The Marketer's Exit

TMT Network
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Welcome to The Marketer’s Exit: Your Front-Row Seat to Going Solo Ever wondered what life looks like beyond the 9-to-5? The Marketer’s Exit is the podcast for marketers curious about freelancing, side hustles, and solo entrepreneurship. Hosted by Tas Bober (former in-house) and Tim Davidson (former agency), we’re pulling back the curtain on the reality of going solo. We share the stuff no one puts in their LinkedIn posts—the smooth parts, the scary parts, and the "group chat only" secrets.

  1. 1h ago

    Eric Linssen Built a 700-Member Invite-Only Community on Annual Sponsorships Alone (Ep. 30)

    Eric Linssen spent years running Demand Collective as a paid community that stayed stuck at 80 members no matter what he tried. Then he got laid off, gave himself one quarter to make it work, switched to a free model funded entirely by annual sponsorships, and watched everything click. He is now 700 members in, has 9,000 newsletter subscribers, and runs it completely solo from San Diego. In this episode he tells the full story. 0:00 – Intro 3:27 – What Demand Collective is, who gets in, and why the membership criteria matter 5:22 – Six failed side hustles before this one, including a hot tub rental business and a TikTok analytics tool 8:41 – Why the paid model stalled at 80 members and what the pivot actually changed 11:11 – 700 members, 9,000 newsletter subscribers, and the Demand Day Summit with 1,600 registrants 14:39 – Why sponsorships work inside a community of marketers and how category exclusivity is handled 17:19 – The content philosophy behind the community: practitioner-first, no vendor bias, zero how-to fluff 23:42 – Annual contracts, five sponsors, and why shorter deals are a bad deal for everyone 29:22 – How much work it actually takes to run this solo and what a normal week looks like 59:04 – The camel vs racehorse framework and his advice on surface area for luck 59:56 – Would he go back in-house? The most honest answer any TME guest has given #FreelanceMarketing #CommunityBuilding #SoloFounder Links: • Tim Davidson – https://www.linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41 • Tas Bober – http://linkedin.com/in/tasbober • The Marketer's Exit – http://themarketersexit.com/

  2. Sep 2

    Brand Partnerships Part 3: Reporting, Red Flags, and Contract Rules You Need to Know (Ep. 29)

    Before you sign your next brand deal, watch for these red flags. Most brand partnership advice stops at getting the deal. This episode is what happens after: when to send the numbers, how to frame a renewal conversation, what to put in a contract, and the red flags that tell you a brand is going to be more trouble than it is worth. 0:00 – Intro 2:50 – Two-part performance reporting: one week out and one month out 5:13 – Impressions, saves, sends, and the qualitative callouts that make a report stand out 8:34 – When to use a deck versus a screenshot and how to match the format to the partnership 12:09 – Asking for a renewal and the one-sentence framing that keeps the door open 14:02 – How Tas has expanded her Unbounce partnership over three renewals by pitching what she was already going to create 19:09 – Hashtag ad, the brand toggle, and why Tas stopped using both 26:49 – Creative freedom as a non-negotiable and what happens when a brand starts editing your voice 33:00 – The walking billboard problem and how many sponsored posts is too many in one week 34:11 – Contract terms to watch for, payment red flags, and the impression-based pay deal to always decline #BrandPartnerships #FreelanceMarketing #LinkedInMarketing Connect with the hosts: Tim Davidson – https://www.linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41/Tas Bober – https://www.linkedin.com/in/tasbober/The Marketer's Exit – https://themarketersexit.com/

  3. Aug 19

    LinkedIn Brand Deals Part 2: Pricing, Packages, and Paid Usage Rights (Ep. 28)

