Unscalable

Sarah Noel Block is the founder of Tiny Marketing and believes that you don’t need a big team to have effective marketing. If you have the right marketing strategy, even TINY teams can have great results. And she’s proven this over the last 7 years by stepping in to help small B2B companies grow with less.In this episode, we talk about:* How to grow an audience when you're starting at zero* The big marketing mistakes you’re probably making* What an effective marketing system looks like* The Tiny Marketing Framework* The best AI prompts to use in your marketing* How to adopt video in your marketing strategy🎁 StoryPrompt Giveaway 👉 Get a FULL YEAR of StoryPrompt for free!🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple, or search “Unscalable” in your podcast app, or watch on YouTube.Links mentioned on the show* StoryPrompt Giveaway: Get a FULL YEAR of StoryPrompt for free!* Tiny Marketing* Sarah’s LinkedIn profile* Gavin’s LinkedIn profileThanks to StoryPrompt (our sponsor).  StoryPrompt helps you boost customer loyalty and engagement using asynchronous video. Capturing stories, testimonials, and attention is as simple as sharing a link. Sign up to get 20% off all plans. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me

Brittany Garlin and Alexus Brittain are both on the Marketing Team at Vista Social. Brittany is the Head Of Marketing and Alexus heads up Social Media. Vista Social is a social media management platform, similar to Sendible that seemingly came out of nowhere in the last year and now has over 1.4 million social profiles under management.In this episode, we talk about:* How Vista Social got started* How they leveraged community to boost their growth* How they position themselves in an extremely crowded market* How they’ve been able to iterate so quickly on new trends like AI and TikTok* AI and its impact on the future of social media🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple, or search “Unscalable” in your podcast app, or watch on YouTube.Links mentioned on the show* VistaSocial* AgencyVista* Brittany’s LinkedIn profile* Alexus’s LinkedIn profile* Gavin’s LinkedIn profileThanks to StoryPrompt (our sponsor).  StoryPrompt helps you boost customer loyalty and engagement using asynchronous video. Capturing stories, testimonials, and attention is as simple as sharing a link. Sign up to get 20% off all plans. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me

Jonathan Swead is the founder of EVD Analytics. In this episode, we chat about the key sales and marketing analytics that your business should be tracking. We also talk about how Jonathan is using video to acquire new clients. And of course, we touch on AI and how it’s likely to affect SEO in the next few years. 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple, or search “Unscalable” in your podcast app.Links mentioned on the show* EVD Analytics* Jonathan’s LinkedIn profile* Gavin’s LinkedIn profileThanks to StoryPrompt (our sponsor).  StoryPrompt helps you boost customer loyalty and engagement using asynchronous video. Capturing stories, testimonials, and attention is as simple as sharing a link. Sign up to get 20% off all plans. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me

