Ahrefs Podcast

Ahrefs Podcast
  • 3.6 (7)
  • MARKETING
Ahrefs Podcast

A free 2-hour consulting call with top founders and CMOs, disguised as a podcast interview. Hosted by Ahrefs' CMO, Tim Soulo.

  1. 3 DAYS AGO

    Breaking down early-stage SaaS marketing | Madhav Bhandari (Storylane)

    Early-stage marketing can be full of challenges, but what if there were a playbook to follow? Meet Madhav Bhandari, first marketing hire at Hubstaff and one of the first marketers at Close.io, and Weflow, all of which he helped to cross $10M+ in ARR. He's currently the CMO of Storylane, where he has helped grow their ARR by 250% in 2024 alone. In other words, Madhav has pretty much mastered the art of scaling SaaS companies from $5M to $15M+ ARR. Here's what you'll learn in this episode: (00:00) Intro
 (1:01) Early-stage marketing playbook
 (12:25) Why Madhav only scales to $15M (15:42) The average tenure for a CMO (19:50) The ideal CEO/CMO fit (26:46) Earning your CEO’s trust (36:01) Employee advocacy as a marketing tool (49:10) Easing friction by bringing community together (Demo Days) (56:16) Creativity in community awards (Demo Dundies)(1:05:40) 10xing traffic in 6 months through demo-led SEO( 1:13:36) Hot take on backlinks (1:15:41) Strategies for growing a brand (1:24:08) Defining and codifying a brand (1:31:20) When rebranding makes sense (1:34:18) Founder brand vs company brand (1:40:50) Is testing multiple tactics in a short period of time a good idea? (1:45:17) The best channels for early stage founders (1:47:47) Fixing burnout in marketing (1:52:45) Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Madhav: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/madhavbhandari/) Website: https://earlystagemarketing.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/) X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ ------------------------- Referenced: • Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com • Canva: https://www.canva.com • Notion: https://www.notion.so • HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com • Slack: https://slack.com • Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com • Hubstaff: https://hubstaff.com • Close: https://close.com • Weflow: https://www.getweflow.com

    1h 53m

  2. 12/17/2024

    Creatively outmarketing industry giants to a $5.6B valuation | Jon Stona (Airwallex)

    How can you rise to unicorn status in an industry dominated by legacy players? Jon Stona, VP of Global Marketing at B2B global payments processor Airwallex shares his insights into growing the company from a coffee shop in Australia to a dominant player in the fintech space.  Today, Airwallex has a $5.6B valuation and handles $100B in processing volume. So, what's the marketing machine behind this financial challenger brand?  00:00 Intro 01:29 What is the marketing budget for a $5B company? 02:55 Sponsorships and the theory of economic value 10:48 Celebrity partnerships 22:04 The mechanics of sports marketing 23:48 Bringing structure to a marketing team 26:53 The role of product marketing within a company 33:14 Transforming company culture 35:47 The difference between leadership and therapy 45:17 Building a sustainable brand 59:43 Measuring growth through branded search 1:06:20 Are operating principles important for a company? 1:12:01 Differentiating yourself as a commodity 1:14:08 Building out PMM teams for different products 1:16:57 Allocating SEO budget 1:18:48 The usefulness of industry reports 1:26:11 How to use case studies in marketing 1:31:04 Getting your name in the press 1:34:33 Driving growth through industry events 1:41:17 Industry awards 1:46:48 Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend).  Where to find Jon: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jstona/) Website: https://www.airwallex.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/) X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ ------------------------- Referenced: McLaren: @mclaren F1: @Formula1 Lando Norris: @LandoNorris Shifted Perspectives: https://www.airwallex.com/airwallex-mclaren-racing-shifted-perspectives Michael Murphy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Murphy_(sculptor) Mere exposure effect (psychology): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mere-exposure_effect Forrester: @forrester Edgar, Dunn & Company: https://www.edgardunn.com/ Skift: @skiftnews YouGov: https://www.yougov.com/ David Fallarme: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dfallarme/) Stripe Sessions: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcoWp8pBTM3CYTQho8i-a_lzx4cq7-ePh Beyond Black Friday eCommerce Champion Awards: https://www.airwallex.com/newsroom/amid-online-spending-resurgence-airwallex-unveils-inaugural-airwallex Money20/20: https://www.money2020.com/ Cloud 100 list: https://www.forbes.com/cloud100/list/

