The LiftKit Marketing Podcast

Randy Larson started his career in 1991 as a keyliner with no ad school and no college credits, hired on the spot during his first job interview ever. He spent two decades as a creative director across Minneapolis's top shops, riding the dot com boom at marchFIRST and learning big idea thinking in the promotions industry on brands like 3M. Now, as founder and CEO of Shinebox, Randy has built one of the Twin Cities' sharpest brand shops, posting 275% growth in two years.

In this conversation, Jeff Wenberg shares how he helped a client go from nearly zero to 30K a month recurring in 90 days, without changing what they sold. Just how they talked about it. If your marketing has ever plateaued and you couldn't figure out why, this episode gets to the real reason before you rebuild the wrong thing.

Episode 18: What actually sets a marketer apart when anyone can generate a mountain of content in seconds? Carl Alviani, founder of Protagonist Studio and a self-described designer and strategist who writes, joins John and Danielle to unpack what he calls the AI content apocalypse and what wins now that publishing more is a dead end. Covering everything from using intent data to write the exact article your buyer is searching for, to shaping strategy through storytelling, to why polished writing no longer proves good thinking, Carl brings an engineer's rigor and a teacher's clarity to one of the most useful conversations B2B marketers and agency owners can have about content in the AI era.

Morten Revsbech started his career guarding the Queen of Denmark. Now he helps sales teams and business owners stop chasing the wrong leads and start closing more of the right ones. In this episode of the LiftKit Marketing Podcast, Morten joins John Hoeft and Danielle Schermerhorn to talk about why sales and marketing are still fighting each other, and what it actually takes to fix it.
Morten is a Sandler certified sales trainer and coach based in Tampa Bay, and he brings a no-fluff perspective on the sales process most marketers have never been handed.
In this episode you'll learn:

Why smarketing matters more now than ever in B2B
The Sandler 7-step sales methodology and what marketers can take from it
How to build a service level agreement between sales and marketing
Why 97% of salespeople never ask for referrals (and what that's costing you)
How agencies can build an outbound process that actually scales

Subscribe to the LiftKit Marketing Podcast and find more episodes, guest nominations, and resources at LiftKitMarketing.com.

Episode 16: What insights can AI provide about your brand when no one is watching? David Kirkdorffer, a leader in B2B growth marketing and a strategic advisor, joins John and Danielle to discuss why brand visibility in the AI era hinges less on technical optimization and more on the clarity, consistency, and narrative you've crafted across the internet over time. Covering everything from the buyer journey to the attribution mirage, David leverages over 20 years of B2B marketing expertise to engage in one of the most crucial discussions marketers need to have right now.

In this episode, Serena Christianson tackles a question more marketers are asking than will admit: what do you do when marketing stops being the right fit? Serena shares why walking away from a career you invested in is not failure, how the sunk cost fallacy keeps talented people stuck, and why your winding, unconventional path is actually your biggest differentiator. She also delivers some of the most practical job search advice you will hear, from resume fonts that beat applicant tracking systems to networking strategies that open doors. A must-listen for marketers navigating a career pivot, a layoff, or just wondering if there is something better on the other side.

AJ Kumar has spent 15 years helping founders, CEOs, and experts stop being their industry's best kept secret. As the founder of The Limitless Company and author of Guru Inc., he's built personal media companies for clients like Neil Patel, turned a wellness blog into a brand generating over 10 million in revenue, and co-founded the agency Single Grain.
In this episode of the LiftKit Marketing Podcast, John Hoeft and Danielle Schermerhorn sit down with AJ to talk about what it really takes to build a personal brand that drives business results.

In this episode you'll learn:
How to move up the "guru ladder" from generalist to recognized authority
Why AJ believes YouTube is becoming the new Hollywood
His ROAC framework for measuring the ROI of organic content
Why the smartest use of AI isn't automation, it's making yourself smarter
What companies like ClickUp are doing by hiring actors instead of paying influencers
How to find your content format and why perfect practice beats just showing up

Episode 13: In this episode, Mordy Oberstein, Head of Brand at SE Ranking, tackles the questions every marketer is asking right now: Does your website even matter, and is SEO dead? Mordy shares why brand identity is the step most companies skip, why that one gap breaks everything else, and what LLM visibility actually means for how your brand shows up in an AI-driven world. He also breaks down the real role of your website when AI is answering questions before anyone clicks. A must-listen for brand leaders and marketers rethinking where to place their bets in search and beyond.

On this episode of the LiftKit Marketing Podcast, we sit down with Levi Worts, Senior AI Marketing Strategist at SUSE, to unpack what happens when AI moves from a productivity tool to a leadership challenge. Levi shares why the push for “10x output” often leads to burnout, how output and outcomes are frequently confused, and where organizations are getting AI wrong today.

The LiftKit Marketing Podcast introduces the hosts and guests, discusses the impact of Dry January on alcohol consumption trends, explores the influence of these trends on marketing, and delves into the role, strengths, and strategies of Digits in retail media. The conversation also covers audience targeting and Dave Glaza's journey into marketing. The conversation covers Dave Glaza's career journey at Target, transition to entrepreneurship, first client experience, future of Digits, Amazon's retail innovations, expansion into grocery and C-stores, marketing advice for brands, lessons in entrepreneurship, adoption of AI in marketing, alternate career paths, recognition for marketing work, contact information, and conclusion.

Takeaways

• Dry January's impact on alcohol consumption trends
• The role of retail media in adapting to changing alcohol consumption trends Career progression at Target
• Transition from corporate job to entrepreneurship
• Reasons for transitioning to entrepreneurship
• Challenges and motivations of entrepreneurship
• First client experience
• Pitching services and early business growth
• Focus on specialization and niche
• Excitement for future growth
• Impact of Amazon's retail innovations
• Challenges and opportunities in the industry
• Expansion into grocery and C-stores
• Service offerings and tech support in the market
• Importance of marketing budgeting
• Challenges of paid visibility
• Turning point in entrepreneurship
• Employee-centric vision and agency growth
• Adoption of AI in marketing
• Staying relevant and adapting to new tools
• Interest in alternate career paths
• Passion for woodworking and sports podcasting
• Recognition for local marketing work
• Support for local businesses
• Preferred contact method
• Appreciation for the interview opportunity

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to LiftKit Marketing Podcast
• 07:05 The Role of Digits in Retail Media
• 12:13 Differentiation and Strengths of Digits
• 17:59 Dave Glaza's Journey into Marketing
• 23:13 First Client and Business Pitch
• 29:15 Expansion into Grocery and C-Stores
• 37:30 Lessons in Entrepreneurship
• 43:50 Alternate Career Paths