April 23, 2025 • 35 mins
What if you could turn even the most mundane industry into a riveting story? Meet Leslie Youngblood, a marketing maven with 19 years of experience, who believes in the power of storytelling to transform any business. Together, we explore the art of captivating writing in marketing, especially in our AI-driven world. Leslie's journey from a childhood filled with creativity to establishing Youngblood MMC is a testament to the magic that authentic, emotion-driven writing can weave. Tune in to discover how to harness the profound influence of well-crafted words on business growth and customer connections.
The episode takes a closer look at the creative dance of marketing, where deeply understanding a business is the first step toward success. Leslie shares her unique perspective on finding excitement and uncovering hidden stories in any sector, even those that might seem dull at first glance. Inspired by Henry Ford’s philosophy on innovation, we discuss becoming a passionate advocate for a business, breaking down goals into manageable steps, and the significance of conveying a distinct excitement that resonates with customers. From wastewater treatment to hospitality, every industry's story holds the potential for engagement with the right approach.
Navigating the world of marketing platforms can be tricky, but Leslie shares insights on consistency and learning from failures, drawing parallels to sports icons like Tom Brady and Serena Williams. With real-world examples, such as a live music venue, we highlight the importance of understanding your audience and iterating strategies based on performance data. As we venture into the realm of AI, Leslie enlightens us on its role in optimizing marketing strategies, particularly in the hospitality industry. Her call to action? Embrace risks and prioritize courage over clarity in decision-making. Join us to gain a wealth of insights from Leslie Youngblood and leave inspired to transform your approach to marketing.
ABOUT LESLIE
With over 19 years of experience in advertising and marketing, content creation, and business development, Leslie Youngblood has helped transform companies from local startups to nationwide impact makers utilizing innovative marketing efforts while driving optimal business outcomes.
She's a proud boy mom and wife, as well as a non-stop thinker, and can do-doer who also actively supports the American Cancer Society, ACLU, and National PTA Association.
LINKS & RESOURCES
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, what is up?
Welcome to this episode of theWantrepreneur to Entrepreneur
podcast.
As always, I'm your host, brianLoFermento, and you all know
that I am so biased when itcomes to our marketing episodes.
Why?
Because I genuinely believe andI know that marketing is the
lifeline for all of ourbusinesses.
This is how we actually grow.
If you're not out there gettingfound by new customers and
(00:22):
clients, then your businessisn't growing.
And today's guest has just asmuch energy as I do when it
comes to her love for marketing.
And what I really appreciateabout this entrepreneur and
guest is that not only does shelove marketing because of all
the powers that it has, but sheloves the results and the growth
that it brings for her clients.
So let me tell you all abouttoday's guest.
Her name is Leslie Youngblood.
(00:49):
With over 19 years ofexperience in advertising and
marketing, content creation andbusiness development, leslie has
helped transform companies fromlocal startups to nationwide
impact makers, using innovativemarketing efforts while driving
optimal business outcomes.
Her company, youngblood MMC,stands for Youngblo Marketing,
media and Content, and her teamdelivers high level brand and
marketing services to growingbusinesses across the United
(01:10):
States.
They're bold, they're highenergy I can attest to this
already.
They're creative thinkers wholove to bring brands and
businesses to life and scaletheir bottom line goals.
Their creativity is boundless,their grit is undeniable, which
is such a core entrepreneurialtrait, and they always provide
results.
And this is a fun one for me,because Leslie's used to being
on the other side of themicrophone.
(01:31):
She once upon a timeinterviewed other entrepreneurs
and business owners on a weeklypodcast, so it's really fun for
me to host Leslie in today'sepisode.
I'm not going to say anythingelse.
Let's dive straight into myinterview with Leslie Youngblood
.
All right, leslie, I am so veryexcited that you're here with
us today.
First things first.
(01:52):
Welcome to the show.
Thank you so much.
I'm so excited to be here.
Heck, yes, I think our onlychallenge today is going to be
keeping it to 30 minutes,because there's a lot of good
stuff we're going to get intoBefore we do that.
Leslie, take us beyond the bio.
Who's Leslie?
How'd you start doing all thesecool things?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Sure, I'm Leslie Youngblood.
I'm a proud mom of three boysand so they inspire me every day
.
They're one of the reasons whyI decided to start Youngblood
MMC, but I've always lovedwriting.
That's really kind of where myorigin story starts.
As a kid I loved writingstories.
My siblings and cousin and Ihad a magazine, shout Magazine.
(02:31):
We made movies.
So I was always creativegrowing up and really found
advertising.
When I was going into collegeand I was going to study English
at Michigan State University gogreen and I was in like a
introduction to the ComArtsCollege and I heard about
advertising and you could be acopywriter and I was like, wait,
(02:51):
you can get paid to write for aliving and have fun.
And so it was.
Really.
I was so fortunate to stumbleupon it because I just knew
right away it was the you knowthe place for me to begin my
career and continue my careerall over these years and
fantastic experiences, fantasticpeople and so really excited to
be doing it on my own in ourown unique way now with
(03:13):
Youngblood MMC.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yes, I love that overview especially.
No wonder why you and Inaturally connect.
It's because of that love forwriting, because that's the
power of words.
Is that words can I mean?
Mean?
I'll extrapolate.
Words can move mountains, wordscan move nations, words can do
so much.
Talk to us about that love.
I want that to be the basis ofhow we start to talk about
advertising and marketing yeah,that's so spot on.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I always felt like, like I said, as a kid, I was
writing and I was curious and Iwas creative, and I was writing,
and I was curious and I wascreative and and and you know, I
felt I feel like, whether it'swriting or it's art, it's really
the way people express theirsoul, right, and and how we can
kind of tap into our uniquegifts, and so writing has always
(03:57):
been a gift for me.
I almost feel like it's acompulsion.
My kids love Alexander Hamilton, the musical, and they always
make fun of me and call meHamilton, because I'm writing
all the time, I'm working allthe time, and it's not that I'm
a workaholic, I'm just soinspired to capture things and
explore ideas.
And so the way also too, likeyou said, brian, the way that
(04:19):
writing brings people together,whether it's a book, whether
it's a song, whether it's amovie, it is just so profound
and it moves me deeply and ithonors me to have that gift and
be a part of an industry thatalso harnesses that to do good
for businesses and other peopleas well.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah for sure, Leslie .
Hearing your exuberance for allof these things makes me think
about the fact that not allwriting is equal, and I would
argue that part of your love forit is the human emotion that
goes into it the way thatpsychology I mean there's so
many layers to successfulcopywriters that always stands
out to me.
(04:59):
Talk to us about that difference, because you also love business
and I so appreciate that aboutyou.
What's that difference when itcomes to writing that just
people read and scroll rightpast, which we all see on social
?
Speaker 2 (05:10):
media versus the writing that captivates us and
does spark that action.
Right, that's so interestingthat we're talking about this,
brian.
Yesterday, a friend of mine onLinkedIn wrote a post about AI
and AI writing, and whether it'sAI or whether it's a human, you
still have to capture thatemotion and cause somebody, you
know, stir something in somebodyto get them to pay attention,
and I love the opportunity thatAI provides.
But to me it's also like ablueprint for writing, right,
(05:33):
and then you take that blueprintand you build a house, or you
build that plan, or you buildthat post or script, or you know
taglines, etc.
Like you have to bring it tolife too in that way.
And so in this digital age, Ithink people crave connection
even more.
But then I also feel like taleas old as time.
Whether it's AI, whether it'sthe internet, whether it's TV,
(05:53):
radio, et cetera, there's alwaysgoing to be technology and
innovation that gives you anopportunity to tweak how you're
able to connect with people, andwriting is still at the core of
that.
And so emotion and that humanto human connection that's one
of the things I love aboutworking with our hospitality
clients at Youngblood MMC isit's not just about food.
(06:16):
It's not just about drinks.
It's about giving them anexperience, about giving them
something unique and differentthat impacts their lives in a
special way.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Yeah, so well said.
I love the fact that you calledthat out.
It's the tale as old as time.
I feel like being a podcasthost.
I know how many listeners wannahear about the cutting edge
technologies Every conversation.
You and I will inevitably talkabout AI here today, but at the
end of the day, humans arehumans and people have been
buying and selling things forliterally centuries, probably
thousands of years before us.