My wife, Martine Hammar joins me on the pod for a special episode. She has recently published a children’s book and I chatted to her about the process.In this episode, Martine talks about:* What inspired her to write a children’s book.* What message she hopes to convey through her book.* Why she decided to self-publish.* The process of writing a book, from idea to bookstores. * The challenges she faced during the process and how to avoid them.* Resources you can use to write your own book.Links mentioned on the show:* A Little Piece Inside Me Is Missing* StoryPrompt: Video Engagement Platform🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple, or search “Unscalable” in your podcast app.▶️ Or, watch on YouTube.Full Transcript:Gavin Hammar: Martine thanks for joining us on the show. So you're a mom,…Martine Hammar: Thanks for having me.Gavin Hammar: you're helping me build story prompts and you start up from the ground up. I'm just curious.Martine Hammar: Well, for me,…Gavin Hammar: What inspired you to write a children's book in the first place?Martine Hammar: it kind of had nothing really to do with working together and sendable, you know, and story prompting that type of thing. It's just a kind of feel that sometimes in life, we go through things that We might not even realize at the time that can actually help people. And I think it's only when you actually stand back and…Gavin Hammar:  You.Martine Hammar: reflect on things that and speak to people that you realize that You'll experience can actually help someone else and that's exactly what I went through. And that's what led me to create this book. Should.Gavin Hammar:  So what message are you hoping to convey to the book? Then I mean Obviously you have some sort of story you want to tell some underlying theme to the book so maybe for listeners who haven't seen the book which most of them. Haven't, what's, what's the main sort of messages message that you're trying to give across in the story?Martine Hammar:  Okay, well, let me go back a little bit. So, basically, what happened with with me in my life so in 2020, we were in lockdown, obviously a bit and everything. Now, I mean, you obviously know the story being my husband, but basically so Gavin and I moved from South Africa, our families win South Africa. And we were based in the UK. So we were really far and I think lockdown and covid, made people feel a lot further suddenly we couldn't just go, it wasn't overnight to see our families. So anyway, we got through the year and it was amazing and like we all reached December and I remember even saying to you We've nailed it. You know, this was a challenging year, we've done it, we managed homeschooling working from home have you know, transforming sandable into a remote company. We nailed it. And then basically I got a phone call to say that my mum had started coughing.Martine Hammar:  Didn't think anything of it. You know, I remember talking to her and her saying, Oh, I must wash my vegetables. When I do any grocery shopping and they say to, you know, what? UBS neurotic as you want, we're fine. Whatever but please be, as neurotic as you want. So there she was, ironically washing her, you know, bags and vegetables and deliveries and everything and me laughing behind her back, but at least she was looking after yourself. So anyway, she started coughing right around her birthday, 69th birthday. And basically what happened was the next day, she was, unfortunately asthmatic, and the next day, she went into hospital because her sets weren't great and the doctor was concerned and even at the time we were like, It's fine, you know, you're being, you know, you're in the right place, you're with the doctors, they'll keep an eye on you. Now, granted, this was, I went to the beginning of covid, but it was the beginning of a new wave, especially in South Africa. My dad also head coach at the time, but thankfully, he was able to stay home.Martine Hammar:  So she went into hospital and the whole time, you know, we had such an amazing relationship, she had and she was incredibly close to you and I she was incredibly close to our children, her friends. You know, she had an amazing support system. Very very well-loved member of the community in South Africa and you know, in our lives. So she kind of carried on the same, the same optimism, the same sense of humor. Everything she was sending me videos and photos of the cardboard. She said that she was eating in the hospitals, you know, the same banter. This everything was the same just unfortunately she was in hospital but it didn't let her spirits never never dropped at all. So so we were chatting all the time and then suddenly we got a message to say she needed to spend more time on her stomach. So then messages slowed down a bit, then she was moved to hide opinion see and was on a fast flow. I think it was called messages dwindled. A little bit that way and slowly slowly slowly.Martine Hammar:  This person who was so much in my life, every minute of every day, I used to call her in traffic just to talk about nonsense or I would call her because the kids had some silly thing. They wanted to say, you know, this person started Unfortunately, vanishing from my life, like, you know, I didn't kind of know which way to turn. I was just so used to her being there for me and sharing things and having involved in our lives. Especially in lockdown. She was despite the the distance. So then, unfortunately she was moved into the ICU and they had to put on a ventilator. And suddenly, I went from this person who I spoke to every minute of every day, even in hospital to suddenly nothing, just no communication whatsoever. And for me,Martine Hammar:  It just was, everything was all wrong. Not only should I have been there. I hadn't seen her, since December, 2019. I should have been there with her. I wasn't, I couldn't even speak to her. I was stuck in the UK, she was in South Africa. I couldn't get on a plane. Everything just wasn't right. As I said a world love member of the community should have been surrounded by people. She was on her own just it wasn't right. Nothing was right. And then unfortunately so basically three weeks after she started coughing, we got a message to say that she had passed away all on her own. I mean, this is like, if I had to think to myself, what I would never ever wish on anybody, it's this because it was just so black messed up. Basically, like I even remember saying to you, like this is not the way this is, can't be the right way. This can't be the way it happens. It just wasn't right. Like, this person was so crucial in my life this just wasn't right and obviously my00:05:00Martine Hammar:  Rathers. I have two brothers. Also, they weren't with her. My dad wasn't with the best friends, no one. So, So basically, it was like this. You know, it's kind of what I explain this. It's basically the Jewish religion allows you to have seven days where you said shiver and you just Think about things. I was so grateful for that. I never realized the importance of that but I was actually able to as much as I wasn't able to go. I mean, I wasn't even at her funeral, which is madness, really, but I was able to kind of spend their time Grieving, and you know, we were moving house at the time, which is, I mean, so I'm saying like I couldn't make the stuff up like and selling sandable at the time. So um, it kind of gave me this week to kind of focus just on what I was feeling and everything andMartine Hammar: It took me about a year to kind of really come to terms with what had happened with the shock of not being there, with the shock of…Gavin Hammar: It.Martine Hammar: what was, you know, how my heart was ripped out of my body, basically, and ripped into a million pieces to and not being able to go only way into a year later, which was a story in its own. Because I assumed, I'd be able to have a smell and her clothes and everything was gone, you know, I just missed that whole time. So basically, it gave me that time to kind of focus on a year later. It's still kind of raw. And and that's kind of the reason that this book came about because the book let me put a backstory. Yeah, the books called a little piece inside me is missing, it's a children's book and the reason I wrote it is because even as an adult people would say to me, How are you, how are things, how you finding things, and I'd say, You know, I'm okay, I'm okay, likeMartine Hammar: You have to get on with it, you over to your family, you go to yourself, you're over to the person more than anything, the most selfless person in the world would not want me using up my time and energy thinking about her when I've got people and a business and kids, you know, family and friends. And, you know, my own mental health. She wouldn't want me consuming my time thinking about her and…Gavin Hammar: If you.Martine Hammar: and not coping. So that's the thing you get on with it. You have to you over to them and you owe it to yourself and your family as I said. So that's the thing. So I would say to people, You know, I'm okay. But the thing is, there was always just this little piece of me that will never be the same. It's all will always be missing. And the thing is, is that even if somebody said to me, I'll give you a magic pull to make that little piece.Martine Hammar:  Not not hurt anymore. Not not remind you of the person. Make you feel better? I would never, ever, ever take that because the thing is what this little piece represents to me. Is the fact that this piece is missing, means that I loved and I was loved. And for me, that why would I want to feel that? Why would I want to forget that? Like people say grief gets easier as you get on as you get, you know, as it goes by, I don't believe that at all. I just think you learn to deal, you learn to get on with it. How can this piece of inside me? Vanish, how can it just go away? And I forget if I had to forget that, I was loved and had this relati

