Weekend Favs January 20

Weekend Favs January 20 written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

My weekend blog post routine includes posting links to a handful of tools or great content I ran across during the week. I don’t go into depth about the finds, but I encourage you to check them out if they sound interesting. The photo in the post is a favorite for the week from an […]

The Top 5 Episodes of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast in 2023 written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

2023 was a year of remarkable growth for the marketing industry. With a rapidly changing landscape, it’s never been a more exciting time to be an entrepreneur.

I was able to visit with many phenomenal guests on the show this year. It’s been nice to review some of the most popular episodes from 2023. Which one was your favorite?

Want more? Check out the full lineup of shows here.

1. Ash Ali & Hassan Kubba – Uncovering the Hidden Power of Your Unfair Advantage

Both successful tech entrepreneurs with humble roots, Ash and Hassan have a message of hope to share. Despite not going to university, Ash became a serial tech founder and the first marketing director of a unicorn startup – Just Eat). Hasan built a successful startup from his bedroom with nothing more than an online course and a yearning to escape the ‘rat race’. They are now international bestselling authors, coaches, and keynote speakers. Their latest book is – The Unfair Advantage: How You Already Have What It Takes to Succeed.

Biggest Takeaway:

Behind every story of success is an unfair advantage. Your unfair advantage is the element that gives you an edge over your competition. In this episode, I talk with Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba about how to identify your own unfair advantages and apply them to any project in your life. We talk about how to look at yourself and find the ingredients you didn’t realize you already had, to succeed in the cut-throat world of business.

Click here to listen to the episode.

2. Kenneth Wenger – Unveiling the Future of AI

Kenneth Wenger is an author, a research scholar at Toronto Metropolitan University, and CTO of Squint AI Inc. His research interests lie at the intersection of humans and machines, ensuring that we build a future based on the responsible use of technology.

His newest book, Is the Algorithm Plotting Against Us?: A Layperson’s Guide to the Concepts, Math, and Pitfalls of AI. Kenneth explains the complexity of AI, demonstrating its potential and exposing its shortfalls. He empowers readers to answer the question: What exactly is AI?

Biggest Takeaway:

While significant progress has been made in AI, we are still in the early stages of its development. However, the current AI models are primarily performing simple statistical tasks rather than exhibiting deep intelligence. The future of AI lies in developing models that can understand the context and differentiate between right and wrong answers.

Kenneth also emphasizes the pitfalls of relying on AI, particularly in the lack of understanding behind the model’s decision-making process and the potential for biased outcomes. The trustworthiness and accountability of these machines are crucial to develop, especially in safety-critical domains where human lives could be at stake like in medicine or laws. Overall, while AI has made substantial strides, there is still a long way to go in unlocking its true potential and addressing the associated challenges.

Click here to listen to the episode.

3. Amanda Holmes – The Fastest and Least Expensive Way to Double Your Sales

Amanda Holmes is the CEO of Chet Holmes International (CHI) which has worked with over 250,000 businesses worldwide. At age 24, she inherited her father’s multi-million dollar enterprise, which specializes in helping companies double their sales. She’s the author of a book — Based on The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies.

Biggest Takeaway:

At just 24, Amanda Holmes inherited her father’s multi-million dollar enterprise – Chet Holmes International. Without much direction, she had to navigate the uncharted waters of running an enterprise at that scale. In this episode, Amanda shares more about her journey as CEO and the challenges of implementing change in a long-standing organization. Amanda dives into the process her father developed years ago that has helped large companies quickly double their sales and how she has helped that process evolve over the years.

Click here to listen to the episode.

4. Russell Henneberry – How to Maximize the Power of Newsletters

Russell Henneberry is a renowned digital marketing expert, digital marketing consultant, speaker, and co-author of Digital Marketing for Dummies. He’s the Founder of theCLIKK, an email newsletter about digital marketing. Russ also consults and trains employees of companies through his Digital Advisor program.

Biggest Takeaway:

Newsletters have made a comeback by combining email marketing with content marketing and direct response promotion. By building trust, providing education, and offering entertainment, newsletters have the power to nurture subscribers and connect with them by creating engaging content, and effective calls to action. It is important to have a voice to attract and maintain subscribers depending on the niche of your business and not rely completely on AI to generate content and to maintain a human touch.

Click here to listen to the episode.

5. John Jantsch- Fractional CMO: Reinventing Marketing Strategies

John Jantsch is a marketing consultant, speaker, and author of Duct Tape Marketing, The Referral Engine, The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur, and The Ultimate Marketing Engine. He is also the founder of the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network, which trains and licenses independent consultants and agencies to use the Duct Tape Methodology.

Biggest Takeaway:

Strategy is one of the most essential elements to running a successful business today. Whether you are a business owner or a consultant, who doesn’t understand why your marketing is not working the way it should, the Fractional CMO model could change your business.

Fractional CMOs help companies and business owners develop strategic marketing plans in a more cost-effective solution as they are not full-time employees, but they have the expertise of a seasoned marketing executive. They will develop the marketing activities through strategic planning that could improve the relationship companies have with their clients, as they are able to understand better how to guide the perfect customer journey.

Click here to listen to the episode.

Is your favorite episode on the list? If not, we’d love to hear which one you enjoyed listening to the most!

For our podcast audience, we can’t thank you enough for your support over the years! If you like the show, click on over and subscribe and if you love the show give us a review on iTunes, please!