Feb. 29, 2020

#5Things: Brian Carl

In this episode of the 5 Things Series we talk to , Senior Director of Marketing at . Brian shares the 5 Things he can't live without: 1) Asana 2) Multiple notebooks/journals for to-do lists 3) Running shoes / getting outside 4) Google Home...

In this episode of the 5 Things Series we talk to Brian Carl, Senior Director of Marketing at Clarus Commerce.

Brian shares the 5 Things he can't live without:

1) Asana

2) Multiple notebooks/journals for to-do lists

3) Running shoes / getting outside

4) Google Home

5) Audible and PocketCasts


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Transcript
WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:10.070 Are you trying to establish your brand as a thought leader? Start a PODCAST, 2 00:00:10.589 --> 00:00:15.669 invite industry experts to be guests on your show and watch your brand become 3 00:00:15.710 --> 00:00:21.620 the prime resource for decision makers in your industry. Learn more at sweetphish MEDIACOM. 4 00:00:26.500 --> 00:00:30.699 You're listening to be tob growth, a daily podcast for B TOB leaders. 5 00:00:31.300 --> 00:00:34.460 We've interviewed names you've probably heard before, like Gary Vanner, truck and 6 00:00:34.500 --> 00:00:38.250 Simon Senek, but you've probably never heard from the majority of our guests. 7 00:00:38.929 --> 00:00:43.689 That's because the bulk of our interviews aren't with professional speakers and authors. Most 8 00:00:43.729 --> 00:00:47.850 of our guests are in the trenches leading sales and marketing teams. They're implementing 9 00:00:47.890 --> 00:00:52.840 strategy, they're experimenting with tactics, they're building the fastest growing BTB companies in 10 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:56.200 the world. My name is James Carberry. I'm the founder of sweet fish 11 00:00:56.240 --> 00:00:59.759 media, a podcast agency for BB brands, and I'm also one of the 12 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:03.679 CO hosts of this show. When we're not interviewing sales and marketing leaders, 13 00:01:03.880 --> 00:01:07.469 you'll hear stories from behind the scenes of our own business. Will share the 14 00:01:07.549 --> 00:01:10.829 ups and downs of our journey as we attempt to take over the world. 15 00:01:11.430 --> 00:01:21.299 Just getting well, maybe let's get into the show. Welcome back to be 16 00:01:21.459 --> 00:01:25.140 tob growth. I'm Logan lyles with sweet phish media. Today is another episode 17 00:01:25.219 --> 00:01:27.659 in our five of things series where we're talking to guests about the five things 18 00:01:27.939 --> 00:01:32.659 that they can't live without at work and in life, sharing some of their 19 00:01:32.700 --> 00:01:37.849 favorite tools, resources and tips for productivity. I'm joined today by Brian Carl 20 00:01:37.930 --> 00:01:41.409 he's the senior director of marketing over at Clara's commerce. Brian, how's it 21 00:01:41.450 --> 00:01:42.769 going today? Man, good, good, Logan, thanks for having me. 22 00:01:44.209 --> 00:01:46.769 Yeah, absolutely, Man. Well, let's dive right in. You 23 00:01:46.849 --> 00:01:49.840 know, I mentioned productivity there at the start. Not Everything that we're sharing 24 00:01:49.959 --> 00:01:53.640 is centered around just work productivity, but your first one kind of falls into 25 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:56.519 that bucket. What's number one and your five things you can't live without? 26 00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:00.879 Man, for us and Clariss it's a sauna. So we do agile marketing 27 00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:04.670 as a team and we've tried everything, all different sorts of APPS for this. 28 00:02:04.870 --> 00:02:08.389 We've done Trello, we've gone as, we've tried Jira, but we 29 00:02:08.509 --> 00:02:13.229 really found a SONA really gives us that blend of depths that we need and 30 00:02:13.430 --> 00:02:16.819 customization, whether we're using it for complicated launch of a new ebook or Webinar 31 00:02:17.300 --> 00:02:21.900 or just your daily blocking tackling around, launching blog posts and things like that. 32 00:02:22.460 --> 00:02:24.219 Yeah, absolutely. Did you guys switch to us on I'm pretty recently. 33 00:02:24.699 --> 00:02:28.620 We've been on it probably for about a year now, but we're to 34 00:02:28.740 --> 00:02:31.330 have five and Jia was honestly just a little bit over complicated for what our 35 00:02:31.370 --> 00:02:35.129 needs were. So when we went to as Sauna, we found that it 36 00:02:35.169 --> 00:02:38.370 was sort of this right blend of being able to get everyone the information they 37 00:02:38.409 --> 00:02:42.569 need without a whole lot of setup for every new task that goes in there. 