Transcript
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Conversations from the front lines and marketing. This is be tob growth. This
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is B tob growth. Coming to
you from just outside Austin, Texas.
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I'm your host, Benjie Block,
and joining us from Nashville, Tennessee our
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director of audience growth here at sweet
fish, Dan Sanchez, and from Louisville,
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Kentucky, our creative content lead,
Emily Brady. Now here. In
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just a few minutes we're going to
jump to a recent conversation that I had
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with Brian Walker. He's the chief
strategy officer over at Bloom reach and we
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talked a lot about his go to
market strategy and how they're creating this and
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cultivating a unique ecosystem over there.
Before we do that, we're here for
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some show and tell and we want
to talk about some recent things we've seen
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in and around marketing. Dan,
what are you taking to look at today?
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We did a large survey of informal
interviews with a lot of the guests
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we have on B tob growth.
We interviewed over a hundred BEDB marketing leaders.
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We have some variety of questions,
about dozen different questions, but one
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of the big questions we asked them
was what is the major hurdle for your
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team over the next quarter of the
next year? We tried phrasing the question
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different ways, but generally, what's
the biggest problem you have in your marketing
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team? And over and over and
over again I at different responses, but
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they are all communicating the same thing, and this is the major hurdle facing
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most marketing teams right now is the
lack of focus, and that comes out
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in different forms. It comes at
as we have too many things to do,
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not enough hands to do them,
not enough budget to execute it and
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just generally lack of prioritization, lack
of focus. It is the thing that
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plagues all marketing teams and I think
there's a number of different reasons for this
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and some possible solutions, but I
have to say that I've I've certainly experienced
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that. I Know Benjie and emily
were nodding their head like yes, this
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is a thing and even runs a
little bit counter to the conversation we had
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in the last conversation at last previous
episode, what a week ago, Benjie,
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about the good, the good it
is to experiment. So it opens
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up a can of worms, like
we need to focus, yet we need
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to experiment and try new things,
because there's all these different things going on.
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So what's the right answer and how
can we essentially conquer this problem and
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do it while still experimenting so that
we aren't left left behind? I think,
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man, this is what makes marketing
difficult. Is like knowing what to
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use language we've talked about here before, what waves we actually want to ride
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and what to sort of sit out. You have to have a system for
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experimentation so you don't get left behind. But if you experiment so much that
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you aren't an expert in anything in
your marketing, like your strategy is so
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convoluted, you're just going while,
we tried that, and we tried that,
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and we do the new thing every
two weeks and new week, a
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new thing every month, and you
get to this place of like, man,
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it will bog you down real easily
because you know there's a million things
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you could be doing or even sometimes, and I'm I feel this, there's
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a million things I should be doing, like that's that lack of focus.
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The mind game for me is I
hear in the back of my head like,
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Oh, you should be doing fill
in the blank, and that kind
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of motor that's always running, that's
aware of all the things that I'm not
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doing, makes me actually kind of
worse at the things I am doing because
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I'm slowed down by the lack of
focus. I don't have like this great
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answer for it. I we talked
about it previously that we have to experiment,
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and one of the ways we experiment
is by having it baked into our
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team or like time in our schedule
where we're doing that. Maybe by only
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having a certain time for experimentation,
it frees us up to truly focus on
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what we should be focused on the
rest of the time. I don't know,
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Emily, what are you what do
you think? Like? I mean,
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we all experience this. We've all
been nodding our heads. Yeah,
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I don't think it has to be. It doesn't always have to be an
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either or scenario. Like you can
experiment with focus, which is really difficult
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to do and easy to say,
but because I've definitely experience this where there
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are so many ideas and so many
things that I want to test and I
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need someone to come in and say, let's just do a couple of these
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things. or it even comes from
top down sometimes, where you know your
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manager, whoever is like, okay, there's all these things we should be
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trying out. I think these would
be really good and I think that being
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an efficient, productive team requires some
pushback from all sides to like yeah,
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these are really great ten ideas,
but what if we focused on these two?
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And so it comes from. We
do need focus, obviously, and
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we do need experimentation, and I
think it's just deciding what are the right
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things to focus on, because clearly
you can't spread yourself that thin and nor
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should you. Nor should you be
having your resources and several different buckets.
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It's just not as productive as focusing
on a few. So I don't have
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an easy answer for it, because
I'm not. I haven't mastered focus,
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but I know that it's it can
be done alongside experimentation. Okay, quick
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run through of each of us.