    If you do not know what to charge for a sponsored LinkedIn post, this episode gives you a starting point and walks you through an actual brand partnership⁠ deck Tas sends to every brand that's resulted in $100k+ in brand deals. This is part 2 of the brand deals series, make sure to check out the others. Tas' Brand partnership Timestamp: 0:00 – Intro 1:02 – Starting out: letting the brand set the rate versus setting your own floor 3:46 – Tim's $1,000 minimum, the three-post bundle, and how he frames it as a discount 7:33 – How to use your consulting hourly rate as a filter for brand deal decisions 14:24 – Tas's full deck walkthrough: philosophy framing, social proof, and format options 20:35 – Stats from brand deals 25:17 – Starter, core, and flagship package tiers explained with real examples 1:00:41 – What to charge on top of the post: usage rights, thought leader ads, and resource hub listings #LinkedInMarketing #BrandPartnerships #FreelanceMarketing Links: Tim Davidson – linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41 Tas Bober – linkedin.com/in/tasbober The Marketer's Exit – themarketersexit.com

  4. Aug 12

    Making $161K in Brand Partnerships from Posting on LinkedIn. Part 1/3 (Ep.27)

    Brand partnerships on LinkedIn are not just for people with massive followings. Tas and Tim started landing them before they were big, and together they have made $161,000 from posts alone. This episode is the playbook, including pricing, pitching, the three-post rule, and small talk that turned into a two-year deal. Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 0:56 – Why this episode exists and what the $161K number includes 3:22 – Tim's first brand deal: UserGems, three months, $2,500 total 7:12 – The three-post rule and the slot machine logic behind it 11:03 – The Typeform post that went viral 13:34 – How Tas turned a landing page audit into a paid brand content format 17:23 – Four ways to get brand deals and which ones actually work 21:30 – Tas’s Unbounce partnership and how it started in a Riverside waiting room 24:49 – How to price your self 26:22 – What Tim does when a sponsored post underperforms 27:23 – Tas's highest single-post rate and what happened after it went live This is part 1 of a 3 part series, stay tuned for the rest! #LinkedInMarketing #FreelanceMarketing #BrandPartnerships Links: Tim Davidson – linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41Tas Bober – linkedin.com/in/tasboberThe Marketer's Exit – themarketersexit.com

  5. Jul 29

    Nikhil Hunshikatti on Building a Fractional CMO Practice the Right Way (Ep. 26)

    Nikhil Hunshikatti ran a billion-dollar consumer revenue portfolio at Gannett before going fractional. He did not plan to go fractional. He tried three in-house leadership roles first, lost all three to internal candidates, and only then decided to hang his own shingle. Three years in, he has built a model that works, but not without losing 50% of his revenue in one quarter and spending 18 months too heads-down to do any pipeline work. 0:00 – Intro 1:50 – Background: USA Today, Gannett, and running a billion-dollar consumer revenue portfolio 3:52 – The moment that made him leave and why survival mode was the breaking point 5:12 – Going fractional by accident after three failed in-house leadership bids 8:26 – How the first client came in and why the Pro Football Hall of Fame made sense 12:11 – How fractional CMO engagements are structured and why it is different from a retainer 17:08 – The five Ps framework he runs through in every immersion workshop 23:04 – Sitting at the C-suite table as the only fractional and what that dynamic actually looks like 34:12 – Year one: three clients, full capacity, zero pipeline work, and what he would do differently 43:37 – Losing 50% of revenue at once and how he is navigating a slow market right now 44:51 – His advice for fractional CMOs who cannot find their first client #FreelanceMarketing #FractionalCMO #ConsultingLife Connect with the hosts: Tim Davidson – https://linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41 Tas Bober – https://linkedin.com/in/tasbober The Marketer's Exit – https://themarketersexit.com Guest: Nikhil Hunshikatti https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilhunshikatti/

  6. Jul 21

    How Ademola Adelakun went from Magician to building 14 Different Businesses (Ep. 25)