(06:46):
So with that said, leslie,let's really broaden this
conversation right here and talkabout what is marketing.
You must see marketing in somany different shapes and sizes.
What do people traditionallythink of it as?
And I know that you thinkdifferently, so what's your take
on it?
Speaker 2 (07:03):
I think that most people consider marketing and
advertising pushing something onthem that they don't want right
, like that used car salesman orwhether these commercials
interrupting my show or you knowmy movie or you know my scroll.
But to me and this is alsosomething when I was going into
college and that reallyresonated with me I had a
(07:24):
professor, jim Gilmore.
He was actually one of theoriginal madmen in Chicago.
Brilliant, brilliant professor.
I believe he passed away a fewyears ago, but you know, he
really demonstrated to us thateverybody and every living thing
markets themselves, whetherit's a flower blooming and
trying to attract a bee, whetherit's, you know, birds with
(07:45):
their feathers trying to attracta mate.
It's just inherent in livingthings, nature to project
messages, and so marketing andadvertising is really, you know,
obviously taking that to adifferent degree, but to me
that's something that is sofascinating, it's that
psychology and that really likenatural element of it, and so
(08:06):
we're providing something thatsomebody doesn't yet know they
want.
And and again I'll just bring aquote, I believe Henry Ford
said it it's, it was somethingabout how, if you ask the people
what they wanted, they wouldsay a faster horse.
But we gave them the car, andso sometimes people don't
realize what they want until yougive it to them, or that you're
in front of them offering upthe solution to a pain point or
(08:30):
something that's making themfeel the way they feel inside or
that they want to be as aperson, whether it's shoes or
medicine, or a course or a movie, etc.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Boom.
Leslie, coming in hot with someanalogies that I've never heard
within the realm of marketing.
I'm so glad I'm never gonnalook at flowers blooming the
same way, because now I viewthat as marketing, because,
you're right, they areprojecting their value into the
marketplace for those bees tocome along and pollinate it.
I love that.
I also that henry ford quotethat you reference is one of my
(09:01):
truly favorite quotes of alltime, and I want to go there
with you because I would imaginethat when you walk into
businesses, you are growthhungry and they are totally
aligned with you.
It's why you have such aflourishing business at this
point.
But I would also imagine thatwhen you walk in, they don't
know what they want or what theyneed.
They crave that growth.
What's that assessment periodlook like?
(09:22):
When you look at a businessthat you're beginning to work
with, how do you start to makesense of their landscape so that
you can prescribe the rightthings for them?
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Mm, hmm, yeah, I think that it's first going
really deep and learning thatbusiness and really becoming an
advocate for that businessbefore you even pitch an idea,
right, and so and I think thatthat should be true for anybody
you don't wanna work withsomebody that you don't believe
in or a product you don'tbelieve in, and so I'm very much
(09:51):
a believer in that is that Ineed to feel excited and connect
to the businesses that we workwith, because then I can truly
become that brand advocate andput myself in the consumers or
guest's shoes of that business.
And then it can be difficult,you know, because, as you can
tell, I'm very excitable and andI see the potential and that's
(10:16):
something that I love is thepotential in so many businesses.
I can see where they can go andthey're here.
So how do we?
We see that they can go here,but they have to understand in
the right way how to get fromhere to there, because you don't
want to overwhelm them, youdon't want to confuse them, you
want them to feel like it'sattainable, right?
(10:36):
You can't eat the elephant inone sitting, so how do you break
it down and demonstrate thatthis mountaintop that I see for
you, it's not some far-fetchedidea.
You can do it and here are thesteps to make it happen.
And so really, I believe youknow it's really becoming
passionate and an advocate forthem and then breaking you know
the steps down for them so theycan understand and be confident
(10:59):
in the journey that we're goingto take together to get them to
that mountaintop.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Yeah, leslie, it's fun having two excitable people
here on the air in today'sepisode, because I'm thinking
about all the business ownersout there that are saying, gosh,
you guys like my business justisn't that exciting.
I'm a web designer.
What's exciting about webdesign?
Talk directly to those people,because I think you and I find
the excitement just in businessas a whole.
How do you make those types ofbusinesses exciting so that it's
(11:25):
fun to market them and it's funto be on the other side of that
marketing?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Sure, I think any business, no matter what you're
doing, is exciting and you haveto tap into that emotion and
that excitement and that desireto bring that to your customer,
your core customer, youraudience.
I'll give you an example is oneof our customers is Eganics,
and they do biologicalwastewater treatment and
(11:54):
solutions, and we always jokehow do we make wastewater sexy?
How do we make wastewater fun?
Because me, coming in, and youknow completely never been
involved in the wastewatersector before learning the
language, it's like trulylearning another language, but
it is so fascinating to me andso vital to our everyday
(12:16):
existence you don't even realize, when you turn your sink on,
where that water goes and thepainstaking steps that are taken
to make that water clean againand how it goes to the treatment
plants and through the liftstations and all.
It's just like it's a worldhidden right in front of our
eyes.
And so I, you know there'swhether it's wastewater, whether
(12:36):
it's, you know, a winter coat,you know there's something that
is that is so inherently humanand delightful about services
and products, and so I wouldchallenge any business if
they're feeling like oh, widgets, you know, what do our widgets
really do?
Whether you need to, you know,step out of the business and
(12:57):
take a trip or a vacation or apause, whether you need to bring
your team together and do abrainstorm but really find those
.
Bring your team together and doa brainstorm, but really find
what excites you about yourbusiness and find that spark,
because then it of course makesit easier for a marketer to come
in and then you know kind oftake the baton and run with it.
But I think also customers andguests feel that excitement
(13:18):
coming through the ads.
They can feel how passionateyou are and that will again just
get you further in your path tosuccess.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Yeah, I love the way you articulate that, leslie.
It feels like an invitation.
I'm going to put you on thespot here and ask you something.
I've actually never asked amarketer and it's a little bit
more of an ethereal question.
And that is what's marketingabout, Because I really see that
there's three players.
There's the business itself,there's the product or the
service, the solution, and thenof course, there's the customer,
and they all do this delicate,fun, creative dance together in
(13:50):
all of our marketing.
But I'd love to tap into yourmind what percent focus or you
don't have to quantify, but howdo you entertain marketing
across these three players?
Who takes center stage?
How do you frame it?
I'd love to hear the way youthink about those three players.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Sure, Well, I would also say, Brian too, there's a
fourth player in there andthat's the container or the
reality that all these threepieces exist in, Right, and so
how do you use those things?
And I feel like I'm using acrystal ball and it feels kind
of weird and creepy, but it'skind of true that you have this
microcosm.
You know, business audience, uh, you know, I can't remember the
(14:29):
third thing that you said, butwas it just the marketing, Brian
?
the products the products, okay,so the products, and then you
have, like, this container forit.
And how do you get, you know,these three pieces to work
together and engage anddemonstrate that to them?
And so I don't think one isnecessary.
I think that the true magichappens in between.
(14:51):
You know, it's in thatintangible fourth character,
that like realm of which exists,and how you know those, all
those pieces interact togetherbecause you can't have one
without the other.
They're all intrinsicallylinked and they all have to work
together.
And then this big, you know,magic ball that they're all in,
or this globe, have to, you know, you have to kind of work with
(15:16):
them, wherever they are, however, they're feeling right Because
it changes.
Business can change, humanemotions can change in a dime
and you have this product that'skind of constant, and so how
are you navigating?
It's almost like a game in away, which I always kind of joke
, that business is such a game.
It's such a game, um, andmarketing can feel like a game,
um, and I think sometimes not todiminish the importance of it
(15:39):
because it is so inherentlyimportant and, like I said,
inherent to individuals and whowe are, but but it's also fun
and there's so manyopportunities in ways to explore
, you know how to navigate therelationship between all those
three pieces that I just cannever see marketing as boring,
(16:00):
or oh well, content is dead, oremails dead, text messaging is
dead, like that to me just makesme crazy, because I'm like what
?
Like there's?
There's no way.
It's just going to evolve andchange and there'll be like new
little pieces added to the sortof like globe all around those
pieces.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Yeah, I love the way you answered that, leslie,
because I do feel I'm a suckerfor quotes.
But I feel like very often theold adages and quotes and
cliches they do a disservice byoversimplifying things, like in
the marketing world.
We've all heard that quote ofnobody wants a drill.