Tim Bennetto is a software developer and indie hacker. He’s the founder of a social media scheduling platform called Pallyy with over 24,000 users and 700 paying customers.In this episode, Tim talks about:* How DMs helped Pallyy grow by 10X after 2 years.* His approach to acquiring new customers.* The importance of knowing your customers, not just listening to them. * Why you don’t need a unique idea to start a business.* How staying small he helped him grow Pallyy. 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple, or search “Unscalable” in your podcast app.▶️ Or, watch on YouTube.Links mentioned on the show* Pallyy* Tim’s Twitter profile* Gavin’s LinkedIn profileThanks to StoryPrompt (our sponsor).  StoryPrompt helps you boost customer loyalty and engagement using asynchronous video. Capturing stories, testimonials, and attention is as simple as sharing a link. Sign up to get 20% off all plans. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me

Melissa is the Cofounder and CEO of eWebinar, an automated webinar solution that helps customer success teams deliver personalized training and onboarding at scale.Melissa has spent twelve years in startups and built three successful companies without venture capital backing. Her previous startup, a real estate tech company, was acquired in 2019.In this episode, Melissa talks about:The lessons she learned from her last company, Spacio, that she's bringing with her to eWebinar.Building a business as a non-technical founder.The reason she's choosing to stay bootstrapped.How she went about bringing on her first 100 customers at eWebinar.Why she believes you need to work more creatively.The future of sales.Links mentioned on the showeWebinarMelissa’s LinkedIn profileGavin’s LinkedIn profileThanks to StoryPrompt (our sponsor).  StoryPrompt is the easiest way to send and collect personal videos. Capturing stories, testimonials, and updates is as simple as sharing a link. Sign up for free. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me

Jeremy Moser is an entrepreneur and CEO of uSERP, a 35+ person SEO firm serving high-growth technology companies like Monday.com, Robinhood, and more.In this episode, Jeremy talks about:How he went about getting case studies for uSERP in the early days.How his agency increased Monday.com's traffic by 1,570% with SEO.The new marketing trends he's most excited about.How SEO and short-form video works together.Links mentioned on the showuSERPJeremy’s Twitter profileGavin’s LinkedIn profileThanks to StoryPrompt (our sponsor).  StoryPrompt is the easiest way to send and collect personal videos. Capturing stories, testimonials, and updates is as simple as sharing a link. Sign up for free. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me

