Building your Brand Story with Author, TedX, & Google Speaker Maresa Friedman on Episode #0153

Intro [0:00]

EA Interviews Episode 153. Inspiration, transformation, success stories, and the Imperfect Action Round seven days a week. Join Mario Fachini for today’s Expert Authority Effect Interview. 

Mario Fachini [0:14]

It is a great day to be alive. And I am excited to bring to you, author, speaker, TEDx speaker, Google speaker, and strategist at Executive Cat Herder, Maresa Friedman. And she’s going to be sharing with you the importance of branding and business growth strategies. I’m going to bring her up right after we thank our sponsor. 

SPONSOR Acorns [0:36]

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Mario Fachini [0:53]

Here she is ladies and gentlemen, Maresa Friedman. How are you doing Maresa? 

Maresa Friedman [0:57]

I’m doing awesome. How are you doing today? 

Mario Fachini [1:00]

I’m feeling great. I’m excited to have you on. 

Maresa Friedman [1:02]

Thanks so much. I’m super happy to be here. 

Mario Fachini [1:05]

You are just like a wealth of knowledge and fun, I must say. And I want to know, what is the story behind the story? Because it sounds like you liked your corporate job and didn’t want to start a company. And then it changed. And for most people, we hated jobs in general. And that’s why we started the company. So what was your perspective that you enjoyed it? How did you do the switch? 

Maresa Friedman [1:34]

I think the things I loved about being in corporate is really feeling that team environment. You know, going to happy hour as a group, just that connection. The things that I didn’t enjoy was obviously being a parent and wanting some part of, like, independence. It’s just I don’t want to check in with anybody. I want to have some freedom and some flexibility and to be a grown person asking to take a 30 minute break or a 15 minute break. It’s just not where I wanted to be. And also, you know, respect is a huge thing for me. So sometimes when we feel disrespected, it leads to poor performance. And I thought, “Well, I have two options. I can sit here and complain and whine. Or I can just go out in the world and do it.” And I chose to go out and do it. And that’s kind of my story pretty quickly. But I loved being an employee. I did not enjoy the checking in though component. I don’t like being micromanaged. I don’t think anyone does. 

Mario Fachini [2:25]

Yeah. I was going to say, I don’t think anyone does. But I want to dive into what you just said. Because you said it so quick and succinctly. And I appreciate that. But it was just a matter of you could have whined and complained, but you didn’t. And there are so many people that can learn from that. Explain to me the mentality behind, I didn’t want to just play the victim and just deal with it, live with it, accept it, whatever. What was the burning desire that made you want to actually change it? You had mentioned being a mother. 

Maresa Friedman [3:04]

Yeah. I think being a mom and, quite frankly, I want to say, every year around International Women’s Day, female empowerment is at an all-time high. And we have a lot of reasons for why we’re not successful. People tend to love to blame men or the glass ceiling or male domination. And I kind of look at all that stuff as like an excuse, right? So as an adult, we have excuses or reasons why we don’t do something. So maybe instead of saying, “Hey, we didn’t get a promotion or a raise because we didn’t have a great task.” We say, “Oh, we didn’t get it because we’re not friends with the boss.” Or, “I’m a woman.” Or, “I’m a Latina and a minority and I’m not.” So I try to get out of excuses and into execution. My dad – actually, my parents were in Amway in the 80s. If anybody remembers Amway. It was all about positive thinking, positive speaking. And so they drilled that stuff into me. It’s like, “You are in control of your circumstances.” And that’s such a great thing to hear as a kid. Like, you are in control of your feelings. Don’t let feelings become facts. You need to separate the two. And I think that’s the biggest thing that I don’t care if I’m working with a company or an individual. It’s all about figuring out what is the way forward? And how do we execute? Because I don’t want to whine. No one wants to be around a whiner. No one wants to be Debbie Downer. And you have a choice. I think people forget that they have choice. And that’s always an option. You can choose to go off and do it on your own or you can choose to make it work. But you’re not allowed to whine about it. No whining. 

Mario Fachini [4:37]

Yeah. But what if it doesn’t work? 

Maresa Friedman [4:39]

You know what? The great news is, you can always go back to a job. Maybe not that same job there. There’s tons of different ways for you to make money. But the worst thing that can happen is you have to go back into a [9:00] to [5:00] until you figure it out. And [9:00] to [5:00] can be a temporary state. And trust me it’s a lot easier to launch a business when you have recurring income coming in. There’s a lot of hours in the day. You know, for me, I get up around [4:30] in the morning. So I’m up early in the morning doing meetings with the East Coast. I do the mom thing, taking kids to school, then I’m working, then I’m back home. I mean, there’s a ton of time that we’re not using appropriately. So I just think, again, you can be into your obstacles or you can be into your opportunities. And it’s really two different mindsets that you have a choice every day to start. That’s how I see it. 