They want a quarter inch hole,and so we make it all about the
features and the benefits andthat's exclusively what we focus
on.
But that's your creativeapproach, is the fact that you
(16:39):
understand that space in between.
It's that illustration.
Obviously, you and I can seeeach other Most listeners can't
see us right now but it's thatunderstanding of the fact that
all of this is also existing intime and in space, literally.
That's why I think about someof my most successful marketing
campaigns over the years havebeen focusing on.
(16:59):
Here's the reality you know,around election season.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Leslie here on the show.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Yeah, we always talk about it's election season.
Don't worry about that.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Focus on your business, Like right, right, or
it's, you know, Christmas seasonyou have to focus on driving,
getting the events at yourrestaurant, or you know.
Or it's tax season, soeverybody has to worry about
taxes and H&R Block and you seeall those taxes.
I mean, there really is so muchopportunity in time and you
(17:26):
know sometimes what is it.
You know where opportunitymeets, preparation is luck and
sometimes you're able to justcapture something, the zeitgeist
and it's not that you meant toplan it like with the demure,
you know, and how things goviral.
You can't plan for those momentsand I'm sure you know, brian,
you've had clients and havetalked with guests before about
(17:48):
you'll always have a client thatwants to go viral, or a client
that wants to get on TikTok andthinks it's just going to
magically bring them purchasesor customers, or you know, etc.
And it's like, okay, those,those things are so few and far
between and it's amazing and funas a marketer to watch them
happen.
But you really, you know that'swhere in time they, you know,
(18:13):
it's just those little likepop-ups, right, and so, to be
consistent, and I really feellike consistency is key, right,
in anything, you know,incremental progress cannot be
stopped, whether you're amarketer, whether you're in
business, you just have tocontinue, you have to be
consistent, you have to pivotand learn and stay curious and
eventually you know things willcome together and you'll hit it
(18:34):
yes, leslie, I want to go deeperhere, because this is something
.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
I don't think we talk about enough in the world of
marketing, and this is reallythe mindset behind marketing.
You'll like this.
I saw a quote the other day onInstagram that said I've failed
more times than you've tried,and I've always yeah, I've felt
that way.
Forever is that I've been anentrepreneur for 16 going on 17
years now and most of mymarketing efforts have failed.
It's a few things that havereally pushed me forward.
(18:59):
I think most people do believethat Instagram, facebook, tiktok
you mentioned Facebook ads,google ads any of these channels
themselves are magic pills.
Talk to me about the successfulmarketing mindset.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Yeah, I mean, you nailed it, ryan.
You know everybody thinks, oh,it's just got to be this and
I'll just go viral.
It's really so difficult toplan for that and, like you said
, it's consistency, and I was, Itruly was just talking with my
husband about this and I wassaying, you know, you think
about.
You see, tom Brady, serenaWilliams, these goats, right,
(19:36):
and you see all like theheadlines of X number of
championships, x number of wins,how many games did they lose in
their careers?
Nobody talks about how manytimes they lost.
We focus on the positive.
And then you see, you knowwhether it's Dan Martell or you
know Sarah Blakely, and you seethem winning and you're like, oh
my gosh, like how do they dothat?
I just want to do that.
(19:56):
And you don't see when DanMartell was, you know in juvie,
when he was like a young man andhe talks about it in his book
and you know in his thoughtleadership on LinkedIn.
You know you don't see thetimes where Sarah Blakely was
told no, no, no.
And whether you know that'sentrepreneurship and even
marketing.
There are campaigns that aren'tgonna work right.
(20:16):
That may feel like a waste oftime, but then I always
challenge myself and clients tosay, okay, this didn't work or
this is not working.
What can we learn from this?
To iterate and improve, movingforward.
So how do we learn from this tochange and do something else
that might work?
And when I feel like that againreleases a lot of the pressure,
(20:37):
whether you're a marketer orbusiness owner, too right, it's
just a series of challenges, agame that you have to continue
to solve over and over again toeventually get to where you want
to go.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Yes, I love the way you talk about that.
It reveals so much about yourapproach because you're just
willing to continue playing thegame.
You understand the parametersand you say, okay, let's try to.
You know, take as many shots aswe can.
You remind me?
Roger Federer did a graduationspeech I think it was two
summers ago where he said mostpeople look at my 20 grand slams
.
What they don't realize is, inthe entirety of my career as the
(21:09):
number one tennis player in theworld, I lost 49% of the points
that I played.
That's the best tennis playerof all time.
So it's really incredible.
Leslie, I want to ask youbecause you and I we keep
dancing around platforms and I'msure a lot of people that you
talk to want to talk aboutplatform specific strategies.
Our listeners always email usand ask what platform should I
(21:30):
be marketing?
Speaker 2 (21:31):
on so.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Leslie, what's your take on the platform, the
channel conversation, versus theoverarching strategy that you
put together for your clients?
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Sure?
Well, I think that's a greatquestion, brian, and I'm sure,
like you said, many people arecurious, right, like, how should
I want to be on TikTok?
But again, should you be onTikTok, is that where your
audience is?
And I'll give an example.
I always like to explorechannels.
Or, if it makes sense for aclient and the product and the
audience will, will you know,include a mix like an omni
(22:03):
channel marketing campaignstrategy.
Right, I think that's, you know, very effective, of course, but
then when you start executing,you're going to learn what
channels are performing for youover others.
And if you didn't want to dothat, you could also just step
back and look at your targetaudience and say, well, what
channels are they on, what is aday in their life like?
(22:24):
Which, I think, is why you know, creating your customer
archetypes is so essential,because you need to understand
where they are, what they do ina day when they're on a channel,
what time they're on aparticular channel, because then
you can, you know, yourcampaigns are more optimized.
And so I'll give an example.
We have a client, a live musicvenue in Northville, michigan.
(22:48):
They opened last June.
We helped create the brand, wehelped launch the brand.
They're doing great.
We're just expanding toadditional days this month
actually, because it's doing sowell and looking at a bigger
space for it.
But we were sure that we weregoing to that Instagram was
going to be our biggest channel,okay, and so through like a
couple of months, we're lookingat the data and we're seeing
great engagement.
So we had Facebook andInstagram.
(23:08):
We knew that the audience andthe community in that area was
more of an older, married family, you know, higher middle-class
type of customer.
So just kind of understandingthat we're like, okay, they're
probably not on TikTok, maybesome of them are on TikTok, but
really en masse we're going tolook at Facebook and Instagram
(23:28):
for our core customer.
And we learned after a fewmonths that Instagram was not
where it was at for us.
And we, you know we're growinga following, we're seeing good
engagement.
But Facebook was blowing up forus.
People were commenting andengaging and sharing and
checking in and and then we werelike, oh my gosh, it makes so
much sense Because of our targetaudience, knowing their ages,
(23:51):
their income, you know theirdemographics.
It was like a light bulb, like,oh my gosh.
So now we were then able toreallocate budget time energy
strategy towards the channelthat was working.
And so, again, it's like thatiteration you have to learn, and
so anybody that's trying tofigure out what channel to be on
, I would start with one or twothat you feel like is where your
(24:12):
core customer is, and theniterate and then learn, and if
those are working and you feellike is where your core customer
is, and then iterate and thenlearn, and if those are working
and you feel like you can addanother one and you want to
explore an additional channel,add a youtube shorts, add a
youtube, add tick tock.
You know, um, there's so manyopportunities to learn and grow
and iterate.
You always want to be lookingand understanding the data and
(24:33):
making sure that it works, and I, and I feel like too b what I
said before is something atYoungblood MMC we're not just
gonna give you a beautifulcampaign, we're going to make
sure it works and if it's notworking, we're going to change
it.
And it was something that wouldalways drive me a little crazy
when I was in the agency worldis you do a beautiful campaign
or you would do a postcard test?
(24:53):
Great, signed off client lovesit.
In a couple of weeks they'd belike so which one performed
better?
I'm dying to know, and they'dbe like I'm not.
I don't know, we don't haveaccess to that data, and I'm
like what I must know.
Right, I just like needed toknow because I was just so
curious at like the outcome.
Is it really driving people toyour product in your doors, into
(25:18):
your website, to convert tosales?
And I think you have to havethat comprehensive view and you
have to take that holisticapproach to really be successful
in marketing and in business.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Yeah.