Kate Bradley Chernis is the Founder & CEO of Lately, which uses AI to generate high-engaging content in your unique brand voice that is customized to target any audience. As a former rock 'n' roll dj, Kate served 20 million listeners as Music Director and on-air host at Sirius/XM.In this episode, Kate talks about:How Lately uses AI to help customers produce content.How she helped Gary Vee get a 12000% increase in engagement.How Lately achieves a 98% sales conversion rate.What she would do differently if she were starting a new tech company now.Her thoughts on the future of AI.🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple, or search “Unscalable” in your podcast app.Links mentioned on the showLately.aiKate’s Twitter profileKate’s LinkedIn profileGavin’s LinkedIn profileThanks to StoryPrompt (our sponsor).  StoryPrompt is the easiest way to send and collect personal videos. Capturing stories, testimonials, and updates is as simple as sharing a link. Sign up for free. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me

Tobias Günther has been an entrepreneur and a CEO for almost 20 years. He started 4 companies, including Tower, a Git Desktop Client with over 100,000 customers, that he sold in 2021.He is now focused on the human side of business and how we can make our work lives not only successful, but also sustainable and meaningful.In this episode, Tobias talks about:Where the idea for Tower came from and why he decided to sellThe benefits of selling your company through a broker vs going directWhat he means by the human side of business (and why he’s so obsessed with it)How to build a culture of trust in a remote-first worldWhy small companies are such beautiful places to workWhy Gavin wants to keep StoryPrompt smallWhy we struggle so much as founders as our companies get biggerHow to hire for cultural fit in a smaller organizationLinks mentioned on the showTobias.coCulture Code Reinventing Organizations Connect with TobiasLinkedInConnect with GavinLinkedIn This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me

Shaun Clark is the Co-founder and CEO of HighLevel, a full suite of white label software solutions and services for agencies and marketers. In this episode, Shaun talks about:The pros and cons of white labelling your productThe impact white labelling has had on High Level's successAdvice for other SaaS founders considering white labelling their productsThe challenges of white labelling and how to overcome themConnect with ShaunLinkedInConnect with GavinLinkedInLinks mentioned on the showHighLevelSendible's Social Media White Label SolutionStoryPrompt This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me

Farzad Rashidi is the lead innovator at Respona. Respona is the all-in-one digital PR and link building software which combines personalization with productivity. Farzad was also the first marketing hire at Visme, where he helped the company gain over 12 million users.In this episode, Farzad goes deep into SEO strategies and talks about:How to determine whether SEO is the right acquisition channel for youHow to discover “opportunity” keywords for SEO using the "Farzad formula"How to write content that’s optimized for SEOThe podcast outreach strategy he uses to get backlinksHow to get a particular content piece to rankHis advice for founders who are considering whether to invest in SEOPlus, he walks me through the step-by-step process I can use to help StoryPrompt rank for “video testimonial software”.Connect with FarzadLinkedInConnect with GavinLinkedInLinks mentioned on the showOutreach Strategy HubVisme Marketing StrategyResponaVismeStoryPrompt: Collect video testimonials in seconds This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me

Kelly Cardenas is a Forbes contributor, Author, Podcaster, Founder-CEO of a National multi-million dollar brand, and a cultural efficiency Coach. Kelly is the go to when it comes to cultivating a culture that will bring sustained success to your business. In this episode, Kelly talks about: Cultural efficiency and how to measure itHow to bring true happiness to your teamsHow to hire for the right cultural fitWhere to begin when it comes to revamping your cultureHow to develop systems that produce resultsHow much time you should allocate to culture--Connect with Kelly:https://www.kellycardenas.comhttps://instagram.com/therealkellycardenas This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me

If you follow me on LinkedIn, or you subscribe to my newsletter, you’ll know that a few weeks ago, I announced my new startup, StoryPrompt. In this episode, I talk about: My approach to announcing StoryPromptWhy I underestimated the responseWhy it's getting harder to attract new customers to your businessHow to use storytelling to capture your customers' attentionTrust-based marketing and how it worksHow to produce high-converting content at a low costHow to bypass the StoryPrompt early access queue--Connect with Gavin on LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/gavinhammar/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me

