John Moore

I’ve never really told you all what I actually do for a living, so here you go Pisgah Peaks Ventures builds & manages fractional marketing team for SMBs that are doing under 10-15 M ARR. The teams could be anywhere from 2 to 20+ individuals. Hiring for PT marketing roles can be a big drain on small businesses. They're unsure of who to hire, how to train, and they def don't want to manage them. This keeps costs in check (no office space here!) + avoids costly benefits / W2 wages. Perfect clients for us? B2B companies with 1-2 internal marketing team members Dispensaries with 2-5 locations. Soloprenuers who are scaling from 6 > 7 figures. A few years ago we started investing into other small businesses & at this point have equity in a handful of other SMBs. The goal? By 45; be able to live off the proceeds of our portfolio and golf 4X a week. To my network.... Tell us What do you do? Why do you do it? Post in the comments!

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I’ve been asked “What do you do?” at least 50+ times in the past week at VidCon. The thing is, I’ve always beat around the bush because I don’t want to come off too salesy. But I’ve since realized that I shouldn’t look at it that way. I should look at it as a means to be able to provide my expertise and network to help others grow. That being said… What is it that I do? We run a marketing agency called Digital AgenZ LLC for DTC Ecommerce brands for Top-of-Funnel and Middle-of-Funnel acquisition through Paid Social and something called “Memeified Creative Strategy”. In summary, we make highly converting ads that look like memes. We also recently started hosting events through Creators and Conversions(CAC) where we bring creators, influencers, celebrities, and brands together. Our mission is to bridge the gap between the Creator Economy and the DTC World–fostering an environment for long-term collaborations and partnerships. It’s not easy… Brands and creators in a way “hate” each other… But want to work with each other. So we want to foster an environment where we can have meaningful conversations to break the unspoken barriers surrounding “negotiations”. Don’t get me wrong, there's definitely a lot of work left to be done, but at the very least–we can make the collaboration process much more seamless and fruitful for both parties. Given that I see the DTC world shift towards a more creator-centric economy, I want to be at the forefront of being able to bring the DTC space closer to the Creator Economy. This shift is important as it will provide brands with a sustainable marketing strategy that builds organic momentum. What’s in it for me? Well if we’re able to ride the momentum of organic social and brand collaborations, there’s a lot of room to amplify that with our agency that helps with paid advertising and memeified creative strategy for TOF and MOF acquisition. This is definitely a long term play here, but I anticipate these 2 worlds colliding, and if we don’t set the foundation early on, it’ll be extremely difficult to be successful. If you’re a brand and are interested in coming to our future events… Shoot me a DM!

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SO WHAT?! Let's say you're in the tree and lawn care industry. Your current website headline says, "We're your neighbor tree and lawn care professionals." SO WHAT? How does that make you stand out? How does that differentiate you? A good way to make your messaging clearer and engage more people is to have an internal conversation with yourself. --- "We're your neighbor tree and lawn care professionals." SO WHAT? Because we have certified arborists in tree, shrub, and lawn conditions. I DON'T CARE But our team of experienced professionals has a combined industry tenure of over 75 years. WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME? Professional tree trimming and lawn care will save you from unexpected damage and injuries, raise your property value, and save you the time and effort of doing it yourself. HMMMM? THEN WHY YOU? Because we offer tailored care plans, use state-of-the-art equipment, and provide reliable, consistent maintenance, ensuring your landscape is always in top condition and enhancing your property's beauty and value. YAWN. DOESN'T EVERYONE ELSE IN YOUR INDUSTRY? Our certified arborists know this region's unique conditions, providing personalized care and consistent maintenance that others may overlook. This results in a more beautiful, healthy, and valuable property, giving you peace of mind and saving you time and effort. SO WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME, THE CONSUMER? Think of us as your expert partners who'll protect the investment in your home with a beautiful and safe landscape using personalized, certified tree and lawn care. MAKE THAT SHORTER Main Headline: Maximize Your Home's Value and Appeal Subhead: with the Region's Leading Certified Tree and Lawn Care Experts <Social Proof Image of a home's landscape> If you need some guidance on how to craft your messaging, hop on my calendar for a complimentary consultation. #MarketingStrategy #BrandMessaging #DigitalMarketing #ContentMarketing #CustomerEngagement