38 00:02:43.289 --> 00:02:46.120 Yeah, absolutely, Man, awesome. So number one for you as 39 00:02:46.120 --> 00:02:50.159 a sauna. Number two is your notebook, or actually your notebooks. I'm 40 00:02:50.199 --> 00:02:53.599 really interested in this because I as we've done just a few episodes in this 41 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:57.080 series, several people have mentioned, you know, the notebook they keep with 42 00:02:57.199 --> 00:03:01.669 them or Justin Keller over at terminus mentioned these specific postcards he gets to manage 43 00:03:01.750 --> 00:03:05.229 his to do list. You know, we talk a lot about tools for 44 00:03:05.270 --> 00:03:08.389 managing productivity and usually go straight to the digital but you mentioned you've got like 45 00:03:08.590 --> 00:03:13.139 a system of notebooks that you use for different things that help you out right. 46 00:03:13.419 --> 00:03:15.460 It's ironic that my first thing was a sauna, which is essentially a 47 00:03:15.539 --> 00:03:19.219 digital to do list, but I take a lot of that and I bring 48 00:03:19.259 --> 00:03:23.020 it right to the offline world. I'm still I still find that when you 49 00:03:23.139 --> 00:03:27.370 write something down with your hand it makes it more real and makes more memorable. 50 00:03:27.770 --> 00:03:30.490 So I use different notebook different things. I have ones that I use 51 00:03:30.569 --> 00:03:34.169 for journals, I have one that I use for just sort of like ideas 52 00:03:34.289 --> 00:03:38.930 and scratch notes things that I'm trying to think through in my head, and 53 00:03:38.009 --> 00:03:42.199 then I use ones that are more more of a bullet journal style thing for 54 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:46.199 a to do list. Awesome. So do you normally just have a spot 55 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:50.080 for each one, or carry all three with you at or at a regular 56 00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:52.759 time and maybe keep, you know, three smaller ones so you can have 57 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:55.189 one for each? I have lots of different things there at work. I 58 00:03:55.310 --> 00:03:58.830 have my notebook. They carried every meeting. I also have one that I 59 00:03:58.870 --> 00:04:00.550 keep on my desk just for writing down different ideas and that kind of thing. 60 00:04:01.110 --> 00:04:04.150 Have another small notebook that I carry around with most of the time and 61 00:04:04.229 --> 00:04:06.669 I do a little bit on my phone here and there. But when I 62 00:04:06.710 --> 00:04:11.219 do the phone ones, I do try to transcribe them later onto paper when 63 00:04:11.219 --> 00:04:14.500 I have the time to do it. Yeah, interesting me and they it 64 00:04:14.620 --> 00:04:16.220 seems like that's a common theme and I've been doing more of that name. 65 00:04:16.300 --> 00:04:19.420 It has helped me out to some degree and I like that idea of having 66 00:04:19.420 --> 00:04:24.370 a spot for kind of those backlog ideas and then just your daily to do 67 00:04:24.730 --> 00:04:28.610 and not kind of mixing the two, because that's been my struggle with taking 68 00:04:28.649 --> 00:04:30.209 it to the offline. So I might need to add one more notebook to 69 00:04:30.290 --> 00:04:33.730 my mix based on your recommendation. And let's talk about the next one. 70 00:04:34.089 --> 00:04:39.079 You mentioned running shoes are number three on your top five. Tell us a 71 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:42.480 little bit about what your top thing is there. Honestly, originally, when 72 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:45.240 you ask this question, I was going to put my garment watch because that's 73 00:04:45.240 --> 00:04:47.160 where I do on my running and on my data and I can understand that 74 00:04:47.240 --> 00:04:51.199 stuff, but the truth is it really just about getting outside or getting to 75 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:55.670 the gym. I find that I do in the mornings and it is sort 76 00:04:55.709 --> 00:04:59.110 of meditative for me. I've tried a lot of meditation and tried these things 77 00:04:59.350 --> 00:05:01.350 and none of that's totally stuck, but for me, like getting up and 78 00:05:01.470 --> 00:05:05.550 just getting outside has created a sort of routine for me on a place. 79 00:05:05.589 --> 00:05:09.699 They're just be alone and to just be able to think for a little while 80 00:05:09.899 --> 00:05:14.180 and sort of disengage from from everything else, and that practice itself is really 81 00:05:14.180 --> 00:05:16.180 helped me. So as much as I love the Garment Watch and that kind 82 00:05:16.180 --> 00:05:19.699 of thing in the date is amazing and I can get really nerdy about that 83 00:05:19.779 --> 00:05:24.209 kind of stuff, the act of the actual being outside and being alone and 84 00:05:24.290 --> 00:05:27.649 running and thinking, yeah, has become integral to like what I do. 85 00:05:27.730 --> 00:05:30.850 Yeah, I love that. Number three for you just became running itself, 86 00:05:30.970 --> 00:05:33.930 not the technology, because of what that allows you to do. Do you 87 00:05:33.970 --> 00:05:38.079 have a favorite brand of running shoes? If there are any other avid runners 88 