So let's go there becauseyou're right.
I feel like a lot of people.
We see marketing happening onour TV screens, on our phones,
on our computer screens, but wedon't think about that very
necessary bridge from marketingto business growth, tangible
business growth.
Leslie, what does that bridgelook like?
Is it calls to actions?
Is it the hooks?
(25:44):
Is it the copy?
Talk to us about how to crossthat bridge with our marketing.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Right.
I think that's very importantand you want to be able to
understand what those KPIs arethat are demonstrating that it's
working, and you also want tobe able to understand what those
KPIs are that are demonstratingthat it's working and you also
want to be able to demonstratethat to your client.
With our hospitality clients,we've been very specific about
finding channels that we canquantify.
Geolocation.
(26:11):
Geofencing ads is one of them,right, because we can quantify
this number of impressions, thisreach this seat, this click
through and these number ofpeople cross into this geofence,
so we know that they came intothe doors of the restaurant.
So you can quantify that ROI.
I think it's very, you know, youhave to find that for the
industry you know, and theparticular vertical or niche
(26:34):
that you're in, it's going to bedifferent for everybody, but I
feel like that gives a sense ofconfidence and comfort, not only
to you but to your client,because they're seeing okay,
we're giving you thousands ofdollars to go out and market,
but I'm not seeing anybody buy.
And I really think, at the endof the day, the best KPI, of
course, is you want to seeconversion, right, you want to
(26:54):
see a purchase, you want to seesomebody come into your
restaurant.
You want to see a deal beingmade, you know, with an
organization, or you know b2b,you know have those deals going
through or a pipeline right, andso, depending on the vertical
and niche, I think it's veryimportant to set up what data
points matter to you, because itcould be for for one of our
(27:16):
clients.
They were impressed by thelarge number of impressions that
we got, but these ads didn'tconvert, and so I was like I'm
surprised that you're happy withthat.
I think that is great, but tome I'm concerned because out of
those 100,000 people, nobodyconverted.
So something's not followingthrough along the way.
So, again, just making surethat everybody's on the same
(27:36):
page and understands and youunderstand, you know what your
client is looking for.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Yeah, I love that, and that's the thing.
And what I've found in 16 yearsof owning my own businesses is
that if you set a target, gosh,we are determined.
It was right in the way youtalk about your company.
We are resilient, we are gritty, we can go after those things,
but we must do it with intentionand we must pick those KPIs.
So I really appreciate thatperspective, leslie, time is
racing to a close, as you and Iexpected, but I do want to
(28:04):
interject AI into theconversation because a lot of
people think that AI is themarketing bandaid for everybody.
All of a sudden they can writecopy.
They don't have to embrace thethings that you and I talked
about, but of course it's notthat easy.
Otherwise everybody would havemultimillion dollar businesses.
So how's AI play into thisworld?
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Yeah, that's a great question.
I'm very excited by AI.
I know anytime a new technologycomes, there's, of course, a
bit of apprehension and fear andyou feel like it's going to
take jobs.
But again, you have to look atit.
For me, anyways, what's reallyhelped us to look at it as a
tool to improve and to optimizeprocesses that we have?
(28:41):
So, instead of taking time todo 10 hours to do research, you
can cut that in half and thenyou can take or you can take all
those 10 hours of research thatyou've done and have that
organized for you in a matter ofminutes.
I mean, it's quite incrediblethe opportunity that AI poses,
and I'm like an optimist One ofmy nicknames with a client is
(29:02):
Little Miss Sunshine but I feellike it's something that is
essential in your everyday life,but especially in business,
because you wanna look for theopportunities, you want to look
for those new ways to evolve,you don't wanna be left behind,
and so I think, embracing it andyou know I'm not I would never
recommend it to every client orevery business, but there may be
(29:27):
a way to interject it thatmakes sense.
I know with hospitality clientsI was talking with a hospitality
leader recently and there'sreally not much like, how are
you going to bring AI into arestaurant, right, like it's
probably going to be on thebackend.
When it comes to technology anddata and the platform that you
use, you know your CRM, whereyou know maybe you learn all of
(29:48):
our customers like this drink oryou know, and so you can make
more drinks that have vodka init or what have you right.
So there are different ways toutilize AI, I think.
When it comes to marketingspecifically, like I said
earlier, I really feel that itshould be used as a blueprint.
I would never take write me 10headlines and then take those
(30:11):
headlines verbatim and thenshare it with the client.
And, trust me, I've experimentedwith that before to see, like,
is this person smarter than me?
Or is this person, is this tool, smarter than me?
And I've written, you know, acampaign strategy and then I've
challenged it.
I'm like, am I missingsomething here?
And so I'll, you know, go tochat GPT or Claude or Periscope,
and you know, write a plan andjust verify and get the validity
(30:35):
.
And I'm like, okay, I have, Iput everything in my plan that
this tool just said.
So we're not missing anythingin here, and so I think when you
can use it, you know, as asupport, and not necessarily as
a crutch, but something toreally help you optimize and
propel, you know, your, yourmarketing, your business forward
, that's when it's going to bethe best and use it as a
(30:58):
blueprint, but not as the be allend, all to anything.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Yeah, so well said.
That's the thing is, we canhave it support us in all of our
efforts.
We all need more support and Ithink it is that thing that can
identify those blind spots, andit sounds like you use it in a
very similar way.
So super appreciative of yousharing that with us.
Leslie, I'm really excited tohear your answer to this last
question because it's superbroad and I've asked it to
hundreds of entrepreneurs atthis point.
So, leslie, that question iswhat's your best piece of advice
(31:25):
?
Knowing that you are a subjectmatter expert in the field of
marketing, but also knowing thatyou're one of us, you are a
fellow entrepreneur, what isthat piece of advice that you
want to leave our listeners withtoday?
Hello entrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
What is that piece of advice that you want to leave
our listeners with today?
Yes, I recently heard this bitof advice and it is something
that has not left my mind sinceI heard it, but it's you don't
need clarity, you need courage.
And it just blew me awaybecause I think we can get so
focused, whether we're abusiness owner, like how do I
(31:57):
scale my business?
And I don't understand is thisgonna work?
It's a horrible idea, and thatcan be true right of a marketing
, right Of a marketing campaignor a pitch, or like am I doing
the right thing?
And we can just bog ourselvesdown with doubt and questions in
our ego and our fear.
We let the fear take over.
But you don't need clarity, youdon't need to know if it's
(32:18):
going to work, you just need todo it.
And I think that's where we, asmarketers and as business owners
, have the most success.
You have to take that risk.
We should be as business owners, we should be comfortable with
taking risks.
But it happens right, Like thedoubt will creep in or we're
having a tough, you know, coupleof months, and so then you
(32:39):
start to question.
But you just have to take thatstep.
Just remind yourself.
You don't need clarity, youneed courage and it's all going
to work out.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Boom Listeners.
There's Leslie's direct call toaction for you to find that
courage inside of you, no matterwhere you are in your
entrepreneurial journey.
That's advice that can resonatewith us at all of those stages.
So, Leslie, super appreciativeof that.
I'm excited for listeners tocheck out your brand, the work
that you do.
I love your website, yourcomprehensive list of services.
(33:09):
It's so cool how you injectyour excitement, your energy,
your passion for all thingsmarketing into the very dynamic
campaigns that you put togetherfor other companies.
So drop those links on us.
Where should listeners go fromhere?
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Thank you.
Yes, you can find us atyoungbloodmmccom.
You can also find us onLinkedIn, youngblood MMC.
And please come and follow meon LinkedIn, leslie Bailey
Youngblood.
I would love to connect witheverybody and I love interacting
, building community andchatting and learning from each
other.
So please follow us and followsome of our clients Eganics Inc.
(33:42):
Know Me Lounge.
We're really excited to begrowing them and seeing where
they go in the next few years.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Yes, listeners, you know the drill.
We're making it as easy aspossible for you to find all of
those links down below in theshow notes.
You don't have to go very far,just click right on through, no
matter where it is that you'retuning into today's episode.
Otherwise, leslie, on behalf ofmyself and all the listeners
worldwide, thanks so much forcoming on the show today.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
Hey, it's Brian here, and thanks for tuning in to yet
another episode of theWantrepreneur to Entrepreneur
podcast.
If you haven't checked us outonline, there's so much good
stuff there.