What's our natural wiring or bent? Do
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you naturally lean more towards being obsessed
with the new experimentation side of things,
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like Oh, let's go try this, let's try this, or do you
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lean more towards focus? You Find
Your Lane and you kind of stick in
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it and maybe you're more of like
a late adopter. Emily, you go
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first. Yeah, I'm definitely more
of the first one. Yeah, there
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are so many. I will find
something and I'll start working on it and
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then it's that shining odd Jack Syndrome. Right, something else comes along I'm
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like, Oh, I should be
looking at this, I should be working
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on this, and I need to
just put myself in this, in this
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zone of just this is the one
thing you're doing, do it really,
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really well, instead of trying to
do twenty different things. It depends on
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what group you put me in.
You put me with the bunch of entrepreneurs
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and I look like the steady,
focused one, because entrepreneurs are on the
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extreme side of always chasing the new
thing. But if you put me in
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a group of, let's say,
I mean, of course, like accountants,
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right, they're going to be on
the other side of like stay,
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stay with it, like financial people
or project managers, then I look like
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the crazy one coming up with ideas. In amongst marketers, I find them
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a little bit more focused and steady. Amongst marketers I will usually pick a
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few channels and then trying to hammer
those channels before and do well with those
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channels before branching out. I'm usually
the one like which is interesting in this
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last conversation about experimentation. I'm usually
killing more ideas that I'm starting them,
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and those are ideas from below and
from above, mainly because, and I
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used to tell this to James R
CEO all the time, it's like,
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James, it's not that I don't
like your idea. I think it's a
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great idea, I just think your
idea from two weeks ago is even better.
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Trying to protect it, trying to
protect your last great idea from your
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current great idea. Okay, yeah, otherwise we're not going to get either
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of them done. So which would
you rather have? All of it?
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Well, no, we can't do
all of it. We can't accomplish everything.
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We have to pick which was going
to do and marketing. We all
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know good. All marketers know good
marketing. Just takes time. Unfortunately,
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we have things we have to accomplish
and benchmarks and leads. We need to
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generate demand that needs to come through
so we have more higher, larger sales
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pipeline before the end of the quarter
and all this kind of stuff. So
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not always easy to balance, but
it is. There is a balance there.
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Yeah, I think for me I
resonate was what you just said.
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Dan. That depends on the room
you put me in. I love thinking
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and like processing ideas with people and
like making them as good as they can
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be. So I'm never I don't
like being the person in the room that's
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like necessarily killing the idea. I
would rather like see how good we could
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make it. But then, in
my mind, because I can play devil
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with the advocate, I can also
just shoot holes and ideas all day long
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and it's so it's really frustrating.
I feel like I tend to be a
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why guy in like why are we
actually doing this? And that can be
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helpful in marketing, but also can
cause you to not go past the start
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line because you're like constantly questioning why? Why is this important? Why is
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this important? You know there's another
way of coming. You know there's so
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like a long for enough focus to
like really just be locked in and okay,
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this is what we're doing for this
amount of time and then we'll come
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up and we'll reevaluate. That's it
goes back to what I was advocating for
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in the last episode, honestly,
is if we could just get some time
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in our schedule for experimentation to where, you know it's state exists somewhere in
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your life and it in your marketing
team, but it doesn't have it the
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ability to grow like weeds everywhere else
in your schedule and in your marketing.
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That, I think, is that
balance that I desire at least, to
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just go let's have both, but
less experimentation. Then focus, way,
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in my opinion, way more focus. These are the things were committing to
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for the cord or these are the
big things that we care about this.
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We know those things. And then
we have this ability somewhere in our lives
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to go okay, and we have
this green space, this white space,
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do something totally different, try throw
things at the wall over here. I
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almost wonder if it's better to to
limit the experimentation to micro experiments rather than
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macro experiments. Like we don't have
to experiment with the whole freaking new channel.
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How about we just continue doing great
experiments in the channels were already end
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in order to like, be mad, be masters of those channels? Like
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emily, you're frecking fantastic at your
experiments with like den and Tick Tock,
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like. I've seen you post some
things over last couple of months, like
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what the heck like whole new content
formats. Yet it's still in the same
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channel, but it's really good and
it really drives it forward, which is
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why you're getting a lot of attention. People want to talk to you because
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you're you're having some breakthroughs with their
experiments, and not all of them break
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through right. Some of them probably
don't get as much as tension as you
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thought it might have or was worth, but some of them certainly are,
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and I think that's where a lot
of the energy can go as into the
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micro experiments and then probably slowing down
or being slow to move on the big
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experiments, which is opening up a
new channel. That's one thing I really
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disagree with Gary Beyond is being everywhere. I'm like NA being a few places
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really well as what I found I
can realistically handle, and when you scaled
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and you add more, but that's
kind of been my my Princi Bal that
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I stick to. Yeah, it
would be awesome if we could be everywhere
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and we had all the machines running
to the point where you could be,
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but you don't see, you can't. There's no way you start with everywhere.