Mario Fachini [5:28]

I’ve got a whole lot more questions, but I kind of just want to let you roll because your mindset is awesome. And I know it starts with that. And even right before we went live – what did we say? – Oh, the show must go on. And it was surreal because I had just posted something about the show must go on no matter what. And there was like a double and triple meaning to it. So I want to ask you with this impeccable mindset that you have, how has it helped you over the years, whether you’re in the career or starting your business? Because I know no matter what it is, I’ve never liked jobs personally. I started my first company at 12. But there’s a lot of people who do. And there’s certain careers that you need it. But you can be successful in anything. You can also fail very easily in anything. So how did it help you in both of them to move forward and be as successful as you are now? 

Maresa Friedman [6:26]

I think that, you know, something I picked up on as a kid – I don’t know if you had a parent that made breakfast for you in the morning. I did. And so I was fascinated with Teflon pans when I was a kid. Because I like to watch the egg sliding around in the pan and it would just slide out. And I remember my dad coming home once with a cheap pan. My mom said, “This isn’t going to work. It’s not Teflon. The stuff is going to get stuck.” And for some reason as a kid that stuck with me. I’m like, “I am Teflon.” And part of that has carried forward to now. It’s like you just got to let things slide off you. So many of the things that I see people failing out is, worrying what people are going to think. I don’t look a perfect way. I can’t take pictures because I don’t have a photographer. I can’t put up content because it’s not perfectly produced. I can’t. I can’t. And so this kind of stuff is you’re just self-feeding all of this doubt. So what would it look like to say, “Hey, I’m going to go ahead and do this. And I’m going to choose to learn from every moment what to do or what not to do or what to do better.”  And quite frankly, we just talked about it. was worried that, you know, I was either going to be here in my office or in a closet at home because I’ve got kids running around. So it was like one of two options. I’m willing to make anything work. And I think everything is really one of those things where you have to look at it and kind of launch yourself into it. Otherwise, you’re going to hesitate. You’re not going to do it all out. If you’re going to do something, be there, be present, and be willing to be successful, and be willing to actually fail, learn from that failure, restructure that failure, and turn that into a learning experience. It doesn’t mean that you’re not going to make the same mistakes. I find myself making the same mistake over and over and over again. But I will always believe in people. I will always believe in partners. I will always choose to find the best things about people. And I’m not going to let that stop me. I think a lot of people, specifically, I think I’m pushing the later part of my 30s. And so there’s a really big belief system that older people can’t be relevant in the market. And I work with a lot of older entrepreneurs who worry about, “Well, we’re not young and we’re not in Bali. And we don’t have the right pictures.” And it’s like, “Who cares? You have experience.” So focus on what you’re good at. I have always been resilient. And I think that Teflon mindset, that idea that like, “Cool,. Not everyone is going to like me. That’s okay.” Just being able to articulate that for a lot of people is hard. They want people to like them. Well, if you focus on everyone else that liked you, then you would be killing it. But you’re focused on the three or four percent of people that I need to be obnoxious or whatever their thing is. So okay, that’s fine. I am obnoxious. It’s cool. I’m going to lean into it. So I think you have to develop a level of comfort and kind of your own Teflon mindset, for lack of a better word. 

Mario Fachini [9:14]

Yeah. I’ve heard the obnoxious thing just once or twice. And I’m like, “Sorry if I’m not boring.” 

Maresa Friedman [9:21]

I mean, I think the world is full of so many people that play it safe and do the expected things. And you just watch it and you go, like, “Do you want to be the haystack or do you want to be the needle?” I’d prefer to be the needle every time. 

Mario Fachini [9:38]

Oh, wow. That’s powerful. That’s a that’s a real Expert Authority insight right there. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before. 

Maresa Friedman [9:47]

You’re welcome. 

Mario Fachini [9:50]

Well, thank you. And you are definitely an example of a blue vase mentality. Do you know what I mean by that? 

Maresa Friedman [9:56]

No. Fill me in. 

Mario Fachini [9:57]

Oh, my gosh. You need to check out the book The Go-Getter.

Maresa Friedman [10:01]

Oh,The Go-Getter. So Go-Giver. I’ve read The Go-Giver, I want to say. 

Mario Fachini 10:

This is the Go-Getter. And you exemplify every single thing in it. But you’re going to love it. 

Maresa Friedman [10:14]

Awesome. I have to check it out for sure. I’m going to write that down. Cool. 

Mario Fachini [10:18]

I’ll make sure it’s in the show notes too. And it the whole time you’re talking, I’m just straight up. Like I told you, whatever it was, eight, ten minutes ago, I was like, “Just keep going.” I do have other questions in the show flow, but just you’re on a roll. So it’s obvious to see where all this is stemming from. And it always starts with the leader, which is you. But I want to know more about the branding. Why branding? Out of anything you could choose in the world, why did you decide to build a company around that? How important is it for business? 

