The Agents of Change Digital Marketing Podcast

Some of the best content ideas in your company are probably stuck inside the heads of people who have absolutely no interest in writing a blog post. Jesse Harris shares how marketers can earn the trust of subject matter experts, draw out what they know, and turn highly technical expertise into clear, compelling content without watering it down. https://www.theagentsofchange.com/639 Need help with your branding, website, or digital marketing? Reach out to me (Rich Brooks!) today at https://www.takeflyte.com/contact

Substack has been on my radar for a while, but I'll be honest: I wasn't sure it had much to offer someone who already has a blog, an email list, and a few social channels up and running. Turns out I was asking the wrong question. This week I sat down with Tracy Friedlander, a former professional orchestra musician turned Substack strategist and the voice behind The Second Act Strategist, to find out what the platform can do for small business owners and marketers who want to build a real audience without starting from scratch all over again. https://www...

Every few months a new acronym shows up promising to replace the last one, and this year it's GEO. I brought Andy Crestodina from Orbit Media back on the show to settle a debate I keep having in my own head: is generative engine optimization its own discipline, or just SEO wearing a trench coat and hoping nobody looks too closely? Andy has spent twenty five years building websites that turn into lead generation machines for B2B companies, and he came in with a much sharper answer than "it depends," even though he says that phrase more than either...

Every time you ask ChatGPT or Claude for a recommendation, you're training it to know you better, and that changes everything about how customers find your business. My guest this week is Vivienne Wagner, founder and CEO of Houndstooth Media Group, and she's built her entire practice around helping business owners get recommended by AI the same way you'd ask a friend "who should I call for this?" We get into why clarity beats volume, how Google Business Profile reviews are quietly becoming AI training data, and why a bridal shop's "ultimate guide to summer weddings" outperformed anything her competitor...

If your Google Ads budget keeps climbing while your results stay flat, you're not alone, and you're probably starting in the wrong place. My guest this week is Jeff Coleman, founder of Factor Four Marketing, who has spent more than two decades building results-driven Google Ads campaigns for everyone from local service companies to Fortune 500 brands. Jeff makes the case that most businesses jump straight into keyword research when they should start with their ideal customer profile instead, and once you make that shift, everything from your ad copy to your landing pages gets easier to build. We dig into...

Here's a question I ask every business owner who complains their marketing "isn't working": when's the last time you actually looked at your website like a stranger would? Because nine times out of ten, the traffic is fine. It's the website that's dropping the ball. My guest this week is Irwin Hau, founder of Chromatics and Conversion Cow, who's analyzed close to 70,000 websites (yes, 70,000) and built an entire framework around the psychology of trust and conversion. Before he was auditing websites for a living, he was a card illusionist, which honestly explains a lot once you hear him talk about...

LinkedIn is the one social platform that hasn't burned me out yet, and after this conversation, I understand why a lot more businesses should be paying closer attention to it. My guest is Kaila Vander Horn, head of content at Speedwork, a LinkedIn advertising agency where she runs organic strategy for B2B companies and the leaders behind them. We get into what thought leadership really means (spoiler: you don't need a corner office or a Fortune 100 badge to claim it), how often you really need to post to see results, and why LinkedIn has quietly become one of the...

You already know stories beat spreadsheets when it comes to winning people over. But what if the story itself isn't even the most important part? This week I'm talking with Jennifer Gardner, a Los Angeles trial lawyer, persuasive communication speaker, and administrative law judge who's spent three decades convincing juries to see things her way. Jennifer breaks down what's actually happening in the brain when a story lands, why admitting your flaws builds more trust than any case study, and why the AI-generated content flooding your feed is missing the one ingredient it can't fake: you. If you've ever wondered...

If you've ever felt like local search is a game rigged for the big guys with bottomless ad budgets, this episode is going to change how you think about winning. My guest, Nick Cohen, is a rare combination: a practicing attorney and the COO of Matador, where he helps over 180 law firms compete against much bigger competitors in local search. But don't let the law firm focus fool you. Everything Nick shares here about reviews, backlinks, content, and the wild new world of GEO (that's optimizing for AI search) applies just as much to your HVAC company, your dental practice...

Most of us obsess over growing our email list, then greet new subscribers with... nothing. Maybe a generic "thanks for signing up" if they're lucky. Allea Grummert, email marketing strategist and owner of Duett, says that first stretch after someone joins your list is where relationships (and revenue) are won or lost. In this episode, she breaks down how to build a welcome sequence that answers your subscribers' biggest questions, shows off your best content, and quietly identifies your hottest leads, all on autopilot. If your welcome email still says "welcome to the community," this one's for you. https://www...

