Marketing at its core is about story telling. You can either tell your own your own story, or let someone else tell it.
It's also about driving hard core RESULTS. PROFITABLE revenue (and most of the times add the word growth), either through new customer acquisition or building deeper relationships with existing relationships. And the PROFIT portion is the equalizer. Marketing is NOT simply a creative discipline, it's a black and white cross-functional role where you need to rally support, build relationships with Finance, Operations and of course Sales.
If you want to be a CMO, and a respected C-Suite member, I suggest you become deeply immersed in a deep understanding of these adjacent functions.
If you do, than CEO is the next logical progression, if that's a goal.
Most in the marketing community won't argue with me on the CORE function of Marketing I cite above, Story Telling. The second half of profitable revenue growth and all of its implications? You'll get a debate. And you'll also see a universally UNDER-developed skill set in these areas broadly speaking.
The Hustle or Bust Podcast has been an energizing, yet challenging project.
Going into any new project you have to ask yourself:
Are you committed?
Can you pull it off, devote the time needed to produce to your level of quality? Anybody can half-ass something?
What are you trying to get out of it?
People get into the content game for all kinds of reasons, lead generation, awareness, personal branding, "therapy" type reasons. I started the Hustle or Bust Blog over a decade ago for some really basic reasons:
I had a "cluttered closet" known as my brain. Lots of thoughts, theories and questions on how great businesses SHOULD act, people should strive for in their careers, great examples of excellence........but no "catch all outlet" to explore them. So the blog became the repository.
My wife encouraged me to "get with it" in the area of technology, digital marketing. Being a CMO of a fast growth CPG company and not having great expertise in these areas was not a smart place to be. So building out my own website/blog would be a solid learning project.
That's really it. 2 clear goals.
The first 3-4 years came easy, the cluttered closet became un-cluttered as well over 150 posts were put out into the world on all sorts of topics, but generally focused on the art and science of great business, entrepreneurship and growth. Throw in an occasional RANT on the NY Yankees latest contract negotiations and where they are screwing up, free of charge to their front office!
A few learnings through episode 36 of our podcast?
Having a partner truly shares the burden. I couldn't imagine flipping on the cameras and filming me as I start to drone on. Mike is a natural, and he has far ranging business and life experience that I look forward to exploring with each taping.
The venue does matter. We created a makeshift studio in Mike's office. That created disruption to our day jobs with each taping, clearing out the area, setting up cameras, getting the laptop positioned. There's no doubt a dedicated space and flipping on the go button makes for a less stressful Pod routine.
Technical expertise/production MATTERS. This Pod does not go anywhere without Dominic. Could I figure it out IF I was a full time "creator?" MAYBE. Time is not the only element. Adobe may be user friendly, but you just don't show up and start mastering the usage of these tools.
Feedback is the lifeline for anything Content related. When you blog, podcast, tweet, etc, you're looking for SOMETHING that says "this has value, keep going."
Goals matter. Our Goal was to publish 52 episodes by July 1, 2023. Looking at the calendar there is no doubt we are BEHIND, with just under 40 episodes taped (36 published) and about 10 weeks to go. Lots of reasons, from a 3 month cap-ex/construction project, the office disruption, Dominic having this annoying thing called High School, etc. But a Goal Is a Goal.
Guest interviews: They've been fun, entertaining and enlightening. And technically, zoom calls are easier than the makeshift studio setup.
Blogging & Podcasts. The epitome of Old School meets New School.
Marketing for far too many business is an after-thought. For SMALL Businesses, it is too often something they get too "when they can afford it." They are missing the core of what marketing is: STORY-TELLING.
If you have a smart phone, there's no excuse.