Maresa Friedman [10:54]

I think that people don’t recognize when you don’t have a huge budget. All you really have is the brand. And people worry about a lot of ancillary things. Like, what motivational quotes am I going to post on social media? Or what videos am I going to have? And they can’t say who they are and what they do. Or what they say that what they do doesn’t resonate with a normal audience. So I specifically love what I do, because I’ve worked with nontraditional companies that aren’t necessarily sexy, like plumbing and HVAC, and construction. So like the fun companies, like beer, wine, really big liquor brands. And I love both because they both need brand stories. And sometimes, we’re so focused on pushing out our narratives. We know what our goals are. We know what we need to lead Gen Y’s. We don’t take the time to really think about the consumer. And I’m not talking about how old they are, and did they go to college, do they have kids. I’m talking about where do they eat where they sleep, where do they shop. Are they SoulCycle people or are they Planet Fitness type people? Are they yoga people and SoulCycle people or are they just like, give me a garage gym people? All of those factors are really playing into the brand. And so many people cannot articulate their brand story. And matter of fact, they figure out too late that they’ve invested dollars. And if they had just spent some time really thinking about who are we. And one of my really dear friends, he’s a brilliant, brilliant adviser to organizations. He always says, if your company could talk, what would it say? And I think when we start there, what would your company say about you today? That’s David Corbin. He’s a great guy. But he always talks about, if your company could talk, what would it say? And I think it’s so brilliant. Because most people’s companies would say, “I need a name. I need a personality.” If we thought about it as a person, it would be a different conversation. And I think you see that as well, people can’t articulate things. It all starts with that brand. And I look at it as the foundation kind of the house. And so if you have a shaky foundation, anything you do on it, it’s going to be okay. The walls could hold for a couple of years. But at some point, there’s a crack, it’s going to sink, you’re going to need to redo everything. So you might as well build it the right way slowly so that when you do put lots of dollar investment, it’s not going to waste. That’s the worst, right? People throw a bunch of money at something they really didn’t think it through. And then they wonder why it’s not resonating. Well, how is anyone else going to care if you don’t care first. 

Mario Fachini [13:32]

I agree 100 percent. When I launched the show, people go, “How do I get my first subscribers?” I’m like, “Subscribe yourself.” When I helped my author clients launch their books and I launched my own, it’s like, who’s the first sale? If it’s not you, you have a problem. And I love that you’re talking about the brand story, because, yeah, a lot of people don’t develop their avatar. They don’t know – they know what they do but they don’t know who they are. “Tell me about your company.” “Oh, we help companies, blah, blah, blah.” And it’s just like everyone else. I love that you’re talking about the brand story. And I would have to say, even the people that come to me, at best it’s 20 percent, maybe have some idea. But upwards of 80 percent have no idea. And it’s more of what’s the new shiny object? What about this? What about that? And it’s some little tactic. There’s no strategy. They don’t know who they are. They just know what they do. And they could very well be very good at it. But what are three things you could tell anyone in Expert Authority World if they want to develop their brand story? Where do you start people with? 

Maresa Friedman [14:45]

Usually, I think it’s easier to talk about first things first. I talk about food. So I always ask people to think about what is your favorite food. And when you talk to people about food, everyone’s face lights up, because everyone’s got a favorite dish at their favorite restaurant. When I walk them through that process, like what’s that feeling before you’re going to the restaurant getting exactly what you want. Like for me, obviously, it just depends on the day. But I love a really, really good Polish sausage or really good Chicago dog. Those are the things that I love. So if I know I’ve had a stressful day and I’m on my way, I’m excited. Why are you excited? Because you have the anticipation, you know what the experience is going to be like. So whatever those words that people can talk about their favorite food, that’s pretty much how you want people to talk about your brand. You want them to have that good anticipation. And you want them to get exactly what they wanted. And that’s why brand works. Okay? If I go to get a Chicago dog and they give me a tofu dog, I’m going to be so disappointed. That’s awful. That’s not what I want. 

Mario Fachini [15:48]

Are you allowed to say that? You’re in Cali. 

Maresa Friedman [15:50]

I know. I should be gluten free and you know – but no, I love meat. That will be the quote of the podcast that I love meat. But that’s the easiest thing to start with is food. And then the second thing is to really think about if you are a retailer – think of all the retailers out there – what would your brand be? And what’s so interesting about that is you get some people that really think about it and they go, “Well, maybe I’d be a Costco or maybe I’m an Amazon. You can get whatever you want quickly within two days.” For some people they go, “I’m Ferrari.” If you’re working with high ticket people, “I’m a Ferrari.” You have to order. You have to be in events. 

Mario Fachini [16:27]

Lambo. 

Joel Louis [16:28]

Yeah. Whatever is your thing. So that’s usually an easy thing to have conversations about because sometimes people can overanalyze their brand. So my thing is start generic and then get more specific. So first things first, think about food, think about retailers, and then think about, ideally, kind of if you were particularly an item or an object, what would that object or item be? You know, I always joke that I’m like a Leatherman tool because I have six or seven different uses. And so for some people, they’ll go, “Oh, well, I’m this or I’m that. I’m a cell phone charger. I’m a mouse.” Whatever it is that you are, once you start there, it gets you into a point of relaxing and really thinking things through. Like, why would I be that? Why would I be that retailer? Why do I get excited when I go get that particular food? Well, because you know what you’re going to get. And that is kind of imprinted and branded. Once you can go into that reptilian part of your brain and once you start thinking kind of not logically, you’re in that emotional part of your brain, you can really start firing on all cylinders. But a lot of times we try to be too cerebral about the process. And so we’re overthinking it. And we’re over jargonizing. And it’s so great to be 30,000 feet that you really have to dial it in and be six feet. And so the goal is how do I go from 30,000 feet to six feet and back up to 30,000 feet? And that’s really the branding process in a nutshell, at least for me in my three years as a [unintelligible] [00:17:58]. 