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Let’s talk about UGC! So many brands today are using UGC for marketing purposes. While UGC is great for conveying authenticity, relatability, and fostering community through real customers’ experiences, there can also be a downside. Relying solely on UGC, content that isn’t always of the highest quality, can undermine your brand’s perceived value and credibility. Luxury brands exemplify the importance of maintaining a consistent visual identity. All of their marketing assets are carefully and meticulously curated in order to reflect their commitment to excellence. While UGC thrives on social media platforms, marketing materials and brand websites require visual assets that inspire consumer trust and confidence which comes down to working with a professional photographer/videographer. Finding the perfect balance of professionally crafted images and UGC allows brands to convey authenticity and credibility, strengthening connections with their target audience. Need help crafting professional images that will make your brand stand out? Email [email protected] to get started today! 

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This is the direct marketing email you WISH you could write! Does anyone actually LIKE direct marketing? No. (And if you do, please DM me!) Is it a necessary step to grow your business? Yes. We all know this. But it's just SO. DAMN. HARD! You don't want to be a pest or infringe on someone's sacred inbox but... you have to, right? I think this is what we all WISH we could write! 😂 (Disclaimer: This is all in jest and I would never send an email like this... or would I? You never can tell what us creatives will do! 😂 ) #directmarketing #marketing #emailmarketing #coldemail #voiceover #voiceactor #coldcalling #entrepreneur #growingmybusiness #smallbusinessowner

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The most competitive business has to be companies/people offering SEO. I get at least a dozen messages every day from someone that can get me on page 1 of Google. If every business used these companies, then every business would be on page 1 of Google. For some reason, I do not think this is possible. Now because I wrote this, I will get a bunch of SEO companies/people telling me that they have the formula to make it happen. Everyone has the formula, but not one of them are on page 1 of Google.

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POV: Passing out bad promotional products Hand out giveaways people actually want. 🤩 There are many creative ways to market your business. 👩🏼‍💼 But forceful coercion isn’t a viable marketing plan. 👎🏼 When you’re thinking about which promotional products should represent your brand. 🔖 Follow one simple rule. 📏 Order products people actually want. 😃 What type of products are these? ❓ Items that are useful. 🔦 Think: 🔎 🌟Water bottles – Backpacks – Hats – T-shirts – Tote bags – USB Drives – Coffee mugs – Pens – Umbrellas – Lunch coolers – Socks – Speakers – Chargers 🌟 As a general rule, If you are willing to bet the average person already owns at least one of the items you are thinking about, then go with that. 🤝 That means it’s useful. 🔨 These are the types of products we use to add convenience to our lives. ❇️ We keep these around because you never know when you may need it. 💡 These products will never go out of style. 💫 The styles and colors may change. 🎨 But the functions they perform do not. Choose quality over savings. 🏅 The longer your giveaways last, the longer your client shows off your brand. ⏳ Message me if you need help sourcing the perfect promos for your next event. 😎 #streamlinebranding #promowhisperer #mikeknowspromos

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If you are looking for some extra guidance getting your product to market, I highly recommend Heinrich's "Go-To-Market Playbook."

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I had a call with a 7 figure brand last week that was in the same space as a former client of ours doing 9 figures. Naturally, they had a lot of questions. They asked about what their AOV, CPA, LTV was, what channels they were running on and more. I could only share so much, out of respect of the client. But here’s something that came up that was very clear to me that the brand operators are battling with: The biggest 9 figure players in their market (stealing their customers) are optimizing for 6 month, 12 month, even 24 month pay back periods . This 7 figure brand is optimizing for day 1 breakeven or profit. The amount their competitors can spend on a customer is 1.5-3x what they can spend. It’s nearly impossible to compete. This is the time to decide what’s the game being played and if it’s time to redesign the game (or play a completely different one). Very difficult internal conversations but required.