    1h 47m

  3. 12/03/2024

    The blueprint to scaling to $100M | Neil Patel

    Neil Patel, one of the most recognized names in digital marketing, pulls back the curtain on how he scaled his agency, NP Digital, to over $100 million in revenue. Neil shares his insights into building and managing a global agency, transitioning from small business clients to enterprise giants like LVMH, Panasonic, ESPN, and CNN, and the strategies he uses to reduce churn and maintain client relationships. In this episode, you'll learn: 00:00 Introduction 01:12 How Neil makes his money 06:35 Why Neil doesn't sell courses anymore 15:04 How Neil scaled his agency 21:14 Shifting from SMBs to large enterprises 33:32 The mistake a lot of agencies make 42:08 How to land big enterprise clients 46:20 Customer acquisition strategies 55:15 Relationship building for customer acquisition 1:02:35 Taking the "Neil Patel" out of NP Digital 1:05:00 Personal branding decisions 1:10:54 Strategic vs tactical content 1:14:05 The role of a team within a personal brand 1:33:01 Neil's visibility and putting his face on "everything" 1:44:35 Partnership ( @marketingschoolpod ) with Eric Siu ( @LevelingUpOfficial ) 1:50:34 How Ubersuggest is doing 2:00:47 The time Neil spent $162K on clothes 2:04:52 Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Neil: X: @neilpatel LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilkpatel/) Website: https://npdigital.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/) X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ ------------------------- Referenced: • Gary Vaynerchuk (Gary Vee): garyvaynerchuk.com  @garyvee  • Tony Robbins: tonyrobbins.com  @TonyRobbinsLive  • LVMH: lvmh.com • Dentsu: dentsu.com • WPP: wpp.com • Publicis: publicisgroupe.com • ByteDance: bytedance.com • Nestlé: nestle.com • Panasonic: panasonic.com • Philips: philips.com • ESPN: espn.com • CNN: cnn.com • Salesforce: salesforce.com • Tai Lopez: tailopez.com  @tailopez  • Sam Oh:  @AhrefsCom

    2h 5m

  4. 11/19/2024

    Turning a brand into a household name | Steven Kalifowitz (Crypto.com)

    How do you transform a brand into a household name, especially when that brand has a lot of regulatory restrictions? Steven Kalifowitz is doing just that right now with  @CryptoComOfficial . When he came on board as the Crypto.com CMO in 2020, he brought years of experience as an Emmy-winning production manager for HBO and lessons from being a Director of Brand Strategy for Twitter. Along with discussing his strategy for transforming Crypto.com into a household name, Steven and Tim also discussed: 00:00 Intro 01:29 Managing million-dollar marketing budgets 05:58 The importance of continued awareness for established brands 13:05 Understanding and nurturing casual vs heavy customers 19:02 Buying the Crypto.com name 21:24 Becoming CMO of Crypto.com 24:58 Are brand strategy blueprints necessary? 34:44 Marketing a brand vs a commodity 53:57 Using live sports as a marketing tool 56:29 Are competitor pages useful? 58:56 How the Crypto.com marketing team is structured 1:05:42 What does Steven do as CMO of Crypto.com? 1:10:43 Leadership and management skills 1:18:48 Advertising at the Sphere and getting around advertising restrictions 1:26:35 Sports partnerships 1:33:45 Celebrity brand films 1:41:54 Are NFTs dead? 1:45:53 Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Steven: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skalifowitz/ X: @skalifowitz Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ _________________________________________________ Referenced in this episode: Byron Sharp - How Brands Grow: https://brandgenetics.com/human-thinking/how-brands-grow-speed-summary/ CPG/FMCG: https://cdp.com/glossary/cpg-marketing/ https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fastmoving-consumer-goods-fmcg.asp Fortune Favors the Brave ft. Matt Damon: https://youtu.be/9hBC5TVdYT8?si=qrj6nOB-VDY1yY5W David Oglivy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ogilvy_(businessman) Andy Gove - High Output Management: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Output_Management Patrick Lencioni - Five Dysfunctions of a Team: https://www.tablegroup.com/topics-and-resources/teamwork-5-dysfunctions/ Dale Carnegie - How to Win Friends and Influence People: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People Andy Gove - Only the Paranoid Survive: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66863.Only_the_Paranoid_Survive Inevitable ft. Eminem: https://x.com/Eminem/status/1783859123614052845 The Moment of Truth ft. Lebron James: https://youtu.be/xynQFsPBE3w?si=5Xxr_Q3qacsR6BpV