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There's no way. Like I think
I look at the last few years
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of the reason people are on different
platforms just because they were told they should
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be, and then you see this
trail of dead twitter accounts and dead instagram
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accounts and like all these things you
should do and should becomes this word.
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That's just man. You can't base
your marketing off of what you should be
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doing. Like got to kind of
at some point, block out some voices
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and get some focus. Final thoughts, emily. Yeah, here you guys
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talk about how you're wired. It
makes me really thankful to be on a
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on a diverse team, like as
someone who is so distracted all the time
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and and has so many ideas,
like and I've experiences working with each of
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you, to like Dan always makes
me feel more focused and like he helps
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me put my ideas more are on
a streamline instead of going crazy. And
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then I appreciate also how been do. You always are asking why are like,
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if that's a good idea of and
challenging those a little bit. So
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I think that's really valuable and not
having a team that all looks like you,
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and especially like in staying focused.
So I think I'm really grateful for
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that and I think that's really awesome
and a big part of it. Yeah,
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Damn, final thoughts. I had
a really good final thought and it's
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now gone well. We would love
to hear you guys thoughts on this topic,
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especially because these last two round tables
we've done are sort of on those
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opposite ends of the spectrum experimentation and
focus. How are you balancing them?
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Can reach out to us on Linkedin
and find the show as well. Search
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be to be growth over there.
All right, it's time for today's featured
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conversation. Enjoy my interview with Brian
Walker, chief strategy officer that bloom reach.
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Welcome in to be to be growth. I'm your host, Benjie Block,
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and today I am joined by Brian
Walker, who is the chief strategy
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officer at Bloom reach. Brian,
we're thrilled to have you here with us
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today on BB growth. Thanks for
having me, Ben Jie. It's my
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pleasure. So people are going to
hear chief strategy officer is my first question
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needs to be around your title.
Tell me a little bit about what that
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position means, Brian, and what
your day today looks like. Yeah,
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I've been asked that question before.
You know, I think that lots of
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organizations out there do have you know, heads of strategy or a chief strategy
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officer. I think inside each organization
it means a little something different. Here
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at h bloom reach I'm focused on
both go to market and product strategy and
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very involved in the ecosystem. But
I started using the title a number of
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years ago actually, when I joined
a commerce platform many may know, called
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hybrists, which is now part of
SAP, and I use the title when
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I joined the company, even though
I took on the role of leading marketing,
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really as a way to stay very
active and involved outside the company.
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To be frank, not all customers
or partners are going to be necessarily interested
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in engaging a CMO. Yeah,
because they're going to interpret what you're saying
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is marketing. Of course, chief
strategy officer enabled me to continue to engage
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with customers and partners and kind of
a meaningful way and to be more active,
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I think, from a thought leadership
perspective or, you know, when
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comes to public speaking and things of
that nature. And and really, while
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what I do here a bloom reach
is very much focused on strategy a number
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different dimensions, the role and the
title do enable me to kind of be
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more active outside the company in a
meaningful way. Yeah, talk a little
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bit about how maybe your previous experience
in marketing has helped you in your current
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role in some of the the synergy
that's that's happened there. Well, you
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know, my approach to marketing,
you know, like many out there,
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is to want to engage with prospective
customers or partners in a authentic way.
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Yeah, so what's important to them, what's meaningful to them, how to
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respond and react to to various trends
in the market and to, you know,
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lay the foundation for their business in
a way that makes sense for them,
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including the technology solutions that they're working
with. And so, you know,
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in a sense, my approach to
marketing and, you know, how
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I approach my role today are very
much in sync. Right. I don't
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think there's really a difference. So
it's understanding the customers pain points, challenges,
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unique dimensions and aspects of their business
and then helping them, you know,
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again in an authentic way, get
to the right, you know,
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solutions and strategies and tactics, and
so there's not really a disconnect between,
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you know, how I may have
approached marketing leadership or how I approach my
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role today. I think you know, if you're in a market for as
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long as I've been in ECOMMERCE technology
and digital marketing and you continue to engage
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the market in that way, you
know good things come from that. Yep.
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Well, I got to say I'm
a big Fan of the the term
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change there. I like strategy.
I think it has it has a whole
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different way of what you think about
and the way people perceive you. So
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I just like that language shift and
I'm a firm believer in the power of
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words. And so how we think
strategy over maybe just a traditional marketing there's
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a lot there that is worth talking
about. There's also kind of a joke,
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let's hear it, that sometimes I
let's say, which is simply that
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you know, look, the strategy
is never wrong. Yeah, yeah,
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yeah, yeah, it's good.
