Author: Brittany Crockett

Gary Vaynerchuk has been a force in the marketing world for as long as I’ve been in business, and his latest book, Day Trading Attention, is an A plus. I give it a letter grade because this is more of a textbook than your typical business book. Gary brings his expertise to the table in a way that’s very systematic, and his examples help equip readers with very specific tactics to work on marketing in 2025. Our team took several weeks and went through this as a book club. I think it was really helpful for us to continue to stay relevant in the marketing world. Some of my favorite parts of this book were the lists of types of contents and techniques for content, along with the real-life examples for each category. One example of this is the list of types of content, but those lists even get more granular than that, like the real-life backgrounds example. These are posts where you might take a sign in the real world, like a street sign, and in Photoshop, change the words to help share a particular message. While I’ve seen these done and even made them before, categorizing them as a type of content is a helpful tool to be more intentional about using it.

Gary starts off by talking about the TikTok-ification of social media, which is especially relevant in today’s world, where this completely different method of approaching social media, not from followers and subscribers, but algorithmically-based content is how a lot of platforms are moving to now that TikTok has had its success. And with TikTok in limbo for the foreseeable future, understanding that platforms process and how it affects everybody else is super valuable insight. From here, Gary takes us back to marketing 101 and thinks about how we can really understand our customers. But he drills in a little further. Besides customers in general, are there specific groups of customers within your customer demographic that you can reach out to? It’s not just business owners. Is it owners in West Tennessee who also read Seth Godin? Creating content for each of these smaller segments is where marketing is going, and being able to do that at scale. The world has changed from one company doing a commercial that costs $30 million to produce to producing 30 commercials to different target demographics that cost a million dollars each to produce because the connection and relevancy is more important than the production value.

Gary’s explanation of the modern advertising framework is in some way something that we’ve been thinking about for a while, but he puts it forth in a way that’s very clear. It all starts with the audience definition and moves on to the strategic organic content. Organic content that’s relevant to your audience will be more and more valuable as the world moves to artificial content. Gary spends the last chapter of the book setting up real-life examples and breaking down how he would approach them from a marketing perspective. This section alone is valuable to see how his brain is working because he plays on a different level than most of us. My only real criticism is that in the nature of marketing in 2025, how fast things change and adapt, this book is close to being behind the times the the day it was printed. While I believe the framework may be relevant for a very long time to come, some of the content around specific platforms and advice for specific platforms may be out of date before the end of the year. Day Trading Attention doesn’t necessarily read like other books because it is more like a textbook.

But if you’re in the marketing and advertising world, I think it’s essential reading for 2025. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Content Machine podcast. Stay subscribed for future episodes where we discuss local marketing and small business culture. See you on a future episode.

Well, after a few days of back and forth, TikTok is back, at least for the next couple of weeks. Now, whether this is good or bad for the country’s defense, I can’t speak to, but from a marketing standpoint, there are all sorts of interesting ramifications.

The banning of TikTok, even for the short couple hours it was off, led to a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth on social media. And part of that reason is because a lot of people really enjoy using TikTok because of how good the algorithm is at showing you things that entertain you. But also there are people’s livelihoods that are completely dependent on TikTok to be successful, whether that’s a local business or an influencer, or people who are selling products that they were able to sell through TikTok. There are people for whom the closing of TikTok was not just a mere inconvenience, but a threat to their very way of life. In a culture that increasingly has a splintering of media habits, TikTok was a powerhouse.

Eventually, TikTok will fall by the wayside just because it’ll be less popular than it used to be. Like Facebook was once the dominant powerhouse and now is more of a middling player, social media is subject to trends. So what are some marketing lessons that we can learn from the closure of TikTok? There’s a fundamental difference between media that is rented and media that is owned. In our world, we tend to think that we own a social media channel that we use.

We own our Facebook page or we own our TikTok account, but we really don’t. It’s rented land while we are using it. For now, the owners of that land can change the terms of the agreement whenever they want to. People are usually worried about a channel’s owners decreasing reach and increasing the cost of advertising, or even, depending on the situation, getting kicked off by the platform owner. We’ve had clients who have broken no rules and get ad accounts and the like.

Restricted rented land is not permanent. But now we have an additional factor to consider. Whether our government will shut down the platform. For some reason, there is not a digital platform we really own. Even our website is hosted on other people’s servers, and our domain addresses rely on the DNS servers of the Internet to get web traffic.

