aspire to. Because we all sort of expect things to be as easy as our easiest experience. We want it to be that way all the time."

Jim: "The big macro shift is going from a really polished, really professional look as a way to communicate credibility, to looking more home made as a way of communicating either a different kind of credibility, or a little bit of anti-establishment."

Jim: "The algorithms of Tiktok, short attention spans, it's kind of a self-perpetuating thing. The creator economy, the expression format, and reels and stories and Tiktok and elsewhere, plus short attention span, plus the algorithms that push it in front of you, plus the never-ending scroll. Brands have to look and act and feel different to kind of stop the scrolling. 

Garrio: "It was much easier back in the day. You could make it a conscious choice to pick up one book versus another. To choose to consume this piece of literature, piece of writing to either be inspired or educated, or this is too far out of my left field, I'm not gonna read it kind of thing. And it was easier to stop. The same idea of exchange of knowledge, exchange of ideas is happening today with new technology. The difference is, it's so frictionless." 

Jim: "When in doubt, listen. For most leaders, listen to your consumer, listen to what the people closest to the consumer are saying about the consumer's needs, wants, and intent. Listen to the salespeople that are in the market and try not to presuppose that you know what is happening." 

Jim: "Pay attention to the basics of communication wherever possible. Are we clear about the problem we're trying to solve? Are we  clear about the choices that we're trying to make? Are  we clear about the decisions that we've made? Have we clearly communicated those? Does everyone understand the impact on the priorities?"

Jim: "Be kind to the people, especially now. I think everyone is at their wits end. I think everyone is just barely hanging on. I don't know everyone that is really happy with how work is now. Providing a little bit of grace, a little bit of kindness, assuming positive intent is really helpful."

Follow the link below to learn more about Jim Cuene:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimcuene/
• Website: https://hellofahren.com/

This series is being put together in collaboration with

 AIGA Minnesota - one of the largest chapters of AIGA, that works to enhance the value and deepen the impact of design across all disciplines of business, society, and our collective future.

&

Curious, a group of B2B marketers helping their clients define a conversation that is unique, relevant, and honest with their ideal customers. They then help their clients find their ideal audience to start the conversation by pushing content through the most efficient channels, whether that be traditional or digital.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The reason behind 'The Great Reshuffle'
• How the COVID-19 pandemic shifted how businesses work
• The companies that are doing it right: how to keep talent in
• You should be doing stay interviews, not exit interviews
• Trusting people to work remotely is crucial to thriving in the pandemic
• The role of offices moving forward
• The beauty of giving people grace and treating them as humans
• What recruiters and hiring managers should stop doing
• Consider hiring the people who are eager to learn
• Increase the benefits of working in your team
• It's not just about the money, but money is important
• Job hopping is not necessarily a bad thing

QUOTES

Kelly: "People are noticing that they're unhappy and making sure that they're on the right path to becoming happy. And I think that's the biggest factor that we should be focusing on as why people are unhappy." 

Kelly: "There's a lot of reasons why people are leaving. But I think one of the biggest that we've been dwelling on and talking about over and over again these past few years is this horrible pandemic that we're in. It's a rollercoaster ride and it's been going up and down but there's been loss of business, budget cuts, re-orgs, layoffs, furloughs, just back in 2020 and that's still happening."

Kelly: "The teams that are doing well, they're actively listening, they're showing interest in what's going on with their employees, they're opening up about their own struggles, whether it's work-related or personal life-related, and just showing the team that they're human and that therefore their team is looking up to them and saying, like, okay, you're going through the same stuff, you're not invincible, you're not a slave driver trying to make sure that we're doing exactly what we need to do and hitting our numbers in a daily basis." 

Kelly: "There are companies that are archaic in their ways of thinking, like, just old-school, an older boss thinking that working remotely, they're not gonna get their work done. They're gonna take a nap or do their laundry. Like, yeah, maybe they are taking a nap and doing their laundry, but they're still getting their work done."

Kelly: “I think if you treat your team the way you want to be treated and you treat them like humans, they're gonna work hard for you. If you don't, they're gonna leave.”

Garrio: "I've seen this firsthand: the teams that invest in building trust with each other are the ones that are able to tackle it off. Because again, when the pandemic hit I've heard from a lot of colleagues and a lot of friends. You know, fellow startup founders, business owners, and so on, we're about to enter uncharted energy. There's literally no playbook that we can follow here. We have a choice, we can either do it together, or we can go at it alone."

Kelly: "It's a candidate's market right now. So in the interview process, and this is the most tactical thing I guess I could give as a piece of advice, is to make sure that you're selling your company and your team instead of grilling these candidates because they are also looking at you. They're interviewing you, basically. They're making sure that this is the best fit for them."

Garrio: "It's important to understand the context of a resume that has a lot of jobs. One one hand, like yes, you can say woah this person doesn't appear to be loyal. Yeah that is one lens to look at it through. But this also means that this person has a bunch of different industry knowledge that they bring into the table. They clearly know how to navigate different industries."