Yeah, you know, certainly. No,
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just kidding, of course, but
the the reality is that there's a
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lot of pressure on marketers and and
the role of leading marketing and today's technology
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landscape, or really any industry,
has become a lot more complex, and
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so the joke, of course,
is that, you know, it can
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kind of insulate you from from some
of that some of those challenges from a
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career perspective. HMM HMM. Well, I wanted a chat because one thing
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that bloom reach has started doing specifically, I believe, kind of when the
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pandemic hit right was to use this
medium of podcasting, which is what we're
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doing right now, and you actually
host a show for bloom reach. Wanted
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to talk about like what was the
genesis of that show and that moved it's
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that medium for you guys. Brian, it was actually something that I'd wanted
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to do for some time. But
you know, truthfully, when the pandemic
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hit, of course travel, you
know, ground to a halt and I
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had maybe some some time back that
I was spending commuting to California. I
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live in Seattle, I was community
to California. I was also on the
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road, you know, meeting customers, meeting partners, going to industry events,
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etc. And you know, I
found it difficult to try to fit
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something like a podcast into my schedule. So, first and foremost, the
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pandemic enabled me personally to just free
up some time to do something that I
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was interested in doing. But certainly
the timing was really meaningful in the sense
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that there was so much happening right
and change occurring and everyone was sort of
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thinking through how to adapt to,
you know, the pandemic closing stores,
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changing business in a meaningful way and
obviously a huge inflection in digital commerce and
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the role of digital marketing for every
organization out there. And so the the
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podcast, enabled me to really just
engage what I have as a large network
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of people out there, very smart
people that I could engage with in meaningful
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conversations about what was happening out in
the market and bring that to an audience
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and, yes, in a sense, use it as a as a tool
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to help our customers, partners,
prospect x become smarter about what was happening
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in the marketplace. Yep, the
first thing I did was not even really
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the podcast. I started just recording, you know, like zoom video conversations
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with with some people that I that
I knew in the market. was kind
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of US personally processing what was happening, but also reflecting on what this may
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mean for the industry. And then
that sort of led into launching the podcast.
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And, frankly, I just really
enjoy the opportunity to have smart conversations
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with people and in a sense that
is very much been my philosophy, going
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back to my days as an industry
analyst. You know, I used to
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say, well, I'm only as
smart as the smart people I get to
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talk to, you know, about
what's happening in the market, and the
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podcast in a sense as an extension
of that. So that's really kind of
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what led to US starting it and
you know, it's been something I've really
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enjoyed doing personally and, you know, I think is paid some some great
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benefits for us as a software solution
provider, to to convey again, you
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know, thoughtful a meaningful aspects of
our industry in a wide variety of ways,
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talking to smart people involved in many
different roles in the market may be
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to be growth listeners. We want
to hear from you. In fact,
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we will pay you for it.
Just had over to be tob growth podcom
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00:20:56.279 --> 00:21:00.240
and complete a short survey about the
show to enter for a chance to win
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two hundred and fifty dollars. Plus. The first fifty participants will receive twenty
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five dollars as our way of saying
thank you so much one more time.
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That's Bob, growth podcom. Letter
B number two. Letter be growth podcom.
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One entry per person must be an
active listener of the show. To
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Enter and look forward to hearing from
you. So that's really kind of what
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led to US starting it and you
know, it's been something I really enjoyed
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doing personally and you know, I
think is paid some some great benefits for
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us as a software solution provider to
to convey again, you know, thoughtful,
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a meaningful aspects of our industry in
a wide variety of ways, talking
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to smart people involved in many different
roles in the market. Yeah, it
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gives you this kind of unique platform
to give your unique point of view away
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as well, which I think,
as those in marketing listening to this snow,
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I mean what a great thing to
be able to when there's not a
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ton. Sometimes we're in very crowded
markets, right, but personality and being
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able to talk about our unique point
of view in a medium like this is
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is pretty unique and and I love
it. That's why I love doing this.
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I love getting talk to people like
you. So I wonder that beginning
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of the pandemic right, makes sense. Travel, traveling, last lots Tokay,
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the world's kind of reopened. How
has the show morphed over time and
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some of maybe even the strategy behind
it? Has Your thinking changed at all?
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There with the the world kind of
reopening, or how have your conversations
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even shifted? I wouldn't necessarily say
it's connected to the world reopening per se,
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but a couple thoughts. One is
just the medium. You know,
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we're also recording video here now.