If you have ever opened your Google Analytics, felt your eyes glaze over, and quietly closed the tab, this episode is for you. I sat down with Kyle Akerman, a digital measurement consultant in Nashville who helps small B2B marketing teams turn data into decisions without the overwhelm. We get into why your analytics should work like a feedback loop, why three good questions beat thirty random metrics, and how 25 minutes on a Friday (beer and tacos optional) can tell you more about your marketing than a year-end report ever will. If measurement has always felt like the punishment...

If you've been using ChatGPT or Gemini and quietly wondering whether you can trust everything it tells you, there's a Google tool built to solve exactly that problem. NotebookLM only works from the documents you give it, which means it's grounded in your own content instead of guessing at the entire internet. This week I'm joined by Lisa Monks, an Australian social media strategist and AI educator, who has spent the last few years figuring out how to put that grounded approach to work for real businesses. We talk about everything from repurposing podcasts and building staff training quizzes to...

If your AI-generated images are starting to look like everyone else's, you're not alone. The problem isn't the tools. It's the approach. Jeff Sieh, visual content expert and host of Creator News Live, has been deep in the AI image generation world long enough to watch it transform from a novelty into a genuine workflow essential. In this episode, we get into how to develop your own visual style, how to use tools like Midjourney and Nano Banana for very different jobs, and why the best prompt you'll ever write is the one you let AI help you write. Whether...

If you've been trying to get your business cited by ChatGPT or Google's AI Overviews, you might be optimizing for the wrong thing entirely. Tom Rudnai, founder of Demand-Genius, spent two years running structured prompts across the full buyer journey and found something that should change the way marketers think about AI visibility. Most of the influence AI has on your potential customers happens long before it ever recommends a specific brand. In this episode, Tom breaks down exactly what that means, what the data shows, and what practical steps you can take to stop chasing citations and start shaping...

If you've been using AI tools to create content, generate ideas, or speed up your workflow, you probably haven't spent much time thinking about what could go wrong legally. But you might want to start. I sat down with Sharon Toerek, a marketing and intellectual property attorney who works exclusively with independent agencies, and she laid out the legal landscape around AI in a way that's practical, clear, and genuinely useful. No scare tactics, no doom and gloom. Just a straightforward look at what the risks are, what you can do about them, and how to build the kind of...

If you've ever wondered why some brands just seem to "stick" while others fade into the noise, the answer might have less to do with budget and more to do with brain science. On this episode of the Agents of Change podcast, I sat down with MichaelAaron Flicker, CEO of XenoPsi Ventures and co-author of Hacking the Human Mind, to dig into the behavioral triggers behind some of the most iconic marketing campaigns in history. The best part? These aren't strategies reserved for Fortune 500 companies. MichaelAaron breaks down exactly how small and mid-sized businesses can put these same psychological principles...

I first found Eliot Prince the way most of us find the good stuff online: by falling down a YouTube rabbit hole. I was researching Claude Cowork, his video popped up, and within an hour I was organizing my downloads folder with agentic AI for the first time. Eliot is a UK-based AI trainer and curriculum developer who helps business owners and professionals use AI in practical, systematic ways. Today he joins me on the podcast to walk through real examples of what agentic AI can do right now, from building a full PR study for under $10, to turning a...

If you've ever opened Canva, slapped some text on a template, and called it a day, you're barely scratching the surface. Canva has quietly rolled out a suite of AI-powered tools that can batch-create branded graphics, generate images and video from text prompts, and resize everything for every platform in seconds. In this episode, I sit down with Maliha Khan, a strategy-first marketing consultant and the creative force behind Khannect the Dots and Khannections Studio, to dig into the Canva AI features most marketers don't even know exist. Whether you're a small business owner trying to keep up with your...

If you've ever typed a prompt into an AI image tool and ended up with something that looks like a corporate stock photo had a fever dream, you're not alone. Getting genuinely good output from these tools takes more than a two-word description. Ross Symons, co-founder of Zen Robot and a guy who spent a decade making origami stop-motion content before the influencer wave even had a name, breaks down what most people are doing wrong, and more importantly, what the people doing it right understand about these tools. https://www.theagentsofchange.com/621 Need help with your branding, website, or...

You've probably been there: the new website launches, it looks great, and then six months later you're wondering why the bounce rate is brutal and nobody's converting. Chances are, you designed the shell before you figured out the story. That's the problem Sarah Johnson has been solving for years. As the author of Content First Design and the forthcoming Meaning at Scale, Sarah works at the intersection of content strategy, user experience, and organizational alignment — and her argument is simple: if you don't know what you're saying or who you're saying it to, no amount of beautiful design is going to...