But we do have more ownership over our website, over our email list, and over things like text message lists. Even things like Vimeo and YouTube have more of an ownership stake in them now. Some of the content may be limited in where it can reach based on that platform, but we still have a way to distribute information. SEO is also extremely volatile and building a business around that can be very dangerous because ultimately Google could turn your website off tomorrow. With all of this uncertainty, what should we do about it?

The first thing is we prioritize inbound marketing. With inbound marketing we create ways that we are ready to be found by our target market. Our website is communicative to a certain set of people with a certain set of problems. We instill trust in the website process with branding, real photography and well written copy. We also provide value to those coming to the website by sharing information or sharing expertise through free downloads of information that can also help us get contact information for prospects.

We also do not put all of our eggs in one basket. A home services company that may be actively investing to 12 to 15 channels of marketing at one time. Partially that is because attention is splintered in our society towards different platforms, whether that be social media, YouTube, television, radio, etc. But now we have the additional thought process of what happens if the government decides they don’t like a platform anymore. A diversification of distribution is more costly.

However, it may be a good investment in the future. At the time of writing, TikTok is back for at least a limited period of time. And so if you haven’t started thinking about how to diversify your interest across multiple platforms, now is the time. Not all content will perform the same across all platforms. Not all content will work at all on each platform.

So having a structured set of goals for each platform is helpful. And that’s not to say that you should be on every platform. You should be on the platforms that make the most sense for your target market. But if you’re only invested in one, our recommendation that would be to start a second one that has a similar demographics or related demographics to help secure your business in the case of an angry service provider or at anger government thank you for listening to this episode of the Content Machine Podcast. If you have any feedback, shoot me an email at kevin@adelsbergermarketing.com and we look forward to seeing you on future episodes of the podcast.

Kevin

And welcome back to the Content Machine podcast. We’ve come to that time of the year where we get to hear from our interns about what they’ve learned and what they’ve enjoyed about their internship at Adelsberger Marketing. This semester, we’ve been joined by Ben Paulk and Lainey Fox. And we’re going to hear from them, too.

Kevin

Let’s start with that. So, Lainey, what is something that you’ve learned during your internship at Adelsberger Marketing?

Lainey

One of the things that I had to learn through this internship was how to take correction a lot better and being able to really take those learning moments and use them to their best advantage. I came into this internship with a whole lot more confidence than I probably should have had, thinking that, Oh, I got this. There’s not that much that I’m going to be learning here. It’s just going to be gaining experience for the resume. There was a lot of instances where maybe I wasn’t able to achieve the goal that you all were setting, or there was moments where I needed to learn something new and being able to take you all’s really good correction and be able to sit there and be like, Oh, that’s really good advice, or, Oh, I see why they’re right, and be able to implement that. It’s been a really big life skill that I’ve really had to learn into.

Kevin

Yeah, that’s a very mature response. Ben, good luck following that up.

Ben

I think for me, it’s really been learning to seek consistency over perfection, because while perfection is good, it’s ultimately unattainable. And really, your best work is done when you’re consistently doing the grunt work day in, day out, and learning those basic skills and then stacking those on to the more difficult projects or things that are harder to learn. Yeah.

Kevin

Well, speaking of projects, tell us about what your favorite project has been this semester.

Ben

My favorite project this semester has definitely been working with the AC Furnish Repair Company. It brought with it its fair their share of challenges, but also definitely some triumphs, being able to work with just in general, a field where there are so many logos and so many different variations. And trying to come up with something that feels original and feels fresh doesn’t feel overdone, because a lot of the logos that I’ve seen whenever I was looking it up on Google, they all look the same, if I’m going to be honest. And so I think what me and Katie and working with her has been fantastic. And I think what we came up with just feels fresh, and I was very proud of that.

Kevin

Yeah, and the client liked it, too.

Ben

That’s a bonus.

Kevin

You think that’s a bonus? That’s actually the most important part, but yes, as Absolutely. Lainey, how about you? Favorite project you got to work on?

Lainey

I really enjoyed, honestly, delivering socks to… Delivering socks to you all’s past clients in celebration of the company’s 10-year anniversary. Anniversary. That was so much fun.

Kevin

You’re not being sarcastic?

Lainey

No, I had so much fun with that. I got to drive around and meet just the broad scope of clients that you all had, and being able to chat with them was a blast. But on a more work-related note-I did not anticipate you saying that. It was a lot of fun. No, on a more work-related note, I had a lot of… I guess fun is a good word. I I really enjoyed getting into the nitty-gritty of different types of professional writing and the different tones and things that go into that. For instance, the press releases that I’ve been helping on a little bit. There was a lot there that I had no idea how they worked. And it was very interesting looking at you all’s past press releases and trying to learn what goes into that and the tone for it has been very interesting.