When I first started the PODCAST, I
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was very committed to like we just
need to focus on audio videos, not
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really a way that are very busy
audience would necessarily sit down and watch the
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conversation, but really just wanting to
enable them to time shift and use their
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time to consume this, whether that's, you know, washing the dishes,
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which is where I end up listening
to a lot of podcasts. It's why
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I always believe that a podcast should
only be as long as it takes to
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really clean the kitchen well like that, or whether it's gardening or walking the
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dog or what have you. Right, I really felt that podcasting was a
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was a great medium to help people
gain access to new ideas and thoughts and
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perspectives. Well, kind of time
shifting and using their time that way.
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But clearly today video has is being
used as a tool to to also market
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these things, whether that's, you
know, short snippets on Linkedin Yep or
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youtube. So obviously that's something that
we're are also going to evolve, just
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in terms of the medium. I
think in terms of the content side of
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it, think a recognition that our
format has an opportunity to also evolve.
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So again, really just when we
started the podcast and really for almost every
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episode, we've just been having conversations, me and the guest, exchanging thoughts,
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ideas. I pitched them questions and
then we met riff from there.
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But now I think there's an opportunity
for us to take what we're calling kind
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of a more documentary style right when
it comes to deeper, more complex topics,
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may be incorporating multiple voices, but
then also kind of a point of
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view or a narrative, whether that's, you know, a more complex topic
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or more of a historical view on
something. And to be frank, we
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haven't done much of that yet,
but that's something that we're looking to evolve
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in terms of the content to again
make this a meaningful resource, you know,
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for the for the community, so
to speak, and then also,
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of course, convey our point of
view through that to some degree. So
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I think those are really two things
that, in terms of how we're thinking
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about podcasting and the in the show
that were evolving. Got To ask you
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a selfish podcast host question real quick
because obviously I feel like I've learned a
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lot in whether it's in communication or
just in how I connect with people,
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because of my time hosting podcast and
was to be to be growth and I
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love doing it. What do you
feel like is your biggest lesson that you've
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learned in your time hosting? Well, that's a really good question. I
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think maybe a couple things to think
about. Their one relax, enjoy.
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Right. This is a in some
ways kind of a casual medium. Maybe
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feel free to incorporate a little bit
of humor, but but make it really
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conversational, and the way to do
that, of course, is to relax.
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That would be one. And then
the second it's more of a not
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necessarily related only to podcasting, but
I think when I was an industry analyst
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I also sort of learned this in
some ways, but it's easy to forget,
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and that is oftentimes the best question
is the simplest one and rather than
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try to kind of pack a question
with complexity, back up and ask the
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more simple and sometimes obvious question,
and sometimes that leads to greater insights and
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opportunity to engage on something. So
I'd say those are really the two things
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that I've learned. One is maybe
more of a reminder, but you know,
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so relax and simple questions are good. Don't feel like you need to
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show off with a complex question in
order to get a meaningful conversation. Yeah,
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as the host, that can be
you can be tempted right in the
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direction of let me prove that I
know what we're talking about, but kind
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of here to shine a light on
the other person. So I'm I love
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learning things from the guests we have
on this show and this some great learnings.
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there. Last question I'll ask you
on this front is just going back
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to the beginning. We were talking
about your role chief strategy officer. anyways
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that you've found a medium like podcasting
informing your role, or even before it
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was travel, and now you're meeting
with people in a podcast setting right,
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you're recording together shifts there, and
how you feel any learnings that have informed
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being a CSO well, I think
it encourages me to first of all,
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you're often doing a prep call with
a guest, and so you might also
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like, naturally, through that process
have a conversation about, you know,
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whether it's partnering with another Tech Company
or agency or consultancy that is in our
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ecosystem or you're, frankly, you
know, gaining some interesting, you know,
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insights into a niche in the market
that maybe haven't focused a lot on
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or a market like geographical market,
that we haven't been particularly focused on as
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a business. And you know,
through interacting and engaging with guests in this
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kind of way, you know you
do end up learning things or or recognizing
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that maybe you need to double click
and even challenge some assumptions along the way.
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So I'd say, you know,
again, if you're talking to smart
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people, you're going to learn something. And so, both through the the
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actual conversations that are recording, but
also through the prep calls and so forth,
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there's some interesting things. I'll tell
you a little bit of an aside.
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This is not really related to the
our technology work necessarily directly, but
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you know, bloom reach, like
many in the e commerce in digital marketing
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space, have many partners with a
significant presence in Ukraine and Russia M and
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you know that was not lost on
me. I've had an opportunity to travel
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to that region in the past have
met many people who have significant presence in
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those markets, teams supporting clients in
the US or in Europe out of that
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market and so forth. And so
when the crisis occurred, you know I
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had done my my bit to not
only personally donate to humanitarian relief and so
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on, but it also like shared
through linkedin and other things, like just
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a perspective on the interconnection of our
industry, Bloom reaches industry, with what's
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happening in the market, and that
led me to engage with some CEOS and
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founders of some of these companies and
asked if they would be open to joining
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me on the podcast to share.