You spend good money getting people to your website. They fill out the form. And then... nothing. No one follows up. Or someone follows up once, gets no reply, and moves on. Meanwhile, that lead is sitting there, probably still interested, just waiting for a reason to say yes. Jason Kramer has built his entire business around solving that exact problem. As the founder of Cultivize, he works with distributors, service providers, and agencies to plug the holes in their sales process — and the fixes are often simpler (and more embarrassing to ignore) than you'd think. https://www.theagentsofchange.com/619 Ne...

You've probably heard the term "agentic AI" thrown around lately — and if your eyes glazed over a little, you're not alone. It sounds like something for engineers in hoodies, not the person trying to juggle content marketing, lead gen, and whatever fire broke out in the office this morning. But here's the thing: agentic AI isn't some far-off technology. It's already baked into tools you might already be paying for. And once you understand what it can actually do for your workflow — not in theory, but in practice — it changes how you think about getting work done. I sat down with M...

With AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity changing how people search (and how answers get delivered), your old keyword strategy might not cut it anymore. If you want your business to show up—not just in search results, but in actual AI-generated answers—then it's time to rethink how your content works. Rebecca Emery breaks down what's changing, what still matters, and what you should be doing right now before your competitors figure it out first. https://www.theagentsofchange.com/617 Need help with your branding, website, or digital marketing? Reach out to me (Rich Brooks!) today at https://www.take...

AI used to be about prompts, now it's about delegation. Christopher Penn breaks down what agentic AI actually is, why it represents a leap forward for small businesses, and how tools like Claude Cowork are turning strategy into execution. If you've been curious about moving beyond copy-and-paste AI and into systems that actually get work done, this conversation is your starting point. https://www.theagentsofchange.com/616 Need help with your branding, website, or digital marketing? Reach out to me (Rich Brooks!) today at https://www.takeflyte.com/contact

Description: Your logo isn't your brand. Your colors aren't your brand. Your brand is the feeling someone gets when they interact with your company—whether they're reading your about page, talking to your receptionist, or bumping into your founder on a plane. Luna Battalia calls it a "brand world," and she's got a four-part messaging framework that's helped her clients hit conversion rates of 11–25% when the industry average sits at 3–4%. If you've ever poured money into a rebrand and still felt like something was off, this episode is going to explain exactly why. https://www.theagentsofchange.com/615 Need help with y...

Most cold outreach sucks. You know it, I know it, and definitely the people getting bombarded with "Quick question" emails know it. But here's the thing: done right, cold outreach is one of the most direct, cost-effective ways to reach your ideal customers without relying on algorithms, ad budgets, or social media luck. AJ Cassata built his business on outreach that actually works. From knocking on 10,000 doors to helping over 440 clients build consistent pipelines through cold email, LinkedIn, and strategic calling, he's learned what makes prospects respond versus hitting delete. And spoiler alert: it's not about volume. It's about...

Description: Remember when stock photography meant scrolling endlessly through the same crying-into-salad images that every other brand was also using? Or spending actual money on "custom" photos that somehow ended up on your competitor's website too? Yeah, those days might finally be over. Lauren deVane—creative director turned AI educator and your friendly neighborhood "AI auntie"—joins the show to explain how AI image generation has evolved from six-fingered curiosities into legitimate marketing tools. And if you haven't checked out what these tools can do in the past six months, you're in for a surprise. Lauren breaks down exactly how...

Stop chasing the "AI-first" dream. After a year of experimenting with every AI tool, framework, and workflow I could find, I learned that building a human-first company that smartly uses AI beats trying to become an AI company every time. In this solo episode, I walk through seven lessons from 2025 that completely changed how I think about AI in marketing—from why perfect prompts don't exist to why you should use AI in your personal life. Whether you're drowning in AI hype or just getting started, these insights will help you use AI more strategically in 2026. 

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If your lead magnet is a beautifully designed PDF that no one reads, congratulations—you're normal. Also: that thing isn't working anymore. In this episode, Maeve Ferguson explains why traditional lead magnets are failing and how diagnostic assessments can attract better leads, pre-sell your expertise, and stop wasting your time on bad-fit prospects. https://www.theagentsofchange.com/611 Need help with your branding, website, or digital marketing? Reach out to me (Rich Brooks!) today at https://www.takeflyte.com/contact

Let's be honest: we've all been there. You have a brilliant new idea—a product launch, a software switch, or a new marketing campaign—and you present it to your team or your customers with total enthusiasm. And what do you get back? Crickets. Or worse, pushback. It's not because the idea is bad. It's because the human brain is hardwired to hate change. In this episode, behavioral economist Melina Palmer returns to explain why our brains cling to the status quo and exactly how you can use behavioral science to get the buy-in you need. https://www.theagentsofchange.com...