    Ademola Adelakun is a former professional magician who has started 14 businesses, appeared on Canada's version of Shark Tank completely blindsided, survived 93 days with zero revenue without telling his fiancée, and now runs A2 Media, a conversion-focused video agency doing roughly a million Canadian dollars a year. This episode is the full story. Timestamps 0:00 – Intro 1:28 – Former magician, 14 businesses, now running a media company 3:19 – University of Waterloo, the entrepreneurship culture, and the first co-founder 7:11 – Going on Dragon's Den and getting blindsided on stage 9:43 – The 14 businesses: dog beds, cookies, mining Bluetooth vests, and more 17:08 – Why he went in-house and how he used corporate jobs as capital to fund his next move 20:44 – Why video and how Vidyard shaped everything 36:48 – How A2 Media works, who they serve, and why they never hold a camera 43:17 – The partner model and how half his revenue comes from referrals 47:31 – Average deal size, retainer structure, and the revenue numbers year over year 49:35 – The 93-day cash crisis and what finally made him ask for help 1:01:46 – Most overrated advice for going out on your own 1:03:12 – What he would tell anyone thinking about making the leap #FreelanceMarketing #SoloFounder #ConsultingLife Connect with the hosts: Tim Davidson – https://linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41 Tas Bober – https://linkedin.com/in/tasbober The Marketer's Exit – https://themarketersexit.com Connect with the Guest: Ademola Adelakun https://www.linkedin.com/in/ademola-adelakun/

  7. Jul 14

    7 Proven Ways to Get Clients Before You Quit Your Job (Ep. 24)

    Nobody tells you how to build a client list while you are still employed. The advice always starts after you have already handed in your notice. This episode fills that gap with seven specific plays, including ones that your company might actually sign off on. We cover: 1:13 – The situation that prompted this episode and why it is more common than people admit 7:14 – Creating content without getting flagged, including the anonymous account play 22:27 – Networking, the DM script, and why your past coworkers are your fastest path 31:16 – Industry events your company is already paying for 33:23 – The free mentorship play and why charging for it is the wrong move 38:30 – How to use your in-house title in communities before you no longer have it 47:22 – Brand deals while employed and how influencer agencies work in your favor 49:31 – Setting up referral triggers so other people are incentivized to send you business 51:54 – The full 7-step summary #FreelanceMarketing #SoloConsultant #B2BMarketing Connect with the hosts: Tim Davidson – ⁠https://linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41⁠ Tas Bober – ⁠https://linkedin.com/in/tasbober⁠ The Marketer's Exit – ⁠https://themarketersexit.com

  8. Jul 7

    250k Followers, Brianna Doe Built an Agency Without Ever Selling (Ep. 23)

    Brianna Doe has 250K followers on LinkedIn and almost never posts about her influencer marketing agency. She built Verbatim, a team of eight, and a client roster that includes multi-seven-figure programs entirely off content about mental health, entrepreneurship, and being a woman of color figuring it out in public. This episode is the business side she rarely shares. We cover: • Why she hired a career coach to help her manage up and ended up mapping her corporate exit instead • Getting laid off two weeks before she planned to quit anyway • Starting full service, hating graphic design and blog posts, and niching to influencer marketing • Charging $1,500 a month for a client spending $45K and how pricing has evolved since • The accountability coach at $3K a month who mostly just texted her things she was going to do anyway • Why not trusting herself was the most expensive mistake she made early on • Checking payroll math at 4am even when the business is stable #FreelanceMarketing #InfluencerMarketing #SoloFounder Connect with the hosts: Tim Davidson – ⁠https://linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41⁠ Tas Bober – ⁠https://linkedin.com/in/tasbober⁠ The Marketer's Exit – ⁠https://themarketersexit.com Connect with the Guest: Brianna Doe https://www.briannadoe.com/

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Welcome to The Marketer’s Exit: Your Front-Row Seat to Going Solo Ever wondered what life looks like beyond the 9-to-5? The Marketer’s Exit is the podcast for marketers curious about freelancing, side hustles, and solo entrepreneurship. Hosted by Tas Bober (former in-house) and Tim Davidson (former agency), we’re pulling back the curtain on the reality of going solo. We share the stuff no one puts in their LinkedIn posts—the smooth parts, the scary parts, and the "group chat only" secrets.

Information

  • Creator
    TMT Network
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    30
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © TMT Network
  • Show Website
    The Marketer's Exit

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