Yeah, and you know I had a
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few who are open to doing that, but I ended up speaking with Egregoran,
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who is founder, one of the
founders, of astound commerce, and
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wow, I thought I was pretty
educated on what was happening. You know,
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it kind of nerded out a little
bit on the situation and also,
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you know, I enjoy learning about
history and so forth anyway, so I'd
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kind of done some some of my
own reading and so forth it, but
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I can just say that, more
on a personal level than anything both the
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prep call and then the podcast itself
just really drove it home for me the
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depth of the the the crisis and
the humanitarian impact of what was happening.
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And so that was like, on
a personal level, you know, let
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alone a business perspective, how the
podcast really impacted me and, you know,
401
00:30:45.240 --> 00:30:48.279
things that I was able to learn, Yep, by doing this kind
402
00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:51.599
of thing that otherwise maybe I wouldn't
have done that, you know, maybe
403
00:30:51.640 --> 00:30:56.319
I wouldn't have reached out and had
these kind of conversations and gain a very
404
00:30:56.440 --> 00:31:00.480
personal and almost visceral perspective on what
was happening. So it's just kind of
405
00:31:00.480 --> 00:31:07.839
an a side story of how something
like hosting a podcast can end up having
406
00:31:07.880 --> 00:31:12.000
a an impact. We saw it
beyond work as well. Yeah, I
407
00:31:12.039 --> 00:31:17.079
do think we talked about in business
a lot, like, especially in BTB
408
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space right, making it more human
or this connection, and sometimes that can
409
00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:23.680
even on Linkedin. It can just
become, oh, I see this all
410
00:31:23.759 --> 00:31:27.319
the time. But in a story
like that, Brian, I love how
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00:31:27.400 --> 00:31:33.039
you bringing that home because it's like, outside of all the things, the
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00:31:33.079 --> 00:31:37.160
goals, the KPI's, everything that
is be tob there is a personal level
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00:31:37.160 --> 00:31:41.119
to a lot of this stuff.
That is it's incredible to be a part
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00:31:41.160 --> 00:31:45.640
of, and that what a timely
example and something that we're still walking through
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00:31:45.720 --> 00:31:51.680
and and yeah, so I really
appreciate that example. I want to talk
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00:31:51.720 --> 00:31:56.279
about and shift into a little bit
of a conversation on growth here, because
417
00:31:56.319 --> 00:31:59.640
I know your background in marketing and
you've had your hands and go to market,
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00:31:59.640 --> 00:32:04.200
which you mentioned, and that strategy
for bloom reach. You also mentioned
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00:32:04.200 --> 00:32:07.000
this up front and I waited tell
the tale end to bring it up,
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00:32:07.000 --> 00:32:13.480
but you talked about cultivating an ecosystem
and it's great language, but also I
421
00:32:13.480 --> 00:32:15.680
would love to know what that means
for you guys right now. So when
422
00:32:15.720 --> 00:32:22.440
you talk about cultivating an ecosystem for
bloom reach, what is that exactly entail?
423
00:32:22.200 --> 00:32:28.559
Great Question. Where a commerce experience
solution, rouette or so? We've
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00:32:28.559 --> 00:32:31.559
got a number of different solutions that
our clients are going to use to drive
425
00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:38.599
and optimize their digital commerce and digital
marketing, and the reality is that bloom
426
00:32:38.640 --> 00:32:44.720
reaches solutions, just like many in
the market, need to integrate and interact
427
00:32:44.799 --> 00:32:49.000
with many other solutions right that a
client's going to use, so that there's
428
00:32:49.079 --> 00:32:53.039
one dimension, there's many different companies
that most of our clients are going to
429
00:32:53.079 --> 00:32:57.480
be working with and they need those
to kind of work together and to the
430
00:32:57.519 --> 00:33:02.960
benefit of of the them right it
behooves us to pick smart partners and integrate
431
00:33:02.960 --> 00:33:09.240
effectively in a value added way and
at the same time, often and agency,
432
00:33:09.279 --> 00:33:16.319
a consultancy or a systems integrator will
be involved in implementing our solutions or
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00:33:16.319 --> 00:33:22.599
supporting a client in that so they're
also a key part of our ecosystem.
