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It's time to face reality about sales channels, technology, and how people buy. E-commerce is going to dominate sales. Business was moving in that direction pre-COVID, but the pandemic dramatically accelerated those trends. You can fight this reality, or you can grow with it. On this episode of the podcast, I talked with Kevin Haar, chief operating officer at Super Bright LEDs, about the transition to e-commerce. Kevin and I discussed: What e-commerce can offer now that it couldn't in the past The impact of online sales in different parts of the organization Roadblocks and challenges in e-commerce adoption To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

We'd all love to create content and then sit back and wait for the phones to start ringing. But that doesn't work. You have to be proactive. Learn how and where your prospects and customers go to consume content online and deliver it to them in those channels. The only content that works is the content that's actually consumed. On this episode of the podcast, I invited Matt Sciannella, Senior Strategist at Gorilla76, to talk about content distribution. Matt and I discussed: The reasons we need to be talking about content distribution Why the mindset around the downloadable ebook is starting to change When you should venture onto a channel other than email, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

You know the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. But do you practice that philosophy as a manufacturing leader? Does it influence who you hire? How you manage your team? The way you interact with your stakeholders?  On this episode of the podcast, I invited Dan Erschen, the owner of Wisconsin Metal Parts, a contract manufacturer of metal parts and assemblies, to talk about servant leadership. Dan and I discussed: Dan's personal battle with MS and how it has shaped who he is today What servant leadership is and the benefits and challenges it brings to manufacturing companies Dan's advice about how to start shifting culture through servant leadership To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

When the mandated industry shut down in Michigan happened, one Millennial sought new ways to engage his current customers and share the benefits of automation while working from home. He turned to LinkedIn. Seven months later, his content has reached over 1.5 million views, and he's amassed more than 10,000 followers. On this episode of the podcast, I invited Jacob Hall, the Manufacturing Millennial, to discuss everything from embracing technology and creating video content to engaging young professionals in the workforce and building a personal brand on LinkedIn. Jake and I talked about: The value of video on LinkedIn for personal branding Why face-and-voice communication is your differentiator How to get past vanity metrics when evaluating your content's performance Sponsored by Cadenas Partsolutions To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

The term thought leadership has gotten tossed around a lot the last few years. But what exactly does thought leadership mean? Does it simply imply that you write a blog or that you spoke at a local Chamber of Commerce event? Or is thought leadership something more than that? How did you become a thought leader anyway? On this episode of the podcast, I invited Bill Sherman, COO and thought leadership practice lead at Thought Leadership Leverage. Bill helps clients who want to use thought leadership whether it's to fill a sales pipeline or influence how people think and act. Bill and I talked about: The four elements of thought leadership How thought leadership can impact your organizational and personal brands Why people struggle with content insecurity  Sponsored by Cadenas Partsolutions To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

Twenty years ago, we barely had enough info to measure our impact. Today, manufacturing marketers are overwhelmed with data, and everyone wants to sell us software to find, store, clean, surface, and use that data. Why is data such a big buzzword in business, especially manufacturing? On this episode of the podcast, I invited Jon Thompson, co-founder and senior partner at Blue Margin Inc, a company of 38 consultants and engineers who help mid-market companies with an emphasis on industrials use their data to create growth. Jon and I talked about: Why data needs to go from the c-suite all the way to the frontline worker The idea of numbers as a motivator The biggest challenges manufacturers face when controlling and using their data Check out this resource we mentioned during the podcast: The Dashboard Effect To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

From Industry 4.0 to 3D printing to wearable technology, there are so many advancements happening in manufacturing. But it's easy to get sidetracked by these shiny objects. We need to focus on the problem or goal at hand first. And then APPLY the right-fit technology accordingly. On this episode of the podcast, I invited Jonathan Hensley, co-founder and CEO of Emerge Interactive, a digital product consulting firm that works with companies to improve operational agility and customer experience. Jonathon and I talked about: Digital products and services that might be applied in the industrial sector Customer experience in the data Changing operations, supply chain disruption, and labor retention in the manufacturing space To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