Mario Fachini [18:00]

Well, that does give a lot of insight because if you don’t know where you’re starting and you don’t know where – if you don’t know where you’re going, you have no idea where to start. And you don’t even know if you’re on the right track in between. I love the examples, especially the food one. 

Maresa Friedman [18:13]

Yeah. I saw your face by that. 

Mario Fachini [18:15]

Yeah. When you said Ferrari, I was like, “Yeah, one of them too. But yellow and black Lambo.” Always. But I’ve used the same example – nice. Really? Not like I do this professionally. I’ve used the same similar examples also. Like, I’ve always liked Oakley and Cadillac. And it’s like, where do you position yourself? Not just who do you relate to and what do you want to be. But the positioning side of it is – that’s what I took away from what you were saying – is where do you want to play? Are you entry level? Are you mid-tier? Are you the high end? And it’s so important to know that. So I’m glad to know you’re doing it proper and helping so many people with it. Who would you say is your biggest success story that you have helped? 

Maresa Friedman [19:01]

I mean, I like to spot the big guys and the little guys. But I’ll give you a specific example just in a retail brick and mortar. Because I think retail brick and mortar is really important in our country. I was working with a bakery, which was pretty exciting because I like sweets. Selfishly, I’m like, “I need to get some food clients. So let’s work with a bakery.” But one of the reasons I like to work with brick and mortar is you’re never going to beat that experience of going with friends to go have a cup of coffee. Or I always joke, “We’re all in a Starbucks alone together.” So this idea of food, mom and pop, second generation baker, this is my bread and butter because I can kind of walk into someone and say, “I know what the revenue is.” And so when I went into work with that business, what we realized is – we did an assessment of the neighborhood. This was a big investment for a small business owner to commit to almost a six figure strategy or eight months is a huge deal. But what we did is we just did an assessment what’s around you? So really small thing. City Hall is down the street. Police station is up the street. There’s a firehouse is here. All of this stuff and I said, “We’re going to make it really easy. We’re going to have a first responder Friday.” We’re just going to get people to come in. We’re going to bring high end coffee, because for whatever reason, there’s no major chain that’s nearby. This neighborhood is a little bit rougher. So no big chains have taken a chance to go in there. And the first words out of this person’s mouth were, “We’re never going to be able to sell coffee for 475.” And I said, “You don’t know until you try. So let’s fail and then you can tell me that I’m wrong.” So literally, the first three weeks average deal, average dollar sale goes up to, like, 11 bucks. Which the bakery is huge because people are buying the fancy coffee, they’re buying more pastries. So that dollar sale starts going up. To this day, five years later, she’s doing 20 percent more per month in sales, which in a brick and mortar location has allowed her to hire more people, get deliveries. Now, she’s delivering to restaurants and hotels. Now, she knows to market outside of her community. We partnered with DoorDash and GrubHub. Like, there’s so much that you can do but, first, you have to make the decision that I’m going to invest. And if I don’t invest, I’m not going to be relevant. And if I’m not relevant, then no one will find me. And if no one can find me, I’m left out of the conversation. And that’s where you start. Because this is a fight for relevancy. So I don’t care if you’re the CEO of a big software company, which I’ve worked with. I don’t care if you run a leadership organization, which I work with as well. What we look at is how are you being relevant? Because if you’re not being relevant and, “Oh, my customers don’t do this and they know I’m here.” Well, very quickly, digitally, we can say, “Well, are you there?” And very simply, we just ask, “Are you there? And do you like what you see?” Because you could be there but you may not like what you see. And so that’s where we start. And I start with a digital footprint. Like, hey, can people find you? And if they can’t, what do we need to do to set you up to be there in those moments? And what’s right around you that you haven’t even paid attention to? I’m sorry, as a bakery, you’ve got coffee. You’ve got doughnuts. And there’s a police station. I feel like that’s marketing what I want from whatever you’re told now from the beginning of time until now. And then you just keep adding. And again, don’t let the fear of what if it doesn’t work. Okay. Well, if it doesn’t work, we learn that this neighborhood doesn’t want it. What we learned is that not only does the company or the neighborhood around them want fancy coffee. They wanted the lattes. They wanted stuff. The market was there. It wasn’t being met. And it continues to thrive. Because they’re still the only ones in town. So take it and run with it. Prove me wrong and then we’ll try something else. I mean, so that’s kind of the biggest story and that’s the biggest impact. Because I like working with the big boys. But I think anytime we can help up someone in the neighborhood. We always hear people talk about being upset that they need neighborhoods are being gentrified. Well, guess what? We’ve got to take the time to educate these brick and mortars on, “Hey, you’re going to have to invest because this is not free. Okay? But we just want you to be relevant. And we believe you’re relevant. Therefore, you will be.” It’s pretty simple. 