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00:33:22.759 --> 00:33:30.799
So when we talk about cultivating one
right, it's implementing programs and approaches from
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00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:37.720
a partner marketing standpoint or marketplace type
programs, as well as ensuring that the
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00:33:37.799 --> 00:33:43.960
right agencies and consultancies are available to
support what our clients are trying to do
437
00:33:44.039 --> 00:33:50.119
and that they're well vetted and they're
certified and they're experienced and also supported by
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00:33:50.160 --> 00:33:54.839
our organization to make the client successful. So cultivating an ecosystem is really just
439
00:33:54.880 --> 00:34:01.200
a way of saying it's making sure
that the right solution providers and implementation and
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00:34:01.240 --> 00:34:09.039
consultancy providers are a part of our
ecosystem and that we're working in a collaborative
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00:34:09.079 --> 00:34:15.639
way that benefits the customer ultimately and
what they're trying to do and it's a
442
00:34:15.719 --> 00:34:22.159
it's a pretty large, heterogeneous and
very fast evolving, you know, market
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00:34:22.280 --> 00:34:28.199
out there. And so you know, especially as we've kind of adapted some
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00:34:28.280 --> 00:34:32.239
of our capabilities at bloom rage to
involve more, you know, a focus
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00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:39.960
on on marketing channels and personalization and
the Holy Grail of single view of customer
446
00:34:39.960 --> 00:34:45.519
and enabling our clients to interact with
their customers in a personalized way, etcetera.
447
00:34:46.119 --> 00:34:52.480
It really takes multiple different kinds of
solutions coming together, ultimately, yeah,
448
00:34:52.480 --> 00:34:54.239
to deliver on the customers vision.
So we need to make sure we
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00:34:54.280 --> 00:34:59.480
have a we have the right partners
in place to make that happen. If
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00:34:59.519 --> 00:35:02.199
I was taking what we've talked about
so far, I'd say we've been advocates
451
00:35:02.239 --> 00:35:08.079
for strategy, for podcasting, for
the human connection that happens even in these
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00:35:08.159 --> 00:35:12.320
crisis right and then we're talking about
ecosystems here, and so here's what I
453
00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:14.199
want to do as we wrap up, is I want to just give you
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00:35:14.199 --> 00:35:20.079
an opportunity to say, as you've
done the work of trying to cultivate this
455
00:35:20.159 --> 00:35:23.719
ecosystem, anything that you find to
be unique that maybe you know, though
456
00:35:23.760 --> 00:35:27.639
we can't see them. You're talking
to a room full of marketers on this
457
00:35:27.679 --> 00:35:30.360
show, anything that you are doing
right now that you find unique that maybe
458
00:35:30.360 --> 00:35:35.360
our audience of marketers could learn from
when it comes to your guys as marketing
459
00:35:35.440 --> 00:35:38.960
efforts and in the things that you're
really focused on right now, well as
460
00:35:38.960 --> 00:35:45.079
it relates to ecosystem specifically, I
mean I think, you know, often
461
00:35:45.159 --> 00:35:50.119
times organizations are tempted to just add
partners, at partners, at partners,
462
00:35:50.159 --> 00:35:55.360
and certainly on the ISB side or
you know other technology solution providers out there,
463
00:35:55.480 --> 00:36:00.400
often we kind of skip a step
and it is focusing on the use
464
00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:06.599
cases in the problem to be solved. Yeah, and how does these multiple
465
00:36:06.679 --> 00:36:09.840
solutions, or you know the partner
solution plus your own, come together to
466
00:36:09.840 --> 00:36:15.800
really solve a distinct problem? And
you know testing that, testing that with
467
00:36:15.840 --> 00:36:22.599
customers most importantly, versus just the
proverbial NASCAR slide of here's all our partners,
468
00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:25.800
Yep, and this sort of competition
to add partners, which can also
469
00:36:25.880 --> 00:36:30.760
lead to the you know, paradox
of choice. You're giving your customers too
470
00:36:30.800 --> 00:36:36.440
many options and presenting a problem they
have to navigate between all of those.
471
00:36:37.119 --> 00:36:40.920
So I think first and foremost,
you know, focusing on high quality partners
472
00:36:40.920 --> 00:36:49.239
with a high quality solution that solve
a problem by combining their solution in some
473
00:36:49.280 --> 00:36:53.400
way with your own, is something
that I think is often missed. And
474
00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:58.800
if you're a marketing professional who is
like yeah, we need we need partners,
475
00:36:58.840 --> 00:37:02.800
we need an ecosystem, etc.
Think about it also from kind of
476
00:37:02.880 --> 00:37:08.679
a product management perspective, which would
be what's the problem? What's the market
477
00:37:08.760 --> 00:37:13.599
problem? What are we solving for
here? What's the value add of our
478
00:37:13.599 --> 00:37:21.480
solution plus the partners? That's perhaps
unique as well as it's it's practical and
479
00:37:21.480 --> 00:37:25.880
it's tangible and you know the customer
is going to benefit and ultimately hopefully make
480
00:37:25.920 --> 00:37:30.639
your own solution also more sticky.