After I go, what happens to my company?  Every successful business owner eventually faces that question. In some cases, the succession plan seems obvious. In others, it's not at all clear.  On this episode of the podcast, I invited Nick Jackson, Principal of the Mendota Group, which acquires small to medium-sized manufacturing, distribution and service businesses. Nick and I talked about: The difference between a financial buyer, a strategic buyer, and an active investor A step-by-step process for finding an advisor when selling your company What happens after a deal gets closed To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

Many manufacturers rely on events to generate pipeline. What do you do when events shut down? On this episode of the podcast, I share three tangible ideas for reallocating your marketing budget to keep a steady flow of leads coming while trade shows can't help you do it. Make the shift from brochure marketing that's all about you to genuinely helpful content marketing that's about your prospect. Market to your existing customers. Your email list is gold. Learn how to do video based prospecting. It's a lot easier than you might think. Resources we talked about: I Need What’s In Your Brain: Extracting Expert Knowledge for Content Marketing w/ Toby Wall Video-based prospecting: An easy, but comprehensive guide Loom.com for easy prospecting videos 4 ways to build your ultimate list for cold outbound email To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

We hear grumblings about automation taking away job opportunities. But inside the manufacturing sector, companies are struggling to find high quality, consistent human laborers. The real challenge facing the industry is this: Baby Boomers are exiting the workforce, and there aren't enough people in the skilled trades to replace them. Gary Konarska, Executive Director & CEO at American Welding Society, joined this episode of the podcast to discuss how to attract and retain high quality labor. Gary and I talked about: The opportunity cost of college and the value of learning a skilled trade  How to address the shortage of welders Ways to attract fresh talent through creating great content How to upskill the current welding workforce Resources we talked about: Careers in Welding by AWS Leveraged Learning To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

What happens when your competitors are talking about themselves but you are producing resourceful content? You win!  So how can you write helpful technical content for manufacturers? First, it needs to come from the brains of subject matter experts. Second, you need to extract that knowledge from their brains and use their insights to fuel your marketing strategy.  Toby Wall, thinker and senior writer at Gorilla76, joined this episode of the podcast to discuss how to create great content in the manufacturing space. Toby and I talk about: Where should content expertise originate? Why should subject matter experts expect to play a role in content creation? How do you extract expert knowledge and turn it into credible content? Resources we talked about: They Ask, You Answer: A Revolutionary Approach to Inbound Marketing How to extract expert knowledge from your team and turn it into incredible content “I need what’s in your brain” – Why we insist on interviewing subject matter experts To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

It's 2010. Apple has just released a new product called the iPad. The Lakers just won their fifth championship under Phil Jackson. And the BP oil spill was all over the news. In the marketing world, a trending movement started to take hold. It was called inbound marketing. Today, inbound marketing has exploded, and B2B businesses are taking the next logical step to inbound selling. Brian Signorelli, senior director of sales at Hubspot and author of the book Inbound Selling, joined this episode of the podcast to discuss the history and future of inbound.  Brian and I talk about: -Why inbound marketing's popularity spread so far -Great resources to learn more about what inbound is and why it works -Extending inbound marketing principles into the sales side of an organization Resources we talked about: -Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs -StoryBrand -Inbound Selling: How to Change the Way You Sell to Match How People Buy -HubSpot To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

You can market your products just about any way you want to. You can pour money into trade shows, pay-per-click campaigns, or print ads. Personally, I'm a big advocate of inbound marketing, but inbound means playing a very long game. Because of that, I advocate supplementing inbound with identifying the right people from the right companies for a special sales-plus-marketing solution. I'm talking about account based marketing (ABM).  Now if you want to learn about ABM, go see Sangram Vajre, author, co-founder at Terminus, and the man who sired ABM from 50,000 feet in the air. Or you can just listen to this episode of the podcast where Sangram and I talk about: A solid definition of ABM What intent data is and how to use it Why you shouldn't treat all your accounts the same How small to mid-sized businesses can apply ABM methodology Resources we talked about: ABM is B2B: Why B2B Marketing and Sales Is Broken and How to Fix It Account-Based Marketing for Dummies To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

