Topics I like to discuss
Here’s a sample of topics that I like to chat about. I’ve been interviewed about some of these, and others are topics I discuss in advising sessions or even just chats with friends.
Marketing
- Long playbook on defining ICPs, creating demand with paid social, and scaling new pipeline (playbook article)
- Planning
- An example 90-day plan
- An example 1-year plan
- Marketing OKR examples for teams and individuals (LI post)
- How to build a pipeline & ARR forecasting model (LI post 1, spreadsheet template, LI post 2)
- How to show current state vs future state goal (LI post, board meeting slide template)
- How to create a 90-day plan & 1 year plan (partially related LI post 1, partially related LI post 2)
- Turning strategy into execution (LI post)
- Demand Generation
- How I cut 50% of our paid search budget and pipeline from paid search even went up that month (LI post 1, LI post 2)
- How we implemented paid social to create demand and the related tactics (LI post)
- How to perform a split the funnel analysis to see what is and isn’t working in Marketing (LI post)
- How we moved from a lead gen to a demand gen / create demand model (LI post 1, LI post 2)
- How to break down lead to opp to improve performance (LI post)
- Display ads are usually a waste of money
- Checking individual leads to see what’s going on
- Ways to experiment (LI post 1, LI post 2)
- Template and best practices for creating demand via distribution-focused educational paid social ads
- Why web pages are better than landing pages with no top-level menu nav in most cases (LI post)
- Self-reported attribution and why “How did you hear about us?” is important (LI post 1, LI post 2, LI post 3, LI post 4)
- How to dam demand (LI post)
- Product Marketing, Content Marketing, and Brand Marketing
- How we refined our ICP using concentric circles
- How to create new positioning and enable your whole company on it (LI post 1, LI post 2)
- How to create unique points of view (LI post)
- The best kit for creating new content for any new integration (LI post)
- How to identify and create specific ICPs (LI post 1, LI post 2, LI post 3, LI post 4, LI post 5)
- How to create differentiation and infuse it in everything
- How to plan for launches
- How to message to multiple personas
- How to create ad copy (partially related LI post)
- Customer story creation process (LI post)
- Developing a content creation process (LI post)
- How to get customer insights (LI post 1, LI post 2)
- Why you should list pricing on your website (LI post)
- Top skills to have as a PMM (LI post)
- Metrics to track (result metrics, activity metrics, OKR metrics)
- Presenting to the Board and C-Suite
- GTM
- How we built a GTM new business land playbook to standardize each set (partially related LI post)
- How to move upmarket (LI post)
- How to manage a PLG and Sales-led motion at the same time
- Operations
- How we connected ad to lead to opp to closed won
- My martech stack I like to use (at a couple of companies)
- Career Advice
- Advice for early career marketers (podcast interview)
- General career suggestions (LI post, LI post)
- Career progression framework
- How to find already-posted Marketing jobs (LI post)
- How to reach out for a referral to different types of people
- How to prep for an interview
- Recommended reading and learning
- Career progression criteria for Marketers (LI post)
- Most valuable current skillsets
- The importance of positioning yourself
- Interviewing as a non-native speaker (LI post)
- Thought leadership and evangelism
- International Expansion
- How to expand and market internationally
- Ways to stage out your paid media testing for international (LI post)
- Budgeting
- How and where to reduce your budget with a recession coming (LI post)
- Developer marketing
- Important principles to keep in mind
- Influencer marketing (podcast interview – Apple link & Spotify link, LI post)
- Podcasting
- How to gain prospects through it
- The best tech stack (and how mine has evolved over time)
- How to get new podcast guests, especially early on
- Cold emailing strategies
- Choosing to go with an agency vs. in-house employee (partially related LI post)
- How to create alignment and close collaboration with Sales (LI post 1, LI post 2, LI post 3)
- ABM
- Startup and nonprofit programs (LI post)
- Creating global, integrated campaigns
- Job description templates
- Marketing org structures
- Events and field marketing
- Event planning template
- Post-event follow-up (LI post)
- Creative and design
- How to semi-automate design
- Creative best practices
Leadership
- Methods of collaboration that have been most effective for me and my team
- How to create OKRs
- How I’ve evolved as a leader over time
- How to navigate cultural differences
- Hiring and recruiting
- How to hire internationally to lower headcount costs
- What I look for when hiring no matter the position (LI post)
- How to find the right candidates
- Interviewing plans
- How to set salaries and compensation and handle negotiation (LI post)
- When location matters for hiring (partially related LI post)
- Tough performance conversations and firing
- PIP template
- How to have tough performance conversations
- How to fire someone
- Managing up
- Onboarding new hires (LI post)
- Creating company culture
- How to celebrate success of others and as a team
- Advice to my younger self
- Why you shouldn’t call people resources
- How to have an effective team meeting (LI post)
- An effective 1:1 structure (LI post)
- Why you should have skip-level meetings (LI post)
Sales
- Reframing high pricing (LI post)
- How to get a meeting booked at a higher rate (LI post)
- Cold calling tips (LI post)
Photography
Learning new things
Contrarian views
- Why cold emailing strangers outside of work still works
- Habits & financial disincentives
- Annual goal setting
- Out-of-office emails should be fun (LI post)
- People watch too much TV, movies, and social media and should severely limit their intake
- Most people have time to volunteer weekly and should do so but make up excuses not to
- Most people should give way more money than they do
- Retirement is not a good idea for most people
Climate change and the environment
- Great movies & resources that discuss it
- Aria Duncan’s research
- How rice is so important to us and so effected by climate change
Creating and running side projects
- How to start them
- How to think of ideas
- How they help you with your main career
- Why these are great creative outlets
Starting a startup
- How to do it
- Best tools to start with and companies to work with
- Examples that I’ve done
- Learnings from starting startups
Nonprofits
- How to run a nonprofit as a side project
- How to start a side project
- How to get the Google Ad Grant
- How to recruit volunteers and interns
Walking desk
How to find your passion(s)
Life of the mind
- How to be more content and satisfied
- My motivations in life
Mentorship and Mentoring
- Why it’s valuable
- How to find them
- How to sustain them
- How to be one
- Influential people early in my career and things they taught me
Faith and Doubt
- Why I am a Christian
- How I doubted almost all of my core beliefs for months and what I came to decide on after
Miscellaneous Talks I’ve Given
Topics I’m learning more about
- Circadian science and biological rhythms
- Deep brain stimulation