Check out the show's websiteand all the show notes that we
talked about in today's episodeat the wantrepreneurshowcom, and
I just want to give a shout outto our amazing guests.
There's a reason why we are adfree and have produced so many
(34:28):
incredible episodes five days aweek for you, and it's because
our guests step up to the plate.
These are not sponsored episodes.
These are not infomercials.
Our guests help us cover thecosts of our productions.
They so deeply believe in thepower of getting their message
out in front of you, awesomeentrepreneurs and entrepreneurs,
that they contribute to help usmake these productions possible
(34:52):
.
So thank you to not onlytoday's guests, but all of our
guests in general, and I justwant to invite you check out our
website because you can send usa voicemail there.
We also have live chat.
If you want to interactdirectly with me, go to
thewantrepreneurshowcom.
Initiate a live chat.
It's for real me, and I'mexcited because I'll see you, as
always every Monday, wednesday,friday, saturday and Sunday
(35:15):
here on the Wantrepreneur toEntrepreneur podcast.
Hey, what is up?
Welcome to this episode of theWantrepreneur to Entrepreneur
podcast.
As always, I'm your host, brianLoFermento, and you all know
that I am so biased when itcomes to our marketing episodes.
Why?
Because I genuinely believe andI know that marketing is the
lifeline for all of ourbusinesses.
This is how we actually grow.
If you're not out there gettingfound by new customers and
(00:22):
clients, then your businessisn't growing.
And today's guest has just asmuch energy as I do when it
comes to her love for marketing.
And what I really appreciateabout this entrepreneur and
guest is that not only does shelove marketing because of all
the powers that it has, but sheloves the results and the growth
that it brings for her clients.
So let me tell you all abouttoday's guest.
Her name is Leslie Youngblood.
(00:49):
With over 19 years ofexperience in advertising and
marketing, content creation andbusiness development, leslie has
helped transform companies fromlocal startups to nationwide
impact makers, using innovativemarketing efforts while driving
optimal business outcomes.
Her company, youngblood MMC,stands for Youngblo Marketing,
media and Content, and her teamdelivers high level brand and
marketing services to growingbusinesses across the United
(01:10):
States.
They're bold, they're highenergy I can attest to this
already.
They're creative thinkers wholove to bring brands and
businesses to life and scaletheir bottom line goals.
Their creativity is boundless,their grit is undeniable, which
is such a core entrepreneurialtrait, and they always provide
results.
And this is a fun one for me,because Leslie's used to being
on the other side of themicrophone.
(01:31):
She once upon a timeinterviewed other entrepreneurs
and business owners on a weeklypodcast, so it's really fun for
me to host Leslie in today'sepisode.
I'm not going to say anythingelse.
Let's dive straight into myinterview with Leslie Youngblood
.
All right, leslie, I am so veryexcited that you're here with
us today.
First things first.
(01:52):
Welcome to the show.
Thank you so much.
I'm so excited to be here.
Heck, yes, I think our onlychallenge today is going to be
keeping it to 30 minutes,because there's a lot of good
stuff we're going to get intoBefore we do that.
Leslie, take us beyond the bio.
Who's Leslie?
How'd you start doing all thesecool things?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Sure, I'm Leslie Youngblood.
I'm a proud mom of three boysand so they inspire me every day
.
They're one of the reasons whyI decided to start Youngblood
MMC, but I've always lovedwriting.
That's really kind of where myorigin story starts.
As a kid I loved writingstories.
My siblings and cousin and Ihad a magazine, shout Magazine.
(02:31):
We made movies.
So I was always creativegrowing up and really found
advertising.
When I was going into collegeand I was going to study English
at Michigan State University gogreen and I was in like a
introduction to the ComArtsCollege and I heard about
advertising and you could be acopywriter and I was like, wait,
(02:51):
you can get paid to write for aliving and have fun.
And so it was.
Really.
I was so fortunate to stumbleupon it because I just knew
right away it was the you knowthe place for me to begin my
career and continue my careerall over these years and
fantastic experiences, fantasticpeople and so really excited to
be doing it on my own in ourown unique way now with
(03:13):
Youngblood MMC.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yes, I love that overview especially.
No wonder why you and Inaturally connect.
It's because of that love forwriting, because that's the
power of words.
Is that words can I mean?
Mean?
I'll extrapolate.
Words can move mountains, wordscan move nations, words can do
so much.
Talk to us about that love.
I want that to be the basis ofhow we start to talk about
advertising and marketing yeah,that's so spot on.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I always felt like, like I said, as a kid, I was
writing and I was curious and Iwas creative, and I was writing,
and I was curious and I wascreative and and and you know, I
felt I feel like, whether it'swriting or it's art, it's really
the way people express theirsoul, right, and and how we can
kind of tap into our uniquegifts, and so writing has always
(03:57):
been a gift for me.
I almost feel like it's acompulsion.
My kids love Alexander Hamilton, the musical, and they always
make fun of me and call meHamilton, because I'm writing
all the time, I'm working allthe time, and it's not that I'm
a workaholic, I'm just soinspired to capture things and
explore ideas.
And so the way also too, likeyou said, brian, the way that
(04:19):
writing brings people together,whether it's a book, whether
it's a song, whether it's amovie, it is just so profound
and it moves me deeply and ithonors me to have that gift and
be a part of an industry thatalso harnesses that to do good
for businesses and other peopleas well.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah for sure, Leslie .
Hearing your exuberance for allof these things makes me think
about the fact that not allwriting is equal, and I would
argue that part of your love forit is the human emotion that
goes into it the way thatpsychology I mean there's so
many layers to successfulcopywriters that always stands
out to me.
(04:59):
Talk to us about that difference, because you also love business
and I so appreciate that aboutyou.
What's that difference when itcomes to writing that just
people read and scroll rightpast, which we all see on social
?
Speaker 2 (05:10):
media versus the writing that captivates us and
does spark that action.
Right, that's so interestingthat we're talking about this,
brian.
Yesterday, a friend of mine onLinkedIn wrote a post about AI
and AI writing, and whether it'sAI or whether it's a human, you
still have to capture thatemotion and cause somebody, you
know, stir something in somebodyto get them to pay attention,
and I love the opportunity thatAI provides.
But to me it's also like ablueprint for writing, right,
(05:33):
and then you take that blueprintand you build a house, or you
build that plan, or you buildthat post or script, or you know
taglines, etc.
Like you have to bring it tolife too in that way.
And so in this digital age, Ithink people crave connection
even more.
But then I also feel like taleas old as time.
Whether it's AI, whether it'sthe internet, whether it's TV,
(05:53):
radio, et cetera, there's alwaysgoing to be technology and
innovation that gives you anopportunity to tweak how you're
able to connect with people, andwriting is still at the core of
that.
And so emotion and that humanto human connection that's one
of the things I love aboutworking with our hospitality
clients at Youngblood MMC isit's not just about food.
(06:16):
It's not just about drinks.
It's about giving them anexperience, about giving them
something unique and differentthat impacts their lives in a
special way.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Yeah, so well said.
I love the fact that you calledthat out.
It's the tale as old as time.
I feel like being a podcasthost.
I know how many listeners wannahear about the cutting edge
technologies Every conversation.
You and I will inevitably talkabout AI here today, but at the
end of the day, humans arehumans and people have been
buying and selling things forliterally centuries, probably
thousands of years before us.
(06:46):
So with that said, leslie,let's really broaden this
conversation right here and talkabout what is marketing.
You must see marketing in somany different shapes and sizes.
What do people traditionallythink of it as?
And I know that you thinkdifferently, so what's your take
on it?
Speaker 2 (07:03):
I think that most people consider marketing and
advertising pushing something onthem that they don't want right
, like that used car salesman orwhether these commercials
interrupting my show or you knowmy movie or you know my scroll.
But to me and this is alsosomething when I was going into
college and that reallyresonated with me I had a
(07:24):
professor, jim Gilmore.
He was actually one of theoriginal madmen in Chicago.
Brilliant, brilliant professor.
I believe he passed away a fewyears ago, but you know, he
really demonstrated to us thateverybody and every living thing
markets themselves, whetherit's a flower blooming and
trying to attract a bee, whetherit's, you know, birds with
(07:45):
their feathers trying to attracta mate.