Rob Balasabas is the Head of Partnerships at Uscreen. Rob was previously at TubeBuddy and is well known for his expertise in video marketing. In this episode, Rob talks about: How your business can stand out in a crowded space using videoWhy video is the best vehicle to connect with your customersHow to get comfortable on videoThe storytelling formula that "just works" on videoPlus, Rob shares his process for coming up with new video ideas every week.--Connect with Rob on LinkedIn and YouTubehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/robbalasabas/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfqqB7r1PEOaLVY43i-KEfA This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me

Uyi Abraham is the founder of Vonza.com. Vonza is an all-in-one marketing platform for small businesses. In this episode, Uyi talks about: How he's ensuring that his bootstrapped startup keeps up with HubspotThe most successful thing he did to propel Vonza forwardHow your businesses can sell without selling and cut through the noisePlus, Uyi shares the unscalable tactic he used to achieve a $10 million valuation as a bootstrapped company – in just 15 months.--Connect with Uyi on LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/uyiabraham/Vonzahttps://vonza.com/  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me

Sendible nearly didn't happen. After accidentally giving away 10% of the business for $0, I lost motivation and started working on something else. But my wife, Martine, gave me the courage I needed to buy back my company and keep going.  Like so many founders' wives, she stood by her husband's side and made numerous sacrifices that allowed me to pursue my dreams.  This is her story.In this episode, I chat to Martine about: The sacrifices she had to make as my wifeThe moment I told her my idea for SendibleWhy she insisted that I spend all our savings to buy back the companyWhen she started helping out part-timeWhat she'll miss most about SendibleWhat she'll be doing next--Connect with Martine on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinehammar/Connect with Gavin on LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/gavinhammar/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me

Tim Schmidbauer is the founder of Inlytics, a LinkedIn Analytics tool for personal profiles. Tim has a background in growth hacking and before founding Inlytics,  he was helping companies find innovative, new ways to attract more customers. In this episode, we get tactical about: How Tim was able to generate millions of impressions on UnsplashThe exact steps you need to take to generate brand awareness using UnsplashHow non-photographers can take good photos that do well on UnsplashThe framework you can use to discover other growth tactics like thisGeneral advice for other early stage founders trying to find traction--Connect with Tim on LinkedIn. The Growth Lab: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1puJDv4MNjg05AqCgIqFGNRqAIAM_Et1U0gzFaq1-H-Q/edit?usp=sharing This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me

Mike Quinn is a co-founder and CEO of Boost, with a mission to power the growth of Africa's 100 million informal retail entrepreneurs.  Prior to Boost, Mike was a co-founder and CEO of Zoona, one of Africa's earliest fintechs. In this episode, Mike talks about: How to avoid the same hurdles and failures he suffered while building ZoonaWhy he left Canada to build an ambitious startup in Africa in the first place The failure that taught him the most about entrepreneurshipHow first time founders can reduce the risk of failure How to prototype and test before writing your first line of codeWhy you should build with the fewest right people--Connect with Mike on LinkedIn.  Failing To Win By Mike Quinn (Amazon link) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me

Daniel is a serial entrepreneur, B2B marketing expert and is co-founder and CEO of Oktopost, a social media platform designed for B2B companies.  Oktopost recently raised $20M in growth equity.In this episode, Daniel talks about: How he validated that positioning his company for B2B organisations would pay offHis most effective channel for acquiring B2B customersHow businesses can use employee advocacy to amplify their marketing effortsHow an unscalable mindset helped to grow Oktopost in the early days--Connect with Daniel on LinkedIn.   This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me

Lee Gladish is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Airborneapp and Reply.  His latest company, Airborne, was recently acquired by Demand Science in July 2021. In this episode, we geek out on all things entrepreneurship and startups. So, if you're thinking of starting a business, or you're about to launch one, then this episode is for you.  In this episode, Lee talks about:How to overcome the fear of launching your productHow to decide on a target market and why it's important to pick a niche How to attract early adopters to your startupHow  to get on the radar of a potential acquirerWhy it's important to start marketing before buildingWhy you should consider raising a seed roundPlus, Lee shares his thoughts on the future of sales.--Connect with Lee on LinkedIn.   This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.unscalable.me