Mario Fachini [23:16]

That is a great success story. And I love – I don’t mind the bakery either. And I think it’s one of the funnest things when you’re working with companies like that, and I have for a while. I’m not going to say how many. I don’t want to date myself. But many, many, many, many, hundreds of them. And the innovation part is so much fun because they’re, “Oh, what if this doesn’t work?” “So what?” But if it does, like you said, five years later, 20 percent bump. 

Maresa Friedman [23:46]

Yeah. That’s huge. 

Mario Fachini [23:47]

That’s nothing to shake a stick at. That’s huge. And if you never try, you don’t know. But correct me if I’m wrong, even if that didn’t work, you would have kept going until you found something that did, wouldn’t you? 

Maresa Friedman [23:59]

Yeah. Well, I mean, I think it’s about having a plan A, and B, to D, to E. Whatever you’ve got to do. But if you’re going to do Plan A, do plan A fully. And then once you’ve kind of decided that this isn’t going to work, then you make a decision point. A perfect example, I worked with a bunch of different attorneys organizations across the country and bar associations. And so, as you know, attorneys are the funnest people to work with when it comes to marketing because they know everything. So part of that was trying to figure out how are we going to talk to these people. And one of the things that we struggle with in marketing is attribution.  And so, “Yeah. I need my ROI. I need my ROI.” It’s typically the conversation. And so I figured out really quickly, you’re not going to spend 1,500 to two grand and get that much back. You’ve got to figure out what are those touch points. And so I figured out, I need to get them out of their cerebral part of their brain and into emotion. And so I just explained to people, “Here’s ROI and marketing.” I’m going to explain it to you simply the same way. My husband and I met on an app that swipes. Okay? Swipe right. We went to lunch. I decided he wasn’t a psycho. It’s great. Let’s go to dinner. Then we went to dinner. And I said, “Okay. This is cool. I’m going to introduce you to my kids.” So we met each other’s kids. Then we met family. Then we met friends. Proposal, wedding on a beach. The last quick attribution in marketing would say that the reason I married my husband was because of that beautiful sign on the beach. Absolutely not why I married my husband. There are multiple touchpoints along the way. So I’m going to ask you, what was the most important part of that journey? The met dating journey, date to marriage journey? 

Mario Fachini [25:39]

This could be a trick because you could argue that it was the initial contact. But I would also say kind of lean towards you had lunch or coffee or whatever when you got – the point you said he’s not a psycho. 

Maresa Friedman [25:53]

Right. So there could be an argument for the not a psycho, because that was the thing that adds to the next thing. There could be an argument for downloading the app and filling out the profile. There could be an argument that meeting children, and friends, and family. So what that tells you, if you’re looking at that as an attribution across the spectrum, there’s three to five plus more touch points along that way. So the same thing in marketing, there is not one part of that journey that is more important because you can have beautiful advertising. But if someone calls in and someone terrible picks up the phone, you’ve just killed it. So every business has to figure out their three to five touch points. Some of them will be on the sales side. And some of them will be on the marketing side. And so it’s no longer sales versus marketing. It’s this little cha-cha. And once you get those attribution points, and once you figure out these are my three thing, you can say, “Hey, you know what? First impression is really important for us, but so is the second and third, and actually the next to last.” So we’ve got four touchpoints in the consumer journey. And then you allocate your budget against that. And then you can measure that. But it’s never going to be just like a quick transaction. You’ve got to look at those touchpoints. And I explained it with the dating because it’s fun. And it sticks in your mind. And you’ll remember that. And the first things first, if you can remember different points of attribution. And I can make it easy for you to understand the concept immediately. And I’ve worked with attorneys on the East Coast, New York, Chicago, Texas, Miami, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland. These guys are super smart, but they get it. They go, “Okay. So I’ve got to invest in the first impression, and the second, and the third. And then I’ve got to make sure that the phone voice is good.” And then suddenly, it doesn’t become a matter of budget. It becomes like, “Okay. I need to be there along all those touch points.” That’s the easiest – 

Mario Fachini [27:36]

What’s the best experience you can give to your customer or client? Because you might be able to acquire them close the sale. But I know a lot of people drop off at that point. They’re like, “Oh, we got all – you know, we want more leads. We want more sales.” And other companies have plenty of leads and sales. And they lose it at the three, six, twelve, two year, five year down the road. Because I mean, I say it all the time, if someone is really good, I will do a live stream, check in, highlight the employee, whoever it is. But if they’re not, I’m like, “This person is useless.” “I just work here.” “Why are you here?” I’m asking you. You know why? Because I don’t. You do work here. I would think you would know more than me. If I can go to the app and figure it out quicker than you, don’t complain when you’re replaced. 

Maresa Friedman [28:25]

My pet peeve in life is I travel, typically -not right now. But I typically travel three to four days a week. And my most frustrating thing is going to order a sandwich where I have to do half the work. Like the joke is, I’m paying you to make 100 percent of the sandwich. I would like you to make 100 percent of the sandwich. The same thing in business, how much are we asking people to do that we should be doing and owning? And it’s not just, obviously, about acquiring the lead. It’s keeping them happy, keeping them maintained. And what does maintenance look like? And are we communicating that along the way? Because you can have great marketing, but ultimately it comes to you to execute. So that’s – 

Mario Fachini [29:03]

Absolutely. And I don’t know if it’s – I guess if I have a pet peeve, it might be the same because my background is in retail. I have worked in fast food. I have worked for one of the largest electronic stores.  I’ve been on both sides of it. And when I have people on my team, it’s like over deliver. If it costs us a little bit more, fine. But they’re going to remember this. I strive for the excellence and over delivering and all that I do. And it’s like, “You can’t even walk me to the aisle. There’s 48. You just change the store around.” And they’re like, “It’s over there.” 