    1h 46m

  5. 11/06/2024

    How to make your brand show up everywhere | Fery Kaszoni (Search Intelligence Ltd)

    When Fery Kaszoni first ventured into the world of SEO, he had no idea that 10 years later, he would be the CEO of a thriving digital PR agency on track to make £10M per year. Fery's success is largely driven by his personal brand, and his fun, goofy spoofs of popular songs have become a hit in the SEO community. But it wasn't always that way. Fery shares his ups and downs as an agency owner, what he wishes he could have done differently, and how others can replicate his success. 00:00 Intro 00:59 Fery's background as a developer 04:00 First steps into the SEO industry 11:22 Finding the passion to create an agency 15:31 Shifting to digital PR 18:19 How to scale an agency to 8 figures 27:18 Success without eating your own dog food 30:13 The true ROI of sponsorships 37:49 Fery's competitive advantage 43:49 Finding and onboarding solid employees 50:38 Expansion and team structure 52:46 Fery's role at Search Intelligence 54:46 The value in creating viral videos 58:55 Balancing humor and seriousness 01:01:45 Four day work weeks 01:08:38 Are social media and brand building the future of SEO? 01:11:43 Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Fery: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ferenczkaszoni/ Website: https://search-intelligence.co.uk/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/

    1h 12m

  6. 10/30/2024

    Can AI content really be “as good as” human content? | Zac Harris (Rankd., Copy.ai)

    Is it actually possible to make AI content in one go with minimal human involvement that is as good as what a human can produce? Zac Harris, former Head of Demand Gen and SEO at Copy.ai and founder of Rankd., thinks so. But Zac does have a caveat: the input you give AI has to be far better than what your average marketer or writer tends to provide. Ever the AI skeptic, Tim Soulo sat down with Zac recently to discuss his workflows, how he scaled Copy.ai to 1M visits per month through free tools, and more. 00:00 Intro 1:40 Success with AI tools 16:02 The effect of mass-deleting content 20:04 Copy.ai’s content strategy 29:43 Where to find quality freelancers 34:12 Using feedback to create custom AI workflows and content 40:14 Marketing attribution, Markov chains, re-activations, and expansions 56:18 Leveraging influencer marketing for brand visibility 1:03:59 Link building tactics 01:13:12 The impact of mentorship 1:18:20 Why Zac left Copy.ai to build his new agency 1:38:17 Why teaching people how to use AI is important 1:39:50 AI vs human output competition 1:44:55 Building workflows for AI 1:55:04 Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Zac: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharris36/ Website: https://www.gorankd.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/

    1h 56m

  7. 10/22/2024

    How to turn leadership and coaching into a multi-million dollar business | Bryan Harris