Yeah, and more of liable. So
481
00:37:30.719 --> 00:37:37.000
the customer, because they they're getting
even more value out of your solution when
482
00:37:37.039 --> 00:37:42.320
you add a partner. So that's
maybe something to highlight. The you know,
483
00:37:42.360 --> 00:37:44.760
there's a there's a lot to it. We can it's probably a long
484
00:37:44.800 --> 00:37:47.400
conversation, but that's just one thing
I would I would highlight. I think
485
00:37:47.400 --> 00:37:51.920
of Shiny Object Syndrome and in this
case I think of Shiny Partner Syndrome.
486
00:37:52.519 --> 00:37:57.119
Like all the options we could give
people. But what is what are we
487
00:37:57.159 --> 00:38:00.800
actually trying to achieve here, and
I think that is a quality question to
488
00:38:00.800 --> 00:38:04.400
be asking in to be wondering,
is a fun conversation. I love getting
489
00:38:04.400 --> 00:38:07.440
an overview of kind of what you're
up to and I think this is a
490
00:38:07.719 --> 00:38:12.119
really great place to start to land
the plane. Brian. If people want
491
00:38:12.159 --> 00:38:15.159
to connect with you, stay connected
with what bloom reach is doing, go
492
00:38:15.159 --> 00:38:19.199
ahead highlight what the company's up to
and then also where we can stay connected
493
00:38:19.239 --> 00:38:22.679
to your you and your work.
Yeah, I mean where the markets leading
494
00:38:22.679 --> 00:38:25.800
commerce experience platform. We're kind of
a hidden giant out there. We're already
495
00:38:25.800 --> 00:38:30.840
impacting over four hundred billion in annual
ECOMMERCE out there in the market, which
496
00:38:30.880 --> 00:38:35.000
is a big number. tomazing.
We work with, you know, large
497
00:38:35.199 --> 00:38:42.719
lots of large retailers, brands,
be tob companies who are driving digital commerce,
498
00:38:42.760 --> 00:38:45.760
their digital experience and looking to optimize
their marketing. So that's kind of
499
00:38:45.800 --> 00:38:50.679
what we do. The terms are
getting in touch, I think from a
500
00:38:50.719 --> 00:38:53.039
professional level, I would say,
you know, Linkedin is probably the best
501
00:38:53.039 --> 00:38:57.599
of we connect with me right,
Yep. On a personal level, yes,
502
00:38:57.639 --> 00:39:04.760
I'm on instagram. You're likely to
encounter my mixology enthusiasts. Let's go.
503
00:39:05.599 --> 00:39:07.800
Yes, I got a new follow
I got to find you. Yeah,
504
00:39:07.880 --> 00:39:13.440
so I'm fen posting, you know, cocktails that I'm that I'm cooking
505
00:39:13.559 --> 00:39:19.480
up and and then I'll so my
passions around soccer and fly fishing and things
506
00:39:19.519 --> 00:39:22.760
like that. But on a personal
level, I would say probably instagram and
507
00:39:22.920 --> 00:39:28.320
our professional level, Linkedin, and
you have a podcast commerce that's variants,
508
00:39:28.320 --> 00:39:30.440
a podcast series with Brian Walker.
You can find it, go take a
509
00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:36.079
listen. It's been such a pleasure
to get to chat with you and thank
510
00:39:36.119 --> 00:39:38.480
you for taking time today, Brian, to stop by BB growth. Well,
511
00:39:38.480 --> 00:39:42.400
thanks again for having me on Benjie. My pleasure. Well, for
512
00:39:42.519 --> 00:39:45.760
all of our listeners, we love
these types of conversations. We hope that
513
00:39:45.760 --> 00:39:51.559
they help fuel your growth and your
innovation. If you have yet to subscribe,
514
00:39:51.559 --> 00:39:54.239
if you do that today, you'll
never miss a future episode. So
515
00:39:54.400 --> 00:39:58.760
go ahead and do that on your
favorite podcast platform, and we say thanks
516
00:39:58.800 --> 00:40:01.400
in advanced for that. You can
connect with me on Linkedin. Just Search
517
00:40:01.440 --> 00:40:06.159
Benjie Block. I'm talking about marketing, business and life over there and would
518
00:40:06.239 --> 00:40:08.599
love to chat with you. Keep
doing work that matters. Will be back
519
00:40:08.679 --> 00:40:25.119
real soon with another episode. If
you enjoyed a day show hit subscribe for
520
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521
00:40:30.039 --> 00:40:34.000
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522
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524
00:40:40.679 --> 00:40:42.519
for sharing.