It's just inherent in livingthings, nature to project
messages, and so marketing andadvertising is really, you know,
obviously taking that to adifferent degree, but to me
that's something that is sofascinating, it's that
psychology and that really likenatural element of it, and so
(08:06):
we're providing something thatsomebody doesn't yet know they
want.
And and again I'll just bring aquote, I believe Henry Ford
said it it's, it was somethingabout how, if you ask the people
what they wanted, they wouldsay a faster horse.
But we gave them the car, andso sometimes people don't
realize what they want until yougive it to them, or that you're
in front of them offering upthe solution to a pain point or
(08:30):
something that's making themfeel the way they feel inside or
that they want to be as aperson, whether it's shoes or
medicine, or a course or a movie, etc.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Boom.
Leslie, coming in hot with someanalogies that I've never heard
within the realm of marketing.
I'm so glad I'm never gonnalook at flowers blooming the
same way, because now I viewthat as marketing, because,
you're right, they areprojecting their value into the
marketplace for those bees tocome along and pollinate it.
I love that.
I also that henry ford quotethat you reference is one of my
(09:01):
truly favorite quotes of alltime, and I want to go there
with you because I would imaginethat when you walk into
businesses, you are growthhungry and they are totally
aligned with you.
It's why you have such aflourishing business at this
point.
But I would also imagine thatwhen you walk in, they don't
know what they want or what theyneed.
They crave that growth.
What's that assessment periodlook like?
(09:22):
When you look at a businessthat you're beginning to work
with, how do you start to makesense of their landscape so that
you can prescribe the rightthings for them?
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Mm, hmm, yeah, I think that it's first going
really deep and learning thatbusiness and really becoming an
advocate for that businessbefore you even pitch an idea,
right, and so and I think thatthat should be true for anybody
you don't wanna work withsomebody that you don't believe
in or a product you don'tbelieve in, and so I'm very much
(09:51):
a believer in that is that Ineed to feel excited and connect
to the businesses that we workwith, because then I can truly
become that brand advocate andput myself in the consumers or
guest's shoes of that business.
And then it can be difficult,you know, because, as you can
tell, I'm very excitable and andI see the potential and that's
(10:16):
something that I love is thepotential in so many businesses.
I can see where they can go andthey're here.
So how do we?
We see that they can go here,but they have to understand in
the right way how to get fromhere to there, because you don't
want to overwhelm them, youdon't want to confuse them, you
want them to feel like it'sattainable, right?
(10:36):
You can't eat the elephant inone sitting, so how do you break
it down and demonstrate thatthis mountaintop that I see for
you, it's not some far-fetchedidea.
You can do it and here are thesteps to make it happen.
And so really, I believe youknow it's really becoming
passionate and an advocate forthem and then breaking you know
the steps down for them so theycan understand and be confident
(10:59):
in the journey that we're goingto take together to get them to
that mountaintop.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Yeah, leslie, it's fun having two excitable people
here on the air in today'sepisode, because I'm thinking
about all the business ownersout there that are saying, gosh,
you guys like my business justisn't that exciting.
I'm a web designer.
What's exciting about webdesign?
Talk directly to those people,because I think you and I find
the excitement just in businessas a whole.
How do you make those types ofbusinesses exciting so that it's
(11:25):
fun to market them and it's funto be on the other side of that
marketing?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Sure, I think any business, no matter what you're
doing, is exciting and you haveto tap into that emotion and
that excitement and that desireto bring that to your customer,
your core customer, youraudience.
I'll give you an example is oneof our customers is Eganics,
and they do biologicalwastewater treatment and
(11:54):
solutions, and we always jokehow do we make wastewater sexy?
How do we make wastewater fun?
Because me, coming in, and youknow completely never been
involved in the wastewatersector before learning the
language, it's like trulylearning another language, but
it is so fascinating to me andso vital to our everyday
(12:16):
existence you don't even realize, when you turn your sink on,
where that water goes and thepainstaking steps that are taken
to make that water clean againand how it goes to the treatment
plants and through the liftstations and all.
It's just like it's a worldhidden right in front of our
eyes.
And so I, you know there'swhether it's wastewater, whether
(12:36):
it's, you know, a winter coat,you know there's something that
is that is so inherently humanand delightful about services
and products, and so I wouldchallenge any business if
they're feeling like oh, widgets, you know, what do our widgets
really do?
Whether you need to, you know,step out of the business and
(12:57):
take a trip or a vacation or apause, whether you need to bring
your team together and do abrainstorm but really find those
.
Bring your team together and doa brainstorm, but really find
what excites you about yourbusiness and find that spark,
because then it of course makesit easier for a marketer to come
in and then you know kind oftake the baton and run with it.
But I think also customers andguests feel that excitement
(13:18):
coming through the ads.
They can feel how passionateyou are and that will again just
get you further in your path tosuccess.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Yeah, I love the way you articulate that, leslie.
It feels like an invitation.
I'm going to put you on thespot here and ask you something.
I've actually never asked amarketer and it's a little bit
more of an ethereal question.
And that is what's marketingabout, Because I really see that
there's three players.
There's the business itself,there's the product or the
service, the solution, and thenof course, there's the customer,
and they all do this delicate,fun, creative dance together in
(13:50):
all of our marketing.
But I'd love to tap into yourmind what percent focus or you
don't have to quantify, but howdo you entertain marketing
across these three players?
Who takes center stage?
How do you frame it?
I'd love to hear the way youthink about those three players.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Sure, Well, I would also say, Brian too, there's a
fourth player in there andthat's the container or the
reality that all these threepieces exist in, Right, and so
how do you use those things?
And I feel like I'm using acrystal ball and it feels kind
of weird and creepy, but it'skind of true that you have this
microcosm.
You know, business audience, uh, you know, I can't remember the
(14:29):
third thing that you said, butwas it just the marketing, Brian
?
the products the products, okay,so the products, and then you
have, like, this container forit.
And how do you get, you know,these three pieces to work
together and engage anddemonstrate that to them?
And so I don't think one isnecessary.
I think that the true magichappens in between.
(14:51):
You know, it's in thatintangible fourth character,
that like realm of which exists,and how you know those, all
those pieces interact togetherbecause you can't have one
without the other.
They're all intrinsicallylinked and they all have to work
together.
And then this big, you know,magic ball that they're all in,
or this globe, have to, you know, you have to kind of work with
(15:16):
them, wherever they are, however, they're feeling right Because
it changes.
Business can change, humanemotions can change in a dime
and you have this product that'skind of constant, and so how
are you navigating?
It's almost like a game in away, which I always kind of joke
, that business is such a game.
It's such a game, um, andmarketing can feel like a game,
um, and I think sometimes not todiminish the importance of it
(15:39):
because it is so inherentlyimportant and, like I said,
inherent to individuals and whowe are, but but it's also fun
and there's so manyopportunities in ways to explore
, you know how to navigate therelationship between all those
three pieces that I just cannever see marketing as boring,
(16:00):
or oh well, content is dead, oremails dead, text messaging is
dead, like that to me just makesme crazy, because I'm like what
?
Like there's?
There's no way.
It's just going to evolve andchange and there'll be like new
little pieces added to the sortof like globe all around those
pieces.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Yeah, I love the way you answered that, leslie,
because I do feel I'm a suckerfor quotes.
But I feel like very often theold adages and quotes and
cliches they do a disservice byoversimplifying things, like in
the marketing world.
We've all heard that quote ofnobody wants a drill.
They want a quarter inch hole,and so we make it all about the
features and the benefits andthat's exclusively what we focus
on.
But that's your creativeapproach, is the fact that you
(16:39):
understand that space in between.
It's that illustration.
Obviously, you and I can seeeach other Most listeners can't
see us right now but it's thatunderstanding of the fact that
all of this is also existing intime and in space, literally.
That's why I think about someof my most successful marketing
campaigns over the years havebeen focusing on.
(16:59):
Here's the reality you know,around election season.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Leslie here on the show.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Yeah, we always talk about it's election season.
Don't worry about that.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Focus on your business, Like right, right, or
it's, you know, Christmas seasonyou have to focus on driving,
getting the events at yourrestaurant, or you know.
Or it's tax season, soeverybody has to worry about
taxes and H&R Block and you seeall those taxes.
I mean, there really is so muchopportunity in time and you
(17:26):
know sometimes what is it.