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:41.959 out there or aspiring runners? I know my friend Ethan Beut over at bomb 89 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:45.920 I'm just swears by Brooks when it comes to his running shoes. Do you 90 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:48.360 have a preference there or something that you know folks who are maybe getting into 91 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:53.029 that rhythm a little bit more regularly should look out for? I don't have 92 00:05:53.029 --> 00:05:57.029 a favorite. I definitely bounce around, definitely can be a sale buyer when 93 00:05:57.069 --> 00:05:59.949 it comes to these things, but I use that's a lot for training and 94 00:06:00.029 --> 00:06:02.470 I use some Nike ones more for like racing and things like that. So 95 00:06:02.509 --> 00:06:05.699 I have different ones based on the activity. I'm trying to go fast if 96 00:06:05.699 --> 00:06:09.819 I'm going slow, I do mix it up a little bit. I like 97 00:06:09.980 --> 00:06:13.100 it awesome, man. Well, number four on your top five things was 98 00:06:13.300 --> 00:06:17.019 interesting to me because I'm kind of one of the lone Google android guys here 99 00:06:17.060 --> 00:06:20.649 on the sweet fish team. James makes fun of me for turning every group 100 00:06:20.689 --> 00:06:26.009 message thread green and that sort of thing. But in a world where you 101 00:06:26.129 --> 00:06:30.850 know more people that I talked to have have Alexa or another smart speaker, 102 00:06:30.290 --> 00:06:33.199 I've been all in on Google. I've got a Google home myself. You 103 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:36.680 put Google home on one of your top five things here right, yes, 104 00:06:36.759 --> 00:06:41.399 sir. So for us, me and my wife used Google home constantly in 105 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:45.120 our house and the most common thing is just music. I love music and 106 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:48.790 to be able to have music play throughout the house is just a really fills 107 00:06:48.829 --> 00:06:51.709 the house up in a way that is indescribable in a lot of ways. 108 00:06:53.149 --> 00:06:55.870 But it's also become a big part of our sort of daily routine. We 109 00:06:55.949 --> 00:06:58.829 share shopping list through it amount of times with someone's talking to it. Just 110 00:06:58.910 --> 00:07:01.860 to add some milk to the shopping list is heaven on a daily basis. 111 00:07:01.939 --> 00:07:06.300 As well as events, reminders just simple things like, you know, get 112 00:07:06.339 --> 00:07:11.139 the laundry out of the laundry machine and an hour that stuff has become a 113 00:07:11.180 --> 00:07:14.100 really, really daily routine for us. So we use Google home constantly. 114 00:07:14.139 --> 00:07:16.449 Awesome, man. I haven't used it for the to do list or the 115 00:07:16.529 --> 00:07:19.930 shopping list. Does that go into like a Google keep checklist or where? 116 00:07:19.930 --> 00:07:24.089 Does where does that push that too, because I might have to check that 117 00:07:24.209 --> 00:07:27.089 out. There are different ways you can set it up and used to sort 118 00:07:27.089 --> 00:07:29.449 of force you to go into Google Express, but now it's more open. 119 00:07:29.569 --> 00:07:31.560 You can use Google keep and we do that to share these kind of things 120 00:07:32.279 --> 00:07:34.680 nice with it, to make sure we're a little bit more efficient with this 121 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:39.680 stuff. Awesome productivity and efficiency on the Home Front as well. We're getting 122 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:42.959 tips for that today. I love it. Brian. Your last one has 123 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:46.069 been a common theme on a first few episodes here of the five things series, 124 00:07:46.310 --> 00:07:49.709 and that is your favorite audio listening APPs. You've got to here. 125 00:07:49.829 --> 00:07:54.230 That make up number five on your list, audible and pocket casts, right. 126 00:07:54.269 --> 00:07:57.110 Yeah, and I put both of them on there because at the end 127 00:07:57.110 --> 00:08:01.220 of the day it's more about just engaging in something to continue learning and thinking. 128 00:08:01.259 --> 00:08:05.740 I have three young kids and might be why? I also like getting 129 00:08:05.740 --> 00:08:07.579 out of the morning and running, but there's not always time to sit down 130 00:08:07.579 --> 00:08:11.660 and actually read a book. That time moves very quickly. So I find 131 00:08:11.660 --> 00:08:16.050 that when I'm doing things like running or driving or just cleaning the dishes, 132 00:08:16.370 --> 00:08:18.410 being able to engage in an audiobook or to be able to listen to a 133 00:08:18.529 --> 00:08:24.009 podcast. They get you thinking, keep you current. is become an invaluable 134 00:08:24.089 --> 00:08:26.399 part of like my daily routine. Yeah, absolutely. I'm a big Fan 135 00:08:26.439 --> 00:08:31.360 of pocket casts. Actually, that is my goat too, APP for listening 136 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:35.559 to podcasts, and not just because I have an android phone in my will 137 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:39.679 pixel, but because I've seen other iphone users use pocket casts as well. 138 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:43.590 Or there's some specific things on why you listen to podcasts with that APP in 139 00:08:43.710 --> 00:08:46.110 particular that you like. I'll be honest, I've been on pocket cast for 140 00:08:46.230 --> 00:08:50.269 a couple of years now. I haven't looked at what's new out there. 