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"Can't I just pay to get featured in the magazine?" If I had a dime for every time I've had a client (or possible client) ask me that, I'd not be sweating the next vet bill for my horse. When you pay to be in a magazine, that's "advertising" and not publicity. Publicity is working with earned media, meaning you've "earned" your way into the article because your story is compelling or the information you provided is considered valuable to the audience. This is why publicity is 7X more valuable and credible than advertising because you cannot simply buy your way in. Unfortunately, due to falling advertising revenue, some outlets have opened the door to Councils, etc., which are paid memberships giving a perk of being published on the platform. Some outlets opened the floodgates to thousands of contributors with the idea of dominating the SEO field, which has led to the rampant pay-to-play we've seen the last few years - those messages promising you an article in Forbes in exchange for a few thousand dollars. Some "PR firms" promise stories in top-tier outlets. How do they do it? They're paying a contributor under the table. This is not how publicity works - it twists the ethics of journalism into Oktoberfest-sized pretzels. The rules are... A writer cannot feature a client in their articles. A writer is paid by the outlet. A writer is not allowed to take gifts from the subjects they're writing about. If someone is promising you a secured story in a top-tier publication, it's because they're doing something shady. Publicity is the long game, the marathon, and yes, it can take months of pitching before getting a yes from Forbes, Success, Entrepreneur, or Inc. There aren't any shortcuts but the payoff for getting into these respected magazines, the right way, is priceless. ___________________________ Looking to get featured using earned media? Let's chat.

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💥Why it is important to really get to know your client💥 People are not just purchasing a product. They are buying into the belief they have in the person. I am not generic. I do not want to hash out the usual boring content that people skim past. I want to make your profile pop. To do this I want to know your hopes, dreams, desires and fears. I want to know about your journey. Where you have come from, where you are at and what you hope to achieve. I want to be able to feel your tone and emotions that you apply to your life and work. I want to know about your quirks, your sense of humour, your attributes. I want to see you shine in your personal and professional life and assist in getting you to your dream destination 💕 Let's Fly.

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Check this out. We got Will Yarbrough CRO with Denim back on the Sales Gravy Podcast for another killer conversation. We take on: - Improving Buyer Experience With the One Funnel Mindset - Shorter Sales Cycle Trends and How to Prepare - Sales Rep Complacency You'll want to listen to this one! (Link in comments) #SellMore #salescycle #sales #podcast #onefunnel #SalesGravy

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“We want to do a brand campaign but we only have $X.” I hear a version of this all of the time. My first response is that if you’re going to underspend on brand, don’t do it at all. But if they’re set on doing it, then I help them get creative. During a recent meeting, I shared insights into our brand campaign testing strategy, focusing on a split-testing approach designed to optimize impact and efficiently allocate resources. Here’s a quick breakdown of the strategy I outlined: 1. Market Pair Testing: Instead of spreading our budget thin across multiple markets, we chose to concentrate efforts by pairing similar markets and running the campaign in one while holding off in the other. This method allows us to measure the brand campaign’s direct impact on awareness, lead generation, and conversion rates. 2. Incremental Measurement: By conducting these tests in Q1, we aim to assess if the campaign lifts key performance metrics across all channels. Success metrics include traffic growth, cost-per-acquisition reductions, and engagement lifts. If effective, we plan to scale up in Q2. 3. Hypothesis Validation: Our theory is that brand campaigns bolster all performance marketing channels. Through this structured testing approach, we’ll confirm if a stronger brand presence enhances conversions across the board. This approach is not just about cutting costs; it’s about smart investments that yield data-driven results. Testing in small batches allows us to pivot quickly and focus resources on what truly works, building a brand that resonates and converts. Let’s get strategic with brand awareness—big splash, measurable results. #BrandMarketing #DataDriven #MarketingStrategy #BrandAwareness #SplitTesting #MarketingOptimization