You know where opportunitymeets, preparation is luck and
sometimes you're able to justcapture something, the zeitgeist
and it's not that you meant toplan it like with the demure,
you know, and how things goviral.
You can't plan for those momentsand I'm sure you know, brian,
you've had clients and havetalked with guests before about
(17:48):
you'll always have a client thatwants to go viral, or a client
that wants to get on TikTok andthinks it's just going to
magically bring them purchasesor customers, or you know, etc.
And it's like, okay, those,those things are so few and far
between and it's amazing and funas a marketer to watch them
happen.
But you really, you know that'swhere in time they, you know,
(18:13):
it's just those little likepop-ups, right, and so, to be
consistent, and I really feellike consistency is key, right,
in anything, you know,incremental progress cannot be
stopped, whether you're amarketer, whether you're in
business, you just have tocontinue, you have to be
consistent, you have to pivotand learn and stay curious and
eventually you know things willcome together and you'll hit it
(18:34):
yes, leslie, I want to go deeperhere, because this is something
.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
I don't think we talk about enough in the world of
marketing, and this is reallythe mindset behind marketing.
You'll like this.
I saw a quote the other day onInstagram that said I've failed
more times than you've tried,and I've always yeah, I've felt
that way.
Forever is that I've been anentrepreneur for 16 going on 17
years now and most of mymarketing efforts have failed.
It's a few things that havereally pushed me forward.
(18:59):
I think most people do believethat Instagram, facebook, tiktok
you mentioned Facebook ads,google ads any of these channels
themselves are magic pills.
Talk to me about the successfulmarketing mindset.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Yeah, I mean, you nailed it, ryan.
You know everybody thinks, oh,it's just got to be this and
I'll just go viral.
It's really so difficult toplan for that and, like you said
, it's consistency, and I was, Itruly was just talking with my
husband about this and I wassaying, you know, you think
about.
You see, tom Brady, serenaWilliams, these goats, right,
(19:36):
and you see all like theheadlines of X number of
championships, x number of wins,how many games did they lose in
their careers?
Nobody talks about how manytimes they lost.
We focus on the positive.
And then you see, you knowwhether it's Dan Martell or you
know Sarah Blakely, and you seethem winning and you're like, oh
my gosh, like how do they dothat?
I just want to do that.
(19:56):
And you don't see when DanMartell was, you know in juvie,
when he was like a young man andhe talks about it in his book
and you know in his thoughtleadership on LinkedIn.
You know you don't see thetimes where Sarah Blakely was
told no, no, no.
And whether you know that'sentrepreneurship and even
marketing.
There are campaigns that aren'tgonna work right.
(20:16):
That may feel like a waste oftime, but then I always
challenge myself and clients tosay, okay, this didn't work or
this is not working.
What can we learn from this?
To iterate and improve, movingforward.
So how do we learn from this tochange and do something else
that might work?
And when I feel like that againreleases a lot of the pressure,
(20:37):
whether you're a marketer orbusiness owner, too right, it's
just a series of challenges, agame that you have to continue
to solve over and over again toeventually get to where you want
to go.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Yes, I love the way you talk about that.
It reveals so much about yourapproach because you're just
willing to continue playing thegame.
You understand the parametersand you say, okay, let's try to.
You know, take as many shots aswe can.
You remind me?
Roger Federer did a graduationspeech I think it was two
summers ago where he said mostpeople look at my 20 grand slams
.
What they don't realize is, inthe entirety of my career as the
(21:09):
number one tennis player in theworld, I lost 49% of the points
that I played.
That's the best tennis playerof all time.
So it's really incredible.
Leslie, I want to ask youbecause you and I we keep
dancing around platforms and I'msure a lot of people that you
talk to want to talk aboutplatform specific strategies.
Our listeners always email usand ask what platform should I
(21:30):
be marketing?
Speaker 2 (21:31):
on so.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Leslie, what's your take on the platform, the
channel conversation, versus theoverarching strategy that you
put together for your clients?
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Sure?
Well, I think that's a greatquestion, brian, and I'm sure,
like you said, many people arecurious, right, like, how should
I want to be on TikTok?
But again, should you be onTikTok, is that where your
audience is?
And I'll give an example.
I always like to explorechannels.
Or, if it makes sense for aclient and the product and the
audience will, will you know,include a mix like an omni
(22:03):
channel marketing campaignstrategy.
Right, I think that's, you know, very effective, of course, but
then when you start executing,you're going to learn what
channels are performing for youover others.
And if you didn't want to dothat, you could also just step
back and look at your targetaudience and say, well, what
channels are they on, what is aday in their life like?
(22:24):
Which, I think, is why you know, creating your customer
archetypes is so essential,because you need to understand
where they are, what they do ina day when they're on a channel,
what time they're on aparticular channel, because then
you can, you know, yourcampaigns are more optimized.
And so I'll give an example.
We have a client, a live musicvenue in Northville, michigan.
(22:48):
They opened last June.
We helped create the brand, wehelped launch the brand.
They're doing great.
We're just expanding toadditional days this month
actually, because it's doing sowell and looking at a bigger
space for it.
But we were sure that we weregoing to that Instagram was
going to be our biggest channel,okay, and so through like a
couple of months, we're lookingat the data and we're seeing
great engagement.
So we had Facebook andInstagram.
(23:08):
We knew that the audience andthe community in that area was
more of an older, married family, you know, higher middle-class
type of customer.
So just kind of understandingthat we're like, okay, they're
probably not on TikTok, maybesome of them are on TikTok, but
really en masse we're going tolook at Facebook and Instagram
(23:28):
for our core customer.
And we learned after a fewmonths that Instagram was not
where it was at for us.
And we, you know we're growinga following, we're seeing good
engagement.
But Facebook was blowing up forus.
People were commenting andengaging and sharing and
checking in and and then we werelike, oh my gosh, it makes so
much sense Because of our targetaudience, knowing their ages,
(23:51):
their income, you know theirdemographics.
It was like a light bulb, like,oh my gosh.
So now we were then able toreallocate budget time energy
strategy towards the channelthat was working.
And so, again, it's like thatiteration you have to learn, and
so anybody that's trying tofigure out what channel to be on
, I would start with one or twothat you feel like is where your
(24:12):
core customer is, and theniterate and then learn, and if
those are working and you feellike is where your core customer
is, and then iterate and thenlearn, and if those are working
and you feel like you can addanother one and you want to
explore an additional channel,add a youtube shorts, add a
youtube, add tick tock.
You know, um, there's so manyopportunities to learn and grow
and iterate.
You always want to be lookingand understanding the data and
(24:33):
making sure that it works, and I, and I feel like too b what I
said before is something atYoungblood MMC we're not just
gonna give you a beautifulcampaign, we're going to make
sure it works and if it's notworking, we're going to change
it.
And it was something that wouldalways drive me a little crazy
when I was in the agency worldis you do a beautiful campaign
or you would do a postcard test?
(24:53):
Great, signed off client lovesit.
In a couple of weeks they'd belike so which one performed
better?
I'm dying to know, and they'dbe like I'm not.
I don't know, we don't haveaccess to that data, and I'm
like what I must know.
Right, I just like needed toknow because I was just so
curious at like the outcome.
Is it really driving people toyour product in your doors, into
(25:18):
your website, to convert tosales?
And I think you have to havethat comprehensive view and you
have to take that holisticapproach to really be successful
in marketing and in business.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Yeah.
So let's go there becauseyou're right.
I feel like a lot of people.
We see marketing happening onour TV screens, on our phones,
on our computer screens, but wedon't think about that very
necessary bridge from marketingto business growth, tangible
business growth.
Leslie, what does that bridgelook like?
Is it calls to actions?
Is it the hooks?
(25:44):
Is it the copy?
Talk to us about how to crossthat bridge with our marketing.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Right.
I think that's very importantand you want to be able to
understand what those KPIs arethat are demonstrating that it's
working, and you also want tobe able to understand what those
KPIs are that are demonstratingthat it's working and you also
want to be able to demonstratethat to your client.
With our hospitality clients,we've been very specific about
finding channels that we canquantify.
Geolocation.
(26:11):
Geofencing ads is one of them,right, because we can quantify
this number of impressions, thisreach this seat, this click
through and these number ofpeople cross into this geofence,
so we know that they came intothe doors of the restaurant.
So you can quantify that ROI.