    Bryan Harris first became known for Videofruit, his industry leading blog and online course business. But these days, he has shifted focus to his new business Growth Tools and scaling 1:1 coaching. A master at organization, leadership, and customer generation, Bryan shared tons of gold nuggets during this episode of Ahrefs Podcast, including: 00:00 Introduction
 01:02 Shifting from courses to coaching
 06:30 Ascension ladder vs descension ladder
 15:31 A cautionary tale about sharing revenue
 17:45 Free tools as a growth strategy
 19:41 How to scale non-commodities
 23:45 Finding the right CEO-marketing director fit
 31:07 How Growth Tools structures its marketing department
 37:40 BOPA (Borrowing other people’s audiences)
 42:22 Causes of stress and complexity in marketing
 45:28 Guilt by association
 48:30 Choosing what to promote
 58:34 The key to generating customers
 1:07:15 The right way to “Figure it out”
 1:11:34 Bryan’s ChatGPT history
 1:14:36 Outro We hope you enjoy our first in-person episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Bryan: X: @Harris_Bryan Website: growthtools.com/ahrefs Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ _______________________________________________ Referenced in the episode: Ryan Deiss: https://www.ryandeiss.com/ Russell Brunson (Dotcom Secrets): https://dotcomsecrets.com/getdcsfree-1
 Nathan Berry: https://nathanbarry.com/ Brennan Dunn: https://doubleyourfreelancing.com/
 John Lee Dumas: https://www.eofire.com/
 Pat Flynn: https://patflynn.com/
 Glenn Hill (Connection Codes): https://www.connectioncodes.co/
 Jim Collins (Good to Great): https://www.jimcollins.com/index.html 
 One Minute Manager: https://www.amazon.com/The-New-One-Minute-Manager/dp/8195246893/ Seth Godin (Purple Cow): https://www.amazon.com/Purple-Cow-Transform-Business-Remarkable/dp/014101640X
 Noah Kagan: https://noahkagan.com/
 Rich Dad Poor Dad (Robert Kiyosaki): https://www.richdad.com/
 Supermensch: https://www.amazon.com/They-Call-Supermensch-Backstage-RocknRoll/dp/0062355953
 Figure it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPa3E8yis0I

    1h 15m

  8. 10/15/2024

    The $25M non-profit, open source platform taking on WordPress | John O'Nolan (Ghost)

    John O'Nolan worked as the Deputy Head of UX for WordPress for several years before he got fed up with the direction it was taking. He decided to launch a non-profit, open source platform called Ghost in 2013, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. With so much to unpack, there was a lot to discuss, including: 01:25 What it’s like to work for Wordpress 5:25 Launching a Wordpress competitor 10:37 Using non-profit and open source to create interest 12:06 Why Ghost is better than Wordpress 20:33 Using Recommendations and Web Mentions 30:01 Passive ways of acquiring an audience 39:40 How Ghost is different than Medium 45:16 The problem with Quora (and Medium) 53:06 Ghost’s major competitors and customer base 58:04 Ghost’s priorities for publishers 1:03:09 Journalists vs creators 1:08:56 The Fediverse/Activity Pub 1:31:21 The Fediverse vs media companies 1:37:07 How to become a top publisher 1:44:12 Marketing Ghost 1:47:33 Why a personal brand isn’t everything 1:53:04 Will Ghost ever go “for profit”? We hope you enjoy our first in-person episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find John: X: @JohnONolan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnonolan/ Website: https://john.onolan.org/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ _______________________________________________ Referenced in the episode: Space campaign: https://space.paddle.com/ Anthony Kenneda: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akennada/ Goldenhour: https://www.goldenhour.net/ Adam Robinson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/retentionadam/ Marketing Against the Grain: Resources: Fediverse/Activity Pub: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fediverse Ev Williams: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Williams_(Internet_entrepreneur) MKBHD: https://www.youtube.com/user/marquesbrownlee

    2 hr
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Ratings & Reviews

3.6
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

A free 2-hour consulting call with top founders and CMOs, disguised as a podcast interview. Hosted by Ahrefs' CMO, Tim Soulo.

Information

  • Creator
    Ahrefs Podcast
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2025
  • Episodes
    25
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Ahrefs Podcast
  • Show Website
    Ahrefs Podcast

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