Let’s be honest for a second. When it comes to your email list, are you acting like a good friend or that one annoying cousin? You know the one—they only show up at the family reunion to pitch you on a pyramid scheme or ask for a job.
It can all start with a simple conversation. I was walking to dinner with Josh Turner at an affiliate mastermind when he turned to me and said, “I’d like to buy your company.” He’d heard I was thinking about selling, and something about his directness felt right. Our companies were mirror images—his focused on LinkedIn, mine on Facebook. We shared the same values about taking care of our teams and clients, and our visions for a healthy work-life balance were perfectly aligned. He was ready to make a move, and frankly, so was I.
I’ve been the behind-the-scenes person managing Facebook ads for Kim Walsh Phillips for over 14 years, pretty much since the platform first rolled out its ad features. There's no one in our industry I'd rather learn from. But one of my biggest lessons came from a total mistake.
There's a common belief that to succeed in business, you need to appeal to the largest possible market. But the truth is, there are riches in niches. Consider the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas, which held a convention for over 300 professional Santas—a niche within the already specific Santa niche. Every industry association, from national speaking groups to local chapters, represents a focused market ripe with opportunity for someone.
One of the oldest secrets in copywriting is to join the conversation that’s already happening inside your potential customer’s head. An easy way to figure out what that conversation is about is to simply look at what people are talking about.
My marketing agency was losing money, and I was losing the joy of running it. I felt like I was working incredibly hard for free, constantly competing on price in a crowded market of local agencies that promised to do everything for everyone. I was a commodity, and the cheapest commodity always wins. I knew something had to change.
Let’s be honest: trying to use social media for direct-response marketing often feels like trying to use Jell-O as cement. The two just don’t mix well. Social media has its own culture and expectations, while direct response is all about one thing—getting a specific, measurable action. It’s an arranged marriage between two strangers who don’t trust each other.
Back in 1951, Alan Turing, the father of modern computing, wondered what would happen if a machine could think more intelligently than we do. That question feels more relevant than ever today, especially in the world of marketing. Artificial intelligence sits in a fascinating spot, blending human-like creativity with technological power. For any small business or solo entrepreneur without unlimited resources, this is an exciting prospect—a way to do more with less.
Zig Ziglar famously said, “You don’t build a business. You build people, and people build the business.” While he was likely talking about employees, that wisdom applies perfectly to modern marketing. Building relationships with influencers who become genuine advocates for your brand is one of the most powerful ways to scale through word-of-mouth.