Maresa Friedman [29:38]

Yeah. And I think that to me, my first – I remember I was, like, 18 and my first big job was in banking. And they taught us a lot of stuff around remembering people’s names and providing great service and all this other stuff. Ironically, 20 years later, if I see somebody, I still remember their name. And this happened the other day. My husband was like, “How in the world did you remember that guy’s name?” And I said, “We had a relationship.”  And the guy used to come in with his kids. And he was with his kids. And everybody remembered me in the family. That’s a great experience. And you know what that goes to? That goes to a longevity of process. I’ve always treated people well. I always built business on a relationship. I try to really take the time to understand what matters to everybody. And that’s really ultimately what gets and keeps the sale. I mean, that’s it. 

Mario Fachini [30:28]

Yeah. I love that you use the – when you said the last click attribution for the sign on the beach for the wedding, I was like, “All right. That’s funny.” Because a lot of people don’t – you know, marketing is marketing and this is personal life. And it’s like everything has a process to it. 

Maresa Friedman [30:46]

Well, yeah. And I think, again, if you can take that 30,000 feet of attribution and make it six foot for someone. And really say like, “Okay. Now, that you’ve heard this, map out your touch points.” If I ask people about marketing attribution before I tell that story, no one can map out their touch points. And I’ve done this in rooms of like 1,500 or 2,000 people. No one raises their hand. No one can do it. Once I tell that story then I ask again, everyone can raise their hand. So again, we overthink certain things. But once we make it easy for someone to understand it by adjustable, then they can do it. 

Mario Fachini [31:23]

You’re breaking it down so simplistic. I love it. I got two questions. One of them, I’m throwing in here because – well, why not? But the other one has to do with, who would you love to have dinner with, maybe an entrepreneur or maybe not? Who is just someone you’d love to have dinner with? 

Maresa Friedman [31:43]

Oh, you know, I’ve got a controversial one for sure. And it’s super controversial and it’s probably going to be scandalous, but I’m going to go with it. So I don’t know if you know Brad Parscale, Digital Media Marketing Manager for Trump. He was actually the first people – 

Mario Fachini [32:02]

Oh, I did read a story on him for what he did with Facebook. 

Maresa Friedman [32:06]

Yeah. For what he did with Facebook. But just in general, he was the first kind of nonpolitical person to really be in marketing of a political candidate. And I don’t care where you align politically – and this is what I love about marketers, we can appreciate profits and mindset and the data and the strategy. That, to me, would be the most interesting thing that I could look at. Because ultimately, if we looked at – regardless of that – how do you enter an arena? We’re not necessarily versed in that arena and just kill it. And again, understanding behavior. I think that’s 100 percent of consumer behavior play. But I’m always fascinated by people. You know, I think there’s a really great book called Willful Blindness. And it really touches on how we ignore the obvious at our own peril. And our goal is to learn from people that maybe we like or maybe that were not aligned with. And too many times I see people only learning from one side of the tree. You’ve got to learn from everybody. And then you’ve got to figure out, “Okay. How do I want to use that in what I’m trying to create?” But if you’re only in the same kind of Kool Aid – you know, if you’re all only drinking the same kind of Kool Aid, you’re only going to see things one way. And I think perspective is something that, respectfully in marketing, we can all learn from each other. We learn what we like, what we don’t like. Maybe we can apply something differently. Maybe we can use it for the other side of the coin or whatever. But that’s what I pick. Super scandalous I know. 

Mario Fachini [33:33]

It’s actually less than I thought. I mean, it’s actually a very good one. And I know who you’re talking about. Because I love looking up information also because, ultimately, we’re in the information age. It’s not industrial solely anymore. And there’s so much data at our fingertips. It actually leads me into the the one I’m throwing in, just because of your background. Why don’t you think the FBI, CIA, and all these organization don’t hit us up more that have marketing experience and knowledge? Because a lot of what we do when people are like, “Oh, stalk me on Facebook.” And everyone jokes, it’s intelligence gathering. 

