As we’ve tried to return to some sense of normalcy in 2021, the implications of the pandemic have bled into this year — impacting and shaping the future of business and small business marketing as we know it. We’ve faced new and old challenges, pushed hard for innovation, and trudged forward in the face of change and the many lessons learned.
I chatted with some incredible guests on the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast over this past year. I wanted to take a look back at the most popular episodes we aired in 2021.
If you enjoyed what you heard here, check out the full line-up of shows.
1. Oliver Burkeman – Making The Most Of Your Time
Oliver Burkeman is the author of The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking. For many years, he wrote a popular column on psychology for the Guardian newspaper. He’s the author of a new book called Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals.
Biggest takeaway:
The average human lifespan is brief. Nobody needs telling there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, work-life balance, and the ceaseless battle against distraction; and we’re deluged with advice on becoming more productive and efficient, and “life hacks” to optimize our days. But often, such techniques often end up making things worse. In this episode, Oliver Burkeman talks about concepts from his book: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. We discuss the many unhelpful ways we’ve come to think about time, and how to think and do things differently so that we can show up better in the present moment.
Click here to listen to the episode.
2. Clare Kumar – How To Optimize Your Work Performance
Clare Kumar helps busy professionals optimize their performance. She is a media contributor on productivity, organization, and work-life integration.
Biggest takeaway:
People are busy, and that’s applicable across every and all job roles — entrepreneurs, business professionals, employees, stay-at-home parents, consultants, you name it, we’re busy. Clare Kumar works directly with people and professionals helping them optimize their performance and work-life integration. In this episode, Clare shares how to shift your mindset in a way that will help you build habits that last, boost your productivity, and optimize your work performance.
Click here to listen to the episode.
3. Solo Show – Creating Content For Every Stage Of The Customer Journey
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:
Content can’t and shouldn’t be viewed as a bunch of one-off projects. The creation of it needs to come out of one comprehensive strategy. Because it is such an important piece of the marketing puzzle these days, it needs to be incorporated in every phase of the customer journey. As a person moves through the customer journey, you must hit them with content throughout the process to keep them engaged with your business, and the best way to do this is to match the content you’d like to develop with the various phases of the Marketing Hourglass. In this episode, I share how to create content for every stage of the customer journey.
Click here to listen to the episode.
4. Mike Michalowicz – How To Create Marketing That Can’t Be Ignored
Mike Michalowicz is a speaker and bestselling author, the creator of Profit First – which is used by hundreds of thousands of companies across the globe to drive profit. And he’s got a new book today called – Get Different: Marketing That Can’t Be Ignored!
Biggest takeaway:
Many business owners are frustrated because they feel invisible in a crowded marketplace. They know they are better than their competitors, but when they focus on that fact, they get little in return. That’s because, to customers, better is not actually better. Different is better. And those who market differently, win. In this episode, Mike talks about his new marketing book, Get Different, where he offers a proven, method to position your business, service, or brand to get noticed, attract the best prospects, and convert those opportunities into sales.
Click here to listen to the episode.
5. Ryan Englin – How To Attract The Right Talent
Ryan is the CEO of Core Fit Hiring which helps blue-collar companies fill frontlines with quality technicians and craftworkers.
Biggest takeaway:
Finding the right talent is not an easy task to conquer. In fact, many people waste time hiring the wrong people or have a difficult time retaining the people they worked so hard to attract. In this episode, I talk with the founder of Core Fit Hiring, Ryan Englin, about why people have such a difficult time attracting the right talent today and what you need to do to attract quality frontline workers who align with your company values — and how to get them to stay.
Click here to listen to the episode.
6. Jeffrey Shaw – Making Your Self-Employed Business Sustainably Successful
Jeffrey is an experienced speaker and small-business consultant. He helps self-employed and small-business owners gain control of their business in what otherwise seems like uncontrollable circumstances. He’s also the author of a book called: The Self-Employed Life: Business and Personal Development Strategies That Create Sustainable Success.
Biggest takeaway:
To be self-employed means more than employing oneself. It’s a choice to challenge yourself to grow personally while building a business. As we develop ourselves, we raise the bar—we’re capable of even more success. What self-employed folks need is both business strategies and personal development to reach and maintain that success. In this episode, Jeffrey Shaw shares his holistic approach for sustainable, self-employed success.
Click here to listen to the episode.
7. Jacqueline Lieberman – Making Brands More Human
Jacqueline Lieberman is the former Managing Partner and the Head of Strategy Story Worldwide and the current founder of BrandCrudo.
Biggest takeaway:
Brands are people’s introduction to businesses and their way to interact with companies. The more human a brand is, the better that interaction is going to be. All of the beloved brands that are out there are the ones that behave like human beings. They have a conscience, a point of view, a soul, and a personality. In this episode, Jacqueline Lieberman discusses the work that she does with her clients and the ways in which she has helped many brands become more human.
Click here to listen to the episode.
8. Sophia Godkin – The Simple Truths About Happiness
Sophia Godkin is a Health Psychologist, Happyologist, and Happiness, Relationship & Transformational Coach. She’s also the author of The 5-Minute Gratitude Journal: Give Thanks, Practice Positivity, Find Joy.
Biggest takeaway:
During her Ph.D. journey, Dr. Sophia Godkin found herself under an incredible amount of stress that led her to an internal realization that life could be lived in a more harmonious internal state. There is so much truth in the statement: “All you have to do is decide to be happy.” But how many people actually have the tools, resources, and mental mindset to be able to decide to be happy? There are many things that actually prevent us from the decision to be happy. In this episode, Dr. Sophia Godkin dives into the simple truths about finding happiness.
Click here to listen to the episode.
9. Tripp Lanier – Reach Your Potential by Living Dangerously
Tripp Lanier is a professional coach, author of This Book Will Make You Dangerous, and host of The New Man Podcast: Beyond the Macho Jerk and the New Age Wimp which — for over a decade — has been downloaded millions of times. We’re discussing his book called This Book Will Make You Dangerous – a guide for the rare, few men who refuse to sleepwalk through life.
Biggest takeaway:
Tripp Lanier has spent thousands of hours coaching forward-thinking men all around the world on how to not sleep through life and how to see opportunities instead of walls. In this episode, Tripp Lanier focuses on mindset and shares how to challenge your fears, align your life with meaning, and find clarity and direction in your life.
Click here to listen to the episode.
10. Allan Dib – Is the 1-Page Marketing Plan Right for Your Business?
Allan Dib is a serial entrepreneur, rebellious marketer, and #1 bestselling author. Allan Dib wrote The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand Out From the Crowd.
Biggest takeaway:
To build a successful business, you need to stop doing random acts of marketing and start following a reliable plan for rapid business growth. Traditionally, creating a marketing plan has been a difficult and time-consuming process, which is why it often doesn’t get done. In this episode, Allan Dib talks about his 1-Page Marketing Plan – which is a marketing implementation breakthrough that makes creating a marketing plan simple and fast.
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!