Let's be honest: social media can feel like a hamster wheel. You post on Instagram or LinkedIn, get a few likes, and 24 hours later, that content is dead and you're back to square one. But what if your content worked for you, building momentum over months and even years? That's the promise of YouTube. In this episode, I sit down with YouTube strategist Jerry Potter, who breaks down exactly how busy business owners can build a lead-generating channel in just 90 minutes a week—without becoming a full-time content creator. https://www.theagentsofchange.com/609 Need help with your branding, website, or...

Most of us think our websites are working just fine. They look good. They're fast. They have all our information right there on the homepage. But here's the problem: your website isn't about you. If you're standing on your digital rooftop shouting about how awesome you are—your 15 years in business, your features, your awards—you're doing inside-out marketing. And it's probably why your growth has stalled. James Hipkin has been building businesses with digital marketing since 2010, and he's here to flip the script. Today, we're talking about the shift from inside-out to outside-in marketing, why your website needs to e...

You're wearing all the hats. Marketing, operations, sales, customer service—maybe even IT support when the printer acts up again. And somewhere in there, you're supposed to actually grow your business. Here's the thing: You don't need to hire a whole team to get help. You need to build one out of AI. Mike Allton, creator of The AI Hat and AI architect for solopreneurs, is going to show you how to create your first AI assistant—one that doesn't just spit out generic responses, but actually works the way you work. We're talking about AI that challenges your assu...

If you've ever wondered why some marketing messages stick while others vanish faster than your last new year's resolution, you're not alone. The problem isn't that you're bad at messaging—it's that you're only talking to half your audience's brain. Message designer Tamsen Webster returns to the show to explain why speaking to both the analytical and automatic brain is the difference between messages that get ignored and ones people can't unhear. She breaks down her ITBA framework (if, then, because, and) and shows us how to craft messages that create not just clicks, but lasting change. If you've be...

Look, I get it. You've got a modest marketing budget, and every time you hear about Google Ads, you think: "That's for the big players with deep pockets." But here's the thing: paid search can absolutely work for small budgets—you just can't play by the same rules as enterprise brands throwing around unlimited cash. Brooke Osmundson, Director of Growth Marketing at Smith Microsoftware, joined me to break down exactly how small businesses can make paid search work when you're working with $20 to $50 a day (or even less). She's been in the trenches on both the agency and in-house si...

You know that sinking feeling when you realize your carefully crafted content sounds exactly like everyone else's? (Yeah, me too.) Here's the uncomfortable truth: expertise has been commodified. You can share everything you know, and it still won't be enough to stand out because a hundred other voices are saying the same thing—just maybe with different GIFs. Jay Acunzo spent years building a speaking career without a book, without fame, just by owning a singular premise that made people stop and think differently.

Now he works behind the scenes with executives and entrepreneurs, helping them transform ge...

You've got brilliant ideas rattling around in your head. Your process works. Your approach gets results. But when someone asks what makes you different, you stumble through an explanation that sounds like everyone else's pitch. Here's the thing: the difference between "yeah, I do marketing" and becoming the go-to expert isn't just what you know—it's how you package it. Melanie Deziel has built her reputation helping speakers, coaches, and businesses transform messy expertise into frameworks people actually remember and share. In this conversation, she walks us through her IRON framework (yes, a framework for building frameworks) and explains wh...

Small budgets and Google Ads don't have to be enemies. Andy Janaitis, founder of PPC Pitbulls, has spent over a decade proving that point by helping founder-led brands and e-commerce businesses grow past seven figures without breaking the bank. His engineering background brings a refreshingly technical (but not overwhelming) approach to paid advertising that cuts through the noise and gets straight to what actually works. Today, we're diving into why copying big brands backfires for small businesses, how to feed those hungry AI algorithms the data they crave, and the minimum budget you really need to make Google and Meta...

You're spending money on Facebook ads, and after a week, you see barely any sales coming through. Naturally, you think Facebook is a bust and pull the plug. But what if those ads were actually working—just not in the way you expected? That's exactly what happened to a Maine lobster company that almost wrote off Facebook as useless after spending $4,000 and seeing only one $200 sale. Turns out, they were actually breaking even within a month and making 10-to-1 returns after 90 days when you accounted for the full customer journey. The person who uncovered this hidden goldmine? Scott Desgrosseilliers, founder an...

After 600 episodes of interviewing digital marketing experts, I've learned a thing or two about efficiency and workflow. What started as a solo endeavor has evolved into a streamlined workflow that leverages AI, remote production teams, internal teams, and a not-so-virtual assistant—from guest vetting to social media promotion. Whether you're thinking about starting a podcast or just want to see how AI can transform your content creation process, this behind-the-scenes look at my current workflow might give you some ideas you can steal for your own business. https://www.theagentsofchange.com/600 Need help with your branding, website, or digital marketing? Re...