Back in May, I wrote an article entitled Summer Reading 12 lessons from 12 books for 12 weeks. The author of one of those 12 books, Ian Altman, is my guest on this episode of The Manufacturing Executive! A bestselling author and B2B growth expert, Ian started, sold, and grew his prior companies from zero to over $1 billion in value. He has since spent years researching how executives make decisions. Ian's modern approach has helped many businesses turn marginal growth into explosive growth and thrive where their competitors struggled merely to survive. Ian and I talk about: Why you should flip your sales message The three questions you need to ask to make an informed decision How to weed out wrong-fit clients How to pivot away from in-person meetings during COVID-19 Resources we talked about: Same Side Selling on Amazon Same Side Selling Academy Ian Altman's Website Growth In Crisis Course To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

A few years ago, we at Gorilla 76 took a close look at the common components among our most successful manufacturing clients. Then, we boiled these down to seven specific elements. Once we put them together, we built a model we call the seven core elements of an industrial marketing strategy.  On this episode of The Manufacturing Executive, we discuss these seven key elements of manufacturing marketing: Positioning Website Foundation  Technology Stack  Content Strategy Lead Generation Strategy,  Pipeline Management Strategy  Data analysis Resource discussed on the episode: Downloadable guide and audit spreadsheet To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

Automation cannot replace human labor. Rather, the key is to augment the workforce by equipping humans with the technology they need to be more effective, more efficient, and safer. Tracy Hansen, president of North America and global CMO for ProGlove, a German maker of wearable digital interfaces and operations analytics for industry, joined this episode of The Manufacturing Executive Show. She talked about the ways manufacturers need to pivot with technology as they look at how to emerge from this pandemic in one piece. Here's what we discussed with Tracy: How wearable solutions can augment the human worker Examples of the ways wearable technology improves safety, efficiency, and productivity The wearable technology solutions executives should know about ...And what excessive automation looks like and how to avoid it. To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

Something's not going well, and it's your job to fix it. Where do you start?  You can't rely on your charm and good looks to make a change happen. Instead, you have to work through proven processes that alleviate distress at companies.  On this episode of The Manufacturing Executive Show, Rob Tracy, consultant and author of How to Fix a Factory, talked about specific processes that can solve problems at distressed organizations.   Here's what we discussed with Rob: Why Rob wrote How to Fix a Factory and who he wrote it for How value-add reporting can give distinct insight into P&L The 10 core systems that must be operating with reasonable proficiency for the factory as a whole to have good outcomes Rob's new idea called The Business Forward Framework Additional Resource Mentioned in the Episode: Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

By 2022 online videos will make up more than 82% of consumer internet traffic. That's 15 times more than in 2017, according to a recent study by Cisco.  Video is how your buyers want to consume information, so it's exactly how you need to deliver it to them. On this episode of The Manufacturing Executive Show, Danny Gonzalez, CEO of both Industrial Sage and Optimum Productions, talked about driving growth through video production in the industrial sector. Here's what we discussed with Danny: How some industrial companies are using video to their advantage already Shifting your message from traditional marketing to the way buyers buy now How salespeople can make one-to-one messaging videos using their webcams and distribute them via video cards The way to get started in video marketing right now (and now's the perfect time!) Resources Mentioned in the Episode: Industrialsage.com Monique Elliot of Schneider Electric Malika Waller of Landis+Gyr To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

I did something a little different in this episode. As opposed to bringing in an outside guest and interviewing them, I did a solocast. It's just you and me talking about things I've learned while serving the industrial sector for the last eight-plus years as a sales and marketing consultant. Today, I discuss how to stop giving away engineering and consulting services for free. Here are some of my thoughts from this episode: How to package your expertise so you don't go down these long time-suck paths where you give away free insight and engineering work Examples of how paid engagement can work, including a site audit, a second opinion service, a research report, and a product sample An idea I call "the spectrum of value creation" ...And how your buyer's mindset changes when you approach them this way (and why that's a great thing for your business!) To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

Are you really doing content marketing if you don't create white papers, write blog posts, and deliver long speeches about the benefits of your product? Can a CAD model help educate your prospective buyers just as effectively as a nice, fat e-book can? On this episode of The Manufacturing Executive Show, Adam Beck, Director of Marketing at CADENAS PARTsolutions, talked about educating your audience using CAD models. Here's what we discussed with Adam: How to protect real manufacturing models while using a CAD model as a form of content marketing The day-long event he put on for content marketers in industrial manufacturing How to educate customers using models as a marketing tool To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Show, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.