Kevin

Yeah, and that’s a skill you’ll be able to take with you wherever it goes. Yes, very much. And so So we’re talking about where you’re going next. So Ben, I think you’re heading towards graduation, right? Yes, sir. So what are you hoping that your future career trajectory looks like from here?

Ben

I think for me, I’ve definitely found my home here in Tennessee. So I was actually born in Tennessee. Then we moved to Texas, then Alabama, and now my family lives in Georgia. And there’s something about Tennessee. It’s where my grandparents were. So I definitely want to stay here in Tennessee, either in this area I potentially move to Nashville or Knoxville. I love Tennessee. I love where it is just geographically. We get snow, actually, and I’ve lived further south. And so I love the snow. But I also like Nashville and Knoxville. I’d like to live there one day, hopefully. But I think the main thing for me, and this is going to sound funny, but being here at college, I haven’t been able to bring my Lego collection with me.

Kevin

So So wherever you go, you got to get enough square footage to put your Legos. Exactly. I need a Lego.

Lainey

So Nashville might be off the list, actually. He has so many Legos. Okay.

Ben

I do.

Kevin

He has so many Legos. All right. And professionally, what are you hoping to do now for work?

Ben

Professionally, I’m hoping to work as a graph designer. I don’t think currently for me working solo is going to be for me, frankly. I think it’s too volatile, and I don’t think I know enough I want to learn under somebody. I’m not ready to do it by myself, I don’t think.

Kevin

Well, that’s a good realization to have. Lainey, how about you? Because you’ve got a year or two of school left.

Lainey

I got another year of school.

Kevin

Another year of school. So career-wise, what are you thinking for your future now?

Lainey

That’s the question, isn’t it? Yeah. So, yeah, like most college students, I think the distant future of career goals is a little a little bit nebulous sometimes. I do know that I really enjoy working either with customers or with other people. I really enjoy what you all do here of trying to take what a client is looking for and be able to make that an actual attainable goal and bring their ideas to life in a way that’s going to be productive. I think something in that field, I haven’t narrowed it down super well yet. I do think that being in this internship has very much opened me up to the scope of things that I could go into, and I think that that’s been a huge takeaway.

Kevin

Ben and Lainey, thank you so much for interning with us this semester, and we are glad to get to know both of you. If you are watching this and you are thinking about, I would love to have an internship at Adelsberger Marketing, we have new interns cycling through on the regular. So check out our website for that application. And look at these two for career opportunities as they hit the job market not too long from now. So thank you all for watching the Content Machine podcast. Stay subscribed for episodes about business and leadership and-And I don’t think I know enough yet. Culture building in the small business environment.

I am a person who normally defaults to action. I sometimes describe myself as an action-oriented person. I don’t sit still well, and I do not like a meeting that does not end with a to-do list. I once saw a poster in a co-working space that read, Doing things can be a sufficient strategic plan. And in some ways, this poster may have had too much influence on my life. But ultimately, I believe a good plan now is better than a perfect plan later. Despite these personal convictions, even I, at times, find myself allowing others to dictate the tone in some situations. Situations where it likely should be me setting the tone. So what do I mean by setting the tone? In every relationship, in every exchange, in every situation, someone or something dictates the tone of that. So the definition I’ve got to set the tone is to establish a standard in a particular interaction, personally or as part of a group for attitude, intensity, communication, and/or excellence.

Now, this analogy might be most obvious in sports. If you think you are getting together for a fun pickup game of soccer and three minutes in, some dude having just finished aggressively chugging his pregame monster slide tackles someone? In that moment, the tone has an opportunity to change. Either someone takes Gary off to the side and takes him down a notch, or the entire game becomes more intense. Gary was setting the tone. In competitive sports, it can be set an example for the rest of your team about how much the leader is willing to sacrifice to win. For example, Southern Illinois University men’s basketball team in the mid 2000s earned the nickname floor burn U. This mid-major college outperformed larger programs because they were willing to outwork their talent level. All out intensity was the tone. In practice, you would get points for effort plays. So are you willing to dive out of bounds into the stands to get the ball? Are you willing to outwork everyone else? Or are you taking plays off? These are the questions that set the tone in that situation. At work, maybe this is the leader setting the tone for the standard of what will be acceptable or how we will treat a certain type of customer.