Maresa Friedman [34:11]

Yeah, I mean, I think that’s what’s really the most interesting thing about what we do in general, is that – I was joking with a bunch of friends in marketing. I said, “Well, good thing we’re all at home right now because we’re all communicating via trackable information.” So if we wanted to understand a global sentiment analysis, it would be really easy to see. Or depending on what the endgame here is, there’s all these devices we put into our homes. Everything is connecting. It’s like, yeah, I’m not surprised. I’m sure that they are. Like the joke is, someone’s always listening. I don’t even have a Google Home or an Alexa in my house for that reason. But it’s interesting to see. We have information. I think people are starting to pay attention because it went from this fun thing, marketing is fun to, “Wow. Marketing can really do a lot lot of things that no one had anticipated.” And I’m encouraging people right now, you know, we’re all looking at the news and people are freaking out because of whatever. And remember this, an algorithm is only geared to give you more of what you want. So if you stop searching and you start thinking differently, and if you think about this from a marketing perspective, obviously, our goal is to get you to click on something. So if you look at all the media and stuff, people are clicking, what’s that telling an advertiser? “Oh, my gosh. I got a million impressions or 2 million impressions. I got to double down on my marketing.”  So, you know, again – 

Mario Fachini [35:33]

But are they the right impressions? Because you could have 10 million and it’s the wrong thing. Or maybe it’s just because it’s a fad or whatever. 

Maresa Friedman [35:42]

Yeah. And I think that’s the biggest thing. If it’s like, “I don’t need 10 million eyeballs on the things that I do.” Some people feel that that strategy works for them. But it’s also about telling people, “Hey, if you’re listening to Pandora and I like country music, I like hip hop, and I like jazz. If I’m listening to jazz, I’m never going to get asked, do you want to listen to country? Do you want to listen to 80s hip hop?” It’s not going to happen. I have to self-select. So I think people shouldn’t be wowed by impressions. You should be wowed by the engagement. You should be wowed with, am I getting the right people? Am I getting the right message? And this is a perfect time to hunker down and learn. I mean, searches for personal and business growth development are up over 2,000{d1d47f886dfada3fbec120c845cf21cbf2de07a46032aee93c7c36510b4a5e81} in the last 18 hours. So that’s a huge thing to look at when we’re doing studies is, what’s the sentiment right now? What can I look up? What are the data I can pull? And once you figure that out and see what people are looking for, that’s the biggest thing that you can do. What are people thinking about and how can I find myself in that conversation in a way that makes sense. In a way that makes sense, by the way. 

Mario Fachini [36:46]

There’s so much data out there and it’s great. And I love it also because the audio, you can turn into transcripts. The video, you can turn to the transcripts, the text, the images, everything is so digital now. There’s been times – and it’s kind of weird – I’m like, “I need to do more in real life.”  Because there’s some conversations and I love doing stuff in real life with people and speaking to audiences. But I’ve had some really killer conversations and I’m like, “Dang it. We’re not going to have a transcript of that or recording.” Because it’s so fun. I personally think it’s so fun to go back and be like, “Hey, let me look at this right now in this moment.” Every single episode of the show, I edit the audio. So when I filmed it like this, and I go back to edit the audio, I’m listening totally different. Because right now I have a lot of things on my mind that, you know, is it going, is this going on. But when I listen, I’m, like, listening. And then I even listen to  -I’m just listening to learn. And those are three different mindsets you have. I love having the recording of that. However, it would be weird if every time you talk to someone you were like, “All right. Cameras on. We’re recording this. And it’s being live streamed.” 

Maresa Friedman [38:00]

Well, I think there’s an element of active listening that we have to really try. It’s so hard to be present in the moment because our minds are everywhere. Like, you’re listening, but then you want to look good. Am I smiling? Am I paying attention? Do I have a good face? Am I engaged or not? I think part of it is figuring out the time when you’re really going to be an active listener. I choose to set aside about six hours a week of just learning. And that’s my time. That’s calendar time that I put on. I include my kids sometimes in it. I think public speaking is a skill that all of us have to use. And so that’s a learning time. And I don’t meet enough people that schedule intentional time to learn. And this idea that you know everything, it’s like, no, you don’t. You could learn how to close better. You could learn to have better executive presence. You could learn a better pitch. You could learn a better brand story. All of this stuff really just means that we have to commit to picking times to be active and listening. The devices that we have are fantastic. But sometimes I feel like they use us and not the other way around. So that’s my opportunity to turn off all my notifications and go on B and B and really get to do something for me and be an active listener. So that’s what I love. 

Mario Fachini [39:13]

I love that you’re saying that. And I feel the same way. As much as I don’t mind any of this, I also love taking off the smart watch, the phone, everything, throwing it on the charger. Going on the boat, going for a swim, being like no one can find me. And if I don’t post anything, no one knows where I’m at. 

Maresa Friedman [39:30]

Yeah. Exactly. And then – 

Mario Fachini [39:32]

Unless you’re on the boat with me, which certain people should be and no one else will ever get the opportunity. 

Maresa Friedman [39:37]

Well, I think that’s great, though. I think sometimes it’s okay to be an island. Sometimes it’s okay to be selfish. I think we’re so –

Mario Fachini [39:46]

I wouldn’t say it’s even selfish. Like you said, you should be scheduling it. Because if you don’t take care of yourself, you’re going to be just as useless as half the employees or everyone else. 

Maresa Friedman [39:56]

Yeah. But I think we also have to redefine what selfish means. If you look at the actual dictionary version of it, it’s not actually a bad thing. It’s just sometimes you have to put yourself before others. But isn’t that what they tell us to do when we get on an airplane, put on our mask take care of ourselves, [unintelligible] [00:40:12] anybody else. So I mean, it is what it is. 