I think it's very, you know, youhave to find that for the
industry you know, and theparticular vertical or niche
(26:34):
that you're in, it's going to bedifferent for everybody, but I
feel like that gives a sense ofconfidence and comfort, not only
to you but to your client,because they're seeing okay,
we're giving you thousands ofdollars to go out and market,
but I'm not seeing anybody buy.
And I really think, at the endof the day, the best KPI, of
course, is you want to seeconversion, right, you want to
(26:54):
see a purchase, you want to seesomebody come into your
restaurant.
You want to see a deal beingmade, you know, with an
organization, or you know b2b,you know have those deals going
through or a pipeline right, andso, depending on the vertical
and niche, I think it's veryimportant to set up what data
points matter to you, because itcould be for for one of our
(27:16):
clients.
They were impressed by thelarge number of impressions that
we got, but these ads didn'tconvert, and so I was like I'm
surprised that you're happy withthat.
I think that is great, but tome I'm concerned because out of
those 100,000 people, nobodyconverted.
So something's not followingthrough along the way.
So, again, just making surethat everybody's on the same
(27:36):
page and understands and youunderstand, you know what your
client is looking for.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Yeah, I love that, and that's the thing.
And what I've found in 16 yearsof owning my own businesses is
that if you set a target, gosh,we are determined.
It was right in the way youtalk about your company.
We are resilient, we are gritty, we can go after those things,
but we must do it with intentionand we must pick those KPIs.
So I really appreciate thatperspective, leslie, time is
racing to a close, as you and Iexpected, but I do want to
(28:04):
interject AI into theconversation because a lot of
people think that AI is themarketing bandaid for everybody.
All of a sudden they can writecopy.
They don't have to embrace thethings that you and I talked
about, but of course it's notthat easy.
Otherwise everybody would havemultimillion dollar businesses.
So how's AI play into thisworld?
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Yeah, that's a great question.
I'm very excited by AI.
I know anytime a new technologycomes, there's, of course, a
bit of apprehension and fear andyou feel like it's going to
take jobs.
But again, you have to look atit.
For me, anyways, what's reallyhelped us to look at it as a
tool to improve and to optimizeprocesses that we have?
(28:41):
So, instead of taking time todo 10 hours to do research, you
can cut that in half and thenyou can take or you can take all
those 10 hours of research thatyou've done and have that
organized for you in a matter ofminutes.
I mean, it's quite incrediblethe opportunity that AI poses,
and I'm like an optimist One ofmy nicknames with a client is
(29:02):
Little Miss Sunshine but I feellike it's something that is
essential in your everyday life,but especially in business,
because you wanna look for theopportunities, you want to look
for those new ways to evolve,you don't wanna be left behind,
and so I think, embracing it andyou know I'm not I would never
recommend it to every client orevery business, but there may be
(29:27):
a way to interject it thatmakes sense.
I know with hospitality clientsI was talking with a hospitality
leader recently and there'sreally not much like, how are
you going to bring AI into arestaurant, right, like it's
probably going to be on thebackend.
When it comes to technology anddata and the platform that you
use, you know your CRM, whereyou know maybe you learn all of
(29:48):
our customers like this drink oryou know, and so you can make
more drinks that have vodka init or what have you right.
So there are different ways toutilize AI, I think.
When it comes to marketingspecifically, like I said
earlier, I really feel that itshould be used as a blueprint.
I would never take write me 10headlines and then take those
(30:11):
headlines verbatim and thenshare it with the client.
And, trust me, I've experimentedwith that before to see, like,
is this person smarter than me?
Or is this person, is this tool, smarter than me?
And I've written, you know, acampaign strategy and then I've
challenged it.
I'm like, am I missingsomething here?
And so I'll, you know, go tochat GPT or Claude or Periscope,
and you know, write a plan andjust verify and get the validity
(30:35):
.
And I'm like, okay, I have, Iput everything in my plan that
this tool just said.
So we're not missing anythingin here, and so I think when you
can use it, you know, as asupport, and not necessarily as
a crutch, but something toreally help you optimize and
propel, you know, your, yourmarketing, your business forward
, that's when it's going to bethe best and use it as a
(30:58):
blueprint, but not as the be allend, all to anything.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Yeah, so well said.
That's the thing is, we canhave it support us in all of our
efforts.
We all need more support and Ithink it is that thing that can
identify those blind spots, andit sounds like you use it in a
very similar way.
So super appreciative of yousharing that with us.
Leslie, I'm really excited tohear your answer to this last
question because it's superbroad and I've asked it to
hundreds of entrepreneurs atthis point.
So, leslie, that question iswhat's your best piece of advice
(31:25):
?
Knowing that you are a subjectmatter expert in the field of
marketing, but also knowing thatyou're one of us, you are a
fellow entrepreneur, what isthat piece of advice that you
want to leave our listeners withtoday?
Hello entrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
What is that piece of advice that you want to leave
our listeners with today?
Yes, I recently heard this bitof advice and it is something
that has not left my mind sinceI heard it, but it's you don't
need clarity, you need courage.
And it just blew me awaybecause I think we can get so
focused, whether we're abusiness owner, like how do I
(31:57):
scale my business?
And I don't understand is thisgonna work?
It's a horrible idea, and thatcan be true right of a marketing
, right Of a marketing campaignor a pitch, or like am I doing
the right thing?
And we can just bog ourselvesdown with doubt and questions in
our ego and our fear.
We let the fear take over.
But you don't need clarity, youdon't need to know if it's
(32:18):
going to work, you just need todo it.
And I think that's where we, asmarketers and as business owners
, have the most success.
You have to take that risk.
We should be as business owners, we should be comfortable with
taking risks.
But it happens right, Like thedoubt will creep in or we're
having a tough, you know, coupleof months, and so then you
(32:39):
start to question.
But you just have to take thatstep.
Just remind yourself.
You don't need clarity, youneed courage and it's all going
to work out.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Boom Listeners.
There's Leslie's direct call toaction for you to find that
courage inside of you, no matterwhere you are in your
entrepreneurial journey.
That's advice that can resonatewith us at all of those stages.
So, Leslie, super appreciativeof that.
I'm excited for listeners tocheck out your brand, the work
that you do.
I love your website, yourcomprehensive list of services.
(33:09):
It's so cool how you injectyour excitement, your energy,
your passion for all thingsmarketing into the very dynamic
campaigns that you put togetherfor other companies.
So drop those links on us.
Where should listeners go fromhere?
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Thank you.
Yes, you can find us atyoungbloodmmccom.
You can also find us onLinkedIn, youngblood MMC.
And please come and follow meon LinkedIn, leslie Bailey
Youngblood.
I would love to connect witheverybody and I love interacting
, building community andchatting and learning from each
other.
So please follow us and followsome of our clients Eganics Inc.
(33:42):
Know Me Lounge.
We're really excited to begrowing them and seeing where
they go in the next few years.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Yes, listeners, you know the drill.
We're making it as easy aspossible for you to find all of
those links down below in theshow notes.
You don't have to go very far,just click right on through, no
matter where it is that you'retuning into today's episode.
Otherwise, leslie, on behalf ofmyself and all the listeners
worldwide, thanks so much forcoming on the show today.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
Hey, it's Brian here, and thanks for tuning in to yet
another episode of theWantrepreneur to Entrepreneur
podcast.
If you haven't checked us outonline, there's so much good
stuff there.
Check out the show's websiteand all the show notes that we
talked about in today's episodeat the wantrepreneurshowcom, and
I just want to give a shout outto our amazing guests.
There's a reason why we are adfree and have produced so many
(34:28):
incredible episodes five days aweek for you, and it's because
our guests step up to the plate.
These are not sponsored episodes.
These are not infomercials.
Our guests help us cover thecosts of our productions.
They so deeply believe in thepower of getting their message
out in front of you, awesomeentrepreneurs and entrepreneurs,
that they contribute to help usmake these productions possible
(34:52):
.
So thank you to not onlytoday's guests, but all of our
guests in general, and I justwant to invite you check out our
website because you can send usa voicemail there.
We also have live chat.
If you want to interactdirectly with me, go to
thewantrepreneurshowcom.
Initiate a live chat.
It's for real me, and I'mexcited because I'll see you, as
always every Monday, wednesday,friday, saturday and Sunday
(35:15):
here on the Wantrepreneur toEntrepreneur podcast.
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