141 00:08:50.830 --> 00:08:54.870 It works. It just works for me. Everything I wanted a podcast APP 142 00:08:54.950 --> 00:08:58.100 is there. Yeah, absolutely, I like some of the things that I've 143 00:08:58.139 --> 00:09:03.259 I've tried Google podcasts, I've tried spotify. I like the way that podcasts 144 00:09:03.299 --> 00:09:07.740 or surfacing up in in spotify as UX and and maybe they'll get me to 145 00:09:07.820 --> 00:09:11.289 switch eventually. But pocket casts has some unique things that are cool. You 146 00:09:11.330 --> 00:09:13.049 know, for a show like ours that has over one thirteen hundred episodes, 147 00:09:13.330 --> 00:09:16.889 you can look at me to be growth and search and it will search the 148 00:09:18.169 --> 00:09:20.850 headlines in the show notes and sometimes with podcasts, especially if they have a 149 00:09:22.169 --> 00:09:24.799 large back library, it's tough to find if you want to see if they 150 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:28.679 have an episode on a certain thing. So I like the way that they're 151 00:09:28.679 --> 00:09:33.360 addressing podcast discoverability. POCKET CAST is not a sponsor of the show, there's 152 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:35.840 no affiliate links, but I do just personally use that APP for my own 153 00:09:35.879 --> 00:09:39.950 podcast consumption because, as you might imagine, I listened to a lot of 154 00:09:39.990 --> 00:09:41.710 podcasts. But just in general, back to your point, I love that 155 00:09:41.830 --> 00:09:46.750 you mentioned running, doing the dishes and driving. Those are kind of my 156 00:09:46.990 --> 00:09:50.110 three times to listen to to audio content as well. A little bit different 157 00:09:50.149 --> 00:09:54.220 walking the dog, little bit less than running, doing the dishes, and 158 00:09:54.340 --> 00:09:58.620 then driving as well. So I'm right in line with you there, man. 159 00:09:58.940 --> 00:10:01.539 Well, Brian, this has been a great conversation. I appreciate state 160 00:10:01.580 --> 00:10:05.179 you sharing some of the things that you can't live without to give other people 161 00:10:05.259 --> 00:10:09.289 some recommendations and some tips as they go about their own journey every day. 162 00:10:09.330 --> 00:10:11.850 If anybody listening to this would like to stay connected with you, reach out 163 00:10:13.090 --> 00:10:16.009 linkedin. You know what's best platform to say in touch with you. Man. 164 00:10:16.409 --> 00:10:18.929 Sure, yeah, Brian Carl on Linkedin on twitter and then come to 165 00:10:20.090 --> 00:10:22.559 Claris commercecom awesome, Brian. Thanks so much for joining me. This was 166 00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:26.159 a fun conversation. Man. Thanks, looking to you too. Good to 167 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:31.320 talk to you. Hey there, this is James Carberry, founder of sweet 168 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:33.519 fish media and one of the cohosts of this show. The last year and 169 00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:37.990 a half I've been working on my very first book. In the book I 170 00:10:37.110 --> 00:10:41.269 share the three part framework we used as the foundation for our growth here at 171 00:10:41.269 --> 00:10:45.990 sweetfish. Now there are lots of companies that everased a bunch of money and 172 00:10:46.110 --> 00:10:48.190 have grown insanely fast, and we featured a lot of them here on the 173 00:10:48.230 --> 00:10:54.100 show. We've decided to bootstrap our business, which usually equates to pretty slow 174 00:10:54.220 --> 00:10:58.299 growth, but using the strategy outlined in the book, we are on pace 175 00:10:58.419 --> 00:11:01.139 to be one of inks fastest growing companies in two thousand and twenty. The 176 00:11:01.220 --> 00:11:05.370 book is called content based networking. How to instantly connect with anyone you want 177 00:11:05.409 --> 00:11:09.169 to know if you're a fan of audiobooks like me, you can find the 178 00:11:09.210 --> 00:11:11.450 book on audible or be like physical books. You can also find it on 179 00:11:11.529 --> 00:11:18.250 Amazon. Just search content based networking or James Carberry. Car Be Aary, 180 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:20.399 in audible or Amazon, and it should pop right up.