Everyone makes content now. But having content doesn’t automatically mean anyone will actually consume it. There are brands with long-running programs and audiences that carve out time for their content, while other brands’ programs fade because it became a thankless chore. What’s different between content that’s adored and content that dies in obscurity?
The brands that win make content that audiences don’t see as branded content. Where the work they made was so genuinely useful, or surprising, or true — that instead of feeling exploited, the recipients felt like they were being favored.
A gift doesn’t need your logo on it. Your fingerprints are already there.
Our guest knows how to do this. His early career was working in production at AOL and several TV and radio networks. Then in 2014 he launched Pacific Content, an agency he built into the one brands trusted when they wanted to stop making noise and start building audiences. It was acquired by one of the country’s largest media companies in 2023. What he learned doing that became the book Earn It, which came out in 2026.
Let’s go to this talk with Steve Pratt.
Chapter Timestamps: 00:00 Why Content Gets Ignored 01:00 Meet Steve Pratt 02:12 Attention Is Finite 04:38 Be The Party Host 06:52 Marketing As A Gift 08:23 From You Not About You 09:55 Bravery And Commitment 12:46 Promote The Gift 15:03 Podcast Case Studies 21:07 Measuring Time And Trust 24:04 Fewer Things Better 25:35 Expertise Over Platform 27:04 Pacific Content And Wrap Up
I can’t prove it, but I think many marketers wish they could improve how they’re perceived by corporate leadership.
I have felt this way in more than one role, and racked my brain on how to fix it. I’ve entertained everything including coming to board meetings with a dozen custom-branded donuts.
Thankfully, the a solution I have come up with isn’t extreme and it doesn’t require donuts.
I was recently given the chance by a local association – the OPMMA – to give a talk and I picked this problem.
I hope as you listen to how I think it’s solved and the three moments where this method demands doing the opposite of what our gut says to do.
So give a listen to ‘From Adversaries to Advocates’
00:00 Intro 01:59 Why Data Wins Trust 03:57 Moment One Get House Order 05:13 Tracking Compliance Audits 07:37 Gaps Biases Data Assets 10:34 Definitions Limits Data Quality 14:45 Meeting Before Meeting 17:27 Build Story Driven Deck 22:45 Clean Visuals Handle Questions 24:40 PSA on new Reading Room 25:22 Moment Three Sustain the Habit 26:31 Wrap Up
We humans like conversations that keep moving forward. Every time we share some detail about ourselves, we expect the other person to remember it.
If they bring that detail back up in our next interaction, we feel pleased and want to keep that relationship going. Conversely, we get annoyed when they blast us with messages we had already said didn’t interest us.
This is severely problematic for us sales and marketing professionals. The sheer volume of people and details we all encounter is too much to keep straight in our outbound emails, let alone in our heads, and that’s why we use CRMs.
But there are many CRMs out there and to fit a business, they all need to be customized. That’s where our guest comes in.
A graduate of CalState in information systems, he worked in data analyst roles for several tech companies, including a Customer Relationship Management company that sold to enterprises. Wanting to work more with solopreneurs and SMBs, he decided to go out on his own as a CRM consultant to show them sustainable relationship-building techniques. Suffice to say, he is able to deliver immediate benefits to his clients under this business model.
He also has a passion for coaching people on their nutrition, which explains why both components are blended in the name of his business – the health data guy.
Let’s go to Laguna Beach to speak with Brandon Drake.
Chapters/Timestamps:
00:00 Why Memory Matters 00:34 Meet Brandon Drake 02:19 From Burnout to Health 03:44 Back to CRM Consulting 07:00 Relationship First CRM 09:14 Automated Nurture Emails 11:20 Crowdsourced Content Engine 12:11 Bio Form Data Hack 16:11 Progressive Profiling Scores 19.45 PSA: Funnel Reboot Reading Room 20:29 Segmentation Beats Spray 26:46 Protect Email Reputation 28:16 AI Needs Process First 32:28 Where to Find Brandon
In the 2009 movie “Up” there’s a golden retriever whose collar can translate his thoughts to speech. When Dug the dog first starts speaking, the main characters marvel at how smart he is, but expectations drop a moment later when he snaps his head around and halts mid-sentence when he hears a squirrel.
We marketers are prone to Squirrel-chasing. Let’s be honest and admit that we get caught on a treadmill of activity without stopping to ask ourselves if it’s having an impact.
How do we break this habit? This month’s book says it’s by creating a Go-To-Market plan with detailed tactics. A plan reminds us why we’re sticking with those tactics, so we don’t get distracted by any tactic that comes along.
Our guest has an MBA and 25+ years of marketing leadership experience in the US and Europe. Her consultancy, Transformation Insights, offers Fractional CMO services that help companies grow by building go-to-market strategies that are consistent and effective. She is also a speaker and the author of The Marketing Growth Formula which came out in late 2025.
Let’s go to Miami Florida to talk with Heidi Hattendorf
There is a quiet, enduring power in wisdom that resists the urge to conform. Wise people refuse to abandon their convictions. It’s not obvious who will be the Wise character in These Stories, the role often casts them as having lowly beginnings or in the shadow of others who are more powerful. But they speak out anyway, even if they are mocked or sidelined. Take:
Don Quixote’s sidekick Sancho Panza, whom Quixote usually makes fun of, becomes so well known for his practical wisdom that he becomes a Governor. In the story of Sidharrtha, when the prince leaves his palace, he is called a fool and so-called teachers treat him as an outcast. They never reach enlightenment but he ultimately does. To Kill a Mockingbird’s Atticus Finch, the lawyer in the deep South who was shunned by his community for taking on an unwinnable case. Though he lost, townspeople credited him as “the only man in these parts who can keep a jury out so long in a case like that.” Sheherazade, the woman in One Thousand and One Nights who was facing execution at dawn, but who told cliffhanger tales that stalled the king’s command, saving her life. Lastly, the Young boy In The Emperor’s New Clothes, where everyone believed the lie that only smart people could see the emperor’s clothes, so no one said anything as he walked by. The boy’s exclamation brought what everyone knew to be true into the open.
These fictional characters remind us that while the truth may be unpopular at first, people eventually realize they should listen to, and follow the person who said it. They remind us that when leaders step up, share their convictions, act as the voice of reason, they will ultimately triumph.
Our guest’s new book says that any company wanting to lead their category.must fearlessly shout out what they know to be true. The title “Market Eminence,” refers to the position of category authority that leaders who do this can reach. Its tone is as bold as his previous books Do It! Selling, Do It! Speaking and Do It! Marketing. He is also an advisor who works with marketers, salespeople and executives, host of a 500+ episode, top-ranked podcast called The Selling Show.
Let’s welcome back this previous show guest from Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania, David Newman.