This last year, we experienced a particularly difficult client. Each meeting was something that everyone dreaded. Eventually, we reached a point where this client was openly hostile to us in a meeting. Now, this is weird for us because normally clients love us. We are used to smiles and maybe at most some constructive criticism. In this situation, however, I feel I abdicated my responsibility to set the tone. I had allowed the client to set the tone, and we all paid for it. As I wrestled with the situation, this year’s theme was born. Set the tone. The first step to solving a problem is admitting that you have one. In this sense, we’re going to first recognize the need to set the tone. I believe this first starts with you and I on a personal level. What tone are you setting for yourself? Are you setting yourself up to win? Or is there an internal voice too critical or unsupportive, setting yourself up for failure. Are you doing the right things to be successful? It’s not only the boss setting the tone, you do not have to be in charge to set the tone. Leaders lead. But whatever level you are in a meeting or at a team, you can work to set the tone. When someone sets the tone, we can either match it or set a new one.

Customer engagements, internally with ourselves, or on the field at a pickup game. I am someone who often finds myself to be the leader in a room. When I’m the leader in the room, I want to work to not destroy the tone set by others if it’s appropriate for the situation. This is especially true if I’m in a room where I am not the leader. If the leader in a situation has set a tone that’s appropriate for what’s going on, I want to work to keep that tone in my interactions and not undermine that leader. Before you have a meeting or an interaction with someone else, especially if it’s important, let’s think about the tone with which we wish to carry the interaction through. The other party will have thoughts, but with intentionality, we have the opportunity to set the table with the proper tone before the meeting even starts. So this is my question for you. Who’s going to set the tone in 2025? Because the opportunity is ever present for it to be you.

As we approach 2025, are you ready for the new year? Planning is critical for long-term success, and every year, I take time in the fourth quarter to map out our goals for the coming year. Today, I want to share a few thoughts on preparing for the next year of business. The first step I find is helpful is to review what happened this year. Take notes on what worked and what didn’t. I go back through my calendar to help me refresh my memory of events, clients, projects to help prompt my thoughts on ways to improve. Additionally, I want to examine key metrics like profitability, utilization, and revenue compared to the previous year to see if we’ve made any progress. Every year, our team evaluates our alignment with our mission statement. We break down our mission into four components: creative work, client success, team, and community. We go over these as a group to see how we did that in the last year. We also use the entrepreneurial operating system or EOS, which includes setting rocks or key projects that go above and beyond our day-to-day work at the company. At the end of each year, we review whether we met our yearly goals, which may include things like certain revenue, utilization targets, or projects like celebrating the company’s 10th anniversary that we did this year.

Our annual planning is also guided by our 10-year vision, which is maintained through the EOS system. This vision helps us define what each year should look like as we work toward the ultimate goal. After reviewing the past year, the next step is planning how to make further progress towards that 10-year vision. This involves setting targets for revenue, profitability, and utilization, broken down into monthly increments so that we can monitor progress closely. We also identify our rocks for the coming year. While some rocks may be added during the course of the year, I prefer to have a clear idea of our focus areas up front. During this planning phase, I gather feedback from our team on future rocks. In a flat team structure like ours, everyone helps contribute ideas. But if you have a leadership team, that might be just where you limit that input from. And sometimes, people on your team send you pictures of The Rock when you ask for rocks. Each fall, we review our organizational chart and consider growth trends in the business. I look to head to potential staffing needs and plan how responsibilities might be allocated to maximize our chance of success. This includes evaluating the current staff to see if their role should be adjusted to better meet our goals and their goals.

The end of the year is also an ideal time to assess whether our pricing aligns with our goals, whether driven by market conditions or profitability targets. We implemented a financial management checklist last year with reminders for key tasks throughout the year, ensuring that we’re handling the business side of things effectively. One takeaway this year is that I need a more detailed checklist for next year. So what are all the things that are part of the annual planning routine? Now, this planning season is shaped by what I’m calling Mission 2028. My goal by July My first, 2028, is to equip Adelsberger Marketing to operate independently of me for a full month. This would mean building a resilient organization with no single points of failure. Mission 2028 is a significant influence on our 2025 planning. Are you ready to plan 2025? Do you need support for your 2025 marketing strategy? We’d love to help. We have one or two spots open before the end of the year, so feel free to reach out to me at kevin@adelsbergermarketing.com if you’re interested. Thanks for listening to this Content Machine podcast. If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a friend, and don’t forget to subscribe for more information on small business leadership, marketing, and culture.