Follow the link below to learn more about Kelly Gunderson:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellygunderson/

This series is being put together in collaboration with AIGA Minnesota - one of the largest chapters of AIGA, that works to enhance the value and deepen the impact of design across all disciplines of business, society, and our collective future.

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Curious, a group of B2B marketers helping their clients define a conversation that is unique, relevant, and honest with their ideal customers. They then help their clients find their ideal audience to start the conversation by pushing content through the most efficient channels, whether that be traditional or digital.

HIGHLIGHTS

• A whole percussive section is better than a singular drum
• Find a central narrative and tell that story with the tools you have
• Separating work and life is a fool's errand
• Discovering LinkedIn as a platform for storytelling
• Find your own point of view
• Building a framework for content strategy
• Focus on your why and have your plan of attack
• Content is currency
• You're never too busy to post content
• Content burnout is a real thing

QUOTES

Gaby: “People do business with people that they know, like and trust. And one of the singular most important ways that everyone out there can create that rapport and build that likeability factor and that trust factor, and that credibility factor, is through online content.”

Mike: “I don't believe in work-life balance. I believe in work-life integration, which is I don't think you can do great work without having a solid life structure, neither can you live a great life without doing meaningful work.”

Gaby: “For anyone listening, if you're struggling, if you're debating, oh should I do it, should I not do it: do it because it's invaluable. It's invaluable to have your name out there, to have your point of view be heard, and to create those relationships.”

Mike: “Whether you like it or not, whoever you are, whether you're an engineer, whether you're an architect, whether you're a business owner, whether you're a marketer or a salesperson, you are always selling something. You are selling yourself, you're selling your ideas.”

Gaby: "Content is today's currency. Content can happen anywhere, anytime if you're open to it, if you're thinking about it."

Mike: "An executive that says I don't have time, what they're really saying is I don't think this is valuable. I don't see enough value in spending my time posting on LinkedIn. I can do something more important with my time."

Gaby: “It's okay to also pace yourself, come up with a plan that's sustainable for you, and know when it's okay to pull back. Know that even the best content creators, even the most prolific content creators have pauses, they take breaks and they are strategic about when and how they post.”

Gaby: “Be inspired by what you see but also take the time to be unstructured in your thinking and come up with your own unique take on content creation.”

Follow the link below to learn more about Gaby and Mike Grinberg:

• Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikegrinberg/
• Gaby: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriellaisrael/
• Website: https://proofpoint.marketing/

This series is being put together in collaboration with AIGA Minnesota - one of the largest chapters of AIGA, that works to enhance the value and deepen the impact of design across all disciplines of business, society, and our collective future.

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Curious, a group of B2B marketers helping their clients define a conversation that is unique, relevant, and honest with their ideal customers. They then help their clients find their ideal audience to start the conversation by pushing content through the most efficient channels, whether that be traditional or digital.

This episode of The Business Conversation Podcast features Ryan Truax, Director of Marketing at Sportsdigita. Ryan gives an in-depth look at the intricacies of branding, and how the brand is an investment for organizations, not just a marketing tool. 

Ryan emphasizes the need to clearly define and understand the “WHY” of the organization in its branding efforts. This way, companies can clearly define its position and differentiate itself from the competition. 

Ryan believes that a brand must resonate first with the organization and its different departments first before it can help reach prospects and customers. If any element in the brand falls in the company level, then customers are bound to feel the disconnect. Branding should empower the organization and its members should be its ambassadors. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Branding is an investment, not just a marketing tool
• How to align leadership with branding value
• Understanding your "WHY"
• Involve the different departments in your organization in your branding
• Identify the relevant KPIs to make branding efforts measurable 
• Your brand should empower the whole organization

QUOTES

Ryan: “At its core, the brand is your DNA. It informs your soul, it informs who you are, what you mean to your customer, your prospects alike.”

Ryan: “Let data speak when it can. Leverage it when you can. I'm looking at engagement metrics on my website. For instance, I can point to areas where we're excelling, and where we're falling short perhaps. We can look at those as opportunities as the brand sits there as kind of a conversion engine -- is it doing the job that it needs to for our sales team and our entire company as a cumulative whole.”

Ryan: “We look at Teslas, we look at the Apples of the world. They understand their 'Why' better than others. Their competitors, their infrastructure are not so dissimilar to the next. But their ability to own the 'Why' in that branding discussion positions them radically different than their competition.” 

Garrio: "The next generation of marketing leaders have to be swiss army knives. They have to be able to walk into a room with the CFO, the spreadsheet is open, and quickly have a discussion with the CFO around what you're trying to accomplish."

Follow the link below to learn more about Ryan Truax:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-truax-50517111/

This series is being put together in collaboration with AIGA Minnesota - one of the largest chapters of AIGA, that works to enhance the value and deepen the impact of design across all disciplines of business, society, and our collective future.

&

Curious, a group of B2B marketers helping their clients define a conversation that is unique, relevant, and honest with their ideal customers. They then help their clients find their ideal audience to start the conversation by pushing content through the most efficient channels, whether that be traditional or digital.