Mario Fachini [40:16]

I love that. I love what you’re sharing. We’re going to thank our sponsor and come back for the Imperfect Action Round. 

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Mario Fachini [41:34]

And we are back with the Imperfect Action Round. Maresa, are you ready to take imperfect action? 

Maresa Friedman [41:41]

Always. 

Mario Fachini [41:43]

I had a feeling you’d be up for this. First question – 60 second rapid fire answers – what is the fastest path to the cash? 

Maresa Friedman [41:50]

Talking about yourself incessantly. Awareness brings attention which brings money. 

Mario Fachini [41:56]

All right. Number two, what is the biggest problem you see your prospects making and the fastest way they can fix it? 

Maresa Friedman [42:04]

Hiring low cost resources that become a single point of failure. So instead of thinking about one person and one resource. Think about how could you have a team do the same thing or the same cost. 

Mario Fachini [42:18]

I’m going to have you expand on that. That’s very intriguing to me. 

Maresa Friedman [42:22]

So most businesses will hire a part time junior marketing coordinator. That’s typically the title that we see in California. That average hire will be somewhere between $1,600 to 2,100 a month. You could hire a small boutique agency, a team of four to five people for that one cost of a hire. So if you’re looking at it just dollar for dollar, be smarter with that dollar amount. Look for a smaller boutique agency or someone that can help you and you’ll get five people helping you instead of one. That way if one of them is sick, your business and your marketing still continues. You hire that one person and they get sick, your marketing stops. 

Mario Fachini [42:56]

That’s solid gold right there. I love that. Number three, what is the best way to maximize customer lifetime value? 

Maresa Friedman [43:03]

I think it’s about making intentional dialogues and reaching out to your customers all the time. Not just when you want something for them. I think proactive communication is something that I don’t often see. And oftentimes, it’s not just an email, it’s a phone call or a text message just letting someone know that you’re available, you’d love to talk, you’d love to chat, do a virtual coffee. Most of us are programmed to put people on just nurture campaigns. But people are always pleasantly surprised with a phone call. So I say, set up a channel, stuck the clients online, on LinkedIn. If something cool happened, call them and let them know what you thought. They’re going to love that and it’s going to make you look like a rock star in their eyes. 

Mario Fachini [43:43]

That is a great tip. And too many people don’t utilize it. 

Maresa Friedman [43:48]

Yeah. We get a lot of messages every day. How many of us can email all day long? So just to have someone kind of pattern interrupt your day and say, “Hey, I noticed you got promoted to this role. I’m super excited about for you. Good luck. Congratulations.” But it’s a total pattern interrupt. They’re not going expect it. And it’s going to make you seem, again, like a rock star. And it’s going to differentiate you from the pact. 

Mario Fachini [44:10]

I love that. One of my favorite things to do is video messages, whether it’s through a social media, through text, whatever. There’s even email software’s to do it. You know, just bridging that gap with that personal connection, like you’re talking about, people are inundated with social. And that is a great tip. I’m going to make sure that’s highlighted because a lot of people just, “Oh, I got my email -” oh my god. Okay. Whatever. We’re in agreement. I’ll leave it at that. What are some books you could recommend to Expert Authority World that have made an impact on your business and why? 

Maresa Friedman [44:40]

Here’s a huge, huge book, The Birth of a Brand by Brian Smith. He’s the founder of UGG. He’s a friend and neighbor. And he’s got some great stories. So when we think about failure, what if you had only sold $500 worth of product on your first year in business and it stops? So he’s got a great brand story there. And again, it’s great around story telling. Another fantastic, fantastic book is Three Feet From Gold. That’s by Sharon Lechter and Greg Reid. I had the pleasure of knowing both of those people. And it’s really interesting. It’s like, oftentimes we start right before – or we stop right before something amazing is going to happen. And then what ends up happening is we go, “Oh, it didn’t work.” And someone else swoops in. So they’re really good mindset stories. And I appreciate that. And then the third most important book that I’ve read is called, The Respectful Leader. So it’s really about understanding what it means to be respectful to other people that you’re working with and around for. And for, because a lot of times, again, we often approach people in the way that we want information. Or we don’t even consider how they receive information. So being respectful as you scale, I find is one of the key differentiators in keeping staff, maintaining staff, and keeping a good company culture. The last thing you want is a toxic culture as you’re building your brand or your business. Those are my top three. 

Mario Fachini [46:02]

Huge Expert Authority insights. And I have thoroughly enjoyed this. I have no doubt we could do a half-day training and maybe we will in the future. Thank you so much, Maresa. 

Maresa Friedman [46:12]

Thank you so much. 

Mario Fachini [46:15]

All right. Expert Authority World, we have another killer episode here today. I’m excited to share with you tomorrow. Have a great day and God bless. 

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www.EAInterviews.com [47:16]

Hey, thanks for listening to today’s episode. I hope you got a lot out of it. I know I sure did. If you haven’t done so already, I invite you to subscribe to the show. And also be sure to check out EAInterviews.com for complete show notes, the full interview video experience, links to the resources we mentioned, and more. Have a blessed day and I’ll see you tomorrow.