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I bought some stuff for my kids last night on Tik Tok Shop and my feed immediately became a marketplace. It is now an affiliate commerce platform with a little bit of social media sprinkled in. A few thoughts here… 1) How the hell are companies making any margin by selling on this thing? Everything is 100% off essentially. A lot of these products don’t even scream “retention” or “LTV”. Cheap one time purchase trash. So can it even be used as an acquisition channel if you’re selling garbage that people aren’t going to buy again? What are your thoughts here? 2) There’s not a chance that Tik Tok Shop can survive this way. I don’t even want to open my app again. It’s that bad. 3) Tik Tok Shop (as currently structured) will last about as long as MySpace did. There I said it. 4) Get ready for Shopify x YouTube because in my opinion, within 5 years that will become the biggest social commerce platform on the planet. One that you can actually sustain and make margin on. Anyways, I gotta go, my four year old just opened up the front door and threw her breakfast on the front stoop. P.S. Episode 2 of ASOM drops in a few hours… 👀

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Snag grew their DTC from $0 - Over $30m+ in 3 years. Here’s how they did it: ➤ Problem-Focused Conception While out shopping, Brie realized her tights were slipping down. Growing frustrated, she asked some friends of hers if they experienced something similar. Turns out every single one of her friends had the same issue. This was natural fuel for her to look into things further. ➤ Data = Unfair Advantage Brie didn't have a background in marketing. Instead, her data-oriented mind gave her an advantage by looking at things a little differently. She ran a Google Survey of 3000 women to find out who else struggled to find a pair of tights that fit. The answer? 90% of 3000 people. Bingo. Opportunity validated. The data also showed how: → The market was commoditized → Men made most of the product purchases (Crazy right?) → Most women accepted poor fitting tights as the norm This inspired her to really look into solving this problem, and her search for suppliers began. ➤ Knew the numbers Before launch, Brie’s focus to really get a grip on her numbers really paid off. Since the sales were through DTC, she knew she needed: → 25% of revenue back into marketing → First-order profit → Small seed round to fund initial stock order Armed with the validation from the survey and some strong number-crunching, Snag launched. They cleared £300k/mo in under a year. The emphasis of being profitable from the first order was key to allow her to scale forward and further invest in marketing. ➤ Applied Zero-Party Data & Customer Service This is where Brie’s data-oriented approach really shone a light on how Snag scaled rapidly. The pandemic caused havoc for many brands, including Snag. Over 60% of the business disappeared overnight, and they went into negative. They had Facebook debt that had to be paid. Fast. Or Snag would die. That’s when Brie turned to her customers for answers. Her customers suggested a brilliant offer: 2 tights for the price of one, but the second pair gets sent in 6 months. The offer worked - Snag survived. And eventually thrived. This was a genius idea to help relate to her customers. ➤  Applied the ‘3-Piece’ DTC Law Finally, Brie understood the fundamental law of DTC. → Commitment to customer service → Great product experience → Solve a big problem Since all 3 were checked, the rest was down to semantics, unit economics, and following marketing fundamentals. ➤  Final Thoughts As a data analyst, Brie’s final words of advice were super impactful and really hit home. Yes, data is important, but it’s even more important that each data point is an actual human being, not just a number on a spreadsheet. Combining the importance of data with the understanding that each data point is a human is a brilliant formula for growth. What else would you add?

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Who needs a crystal ball when you've got reverse sourcing? Ditch the traditional product search tools and go straight to the source. Literally. Contact manufacturers and ask for every sample they've ever produced. It's like having a product treasure map in your hands! Once you've got the samples, you can make informed decisions and place bulk orders—all from a single point. Efficiency meets savvy spending. Want to save on time and improve your margins? Here's your game plan: → Reach out to manufacturers directly for a wider product perspective. → Evaluate samples in your niche to spot top sellers. → Negotiate bulk orders with favorable net terms. Remember, the best products aren't found, they're sourced smartly. Get into reverse sourcing and set your sales graph on an uphill climb!

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I believe Marketing, as a whole, is going through a sort of reckoning. Does it continue down the path from 2000 — 2019? Or, does it take a new route, one that builds off the drastic sea change that has occurred because of a global pandemic? (And yes, I’m still going to reference the pandemic because I believe it started a shift in mindset for today’s audience.) See if any of this rings a bell. 🔔 🔔🔔 The over-reliance on data, which is often biased, wrongly attributed, or not even used due to analysis -paralysis… The dopamine rush with “instant” results… The false belief that we can scale through “hacks”… The fear and anxiety from doing something “wrong”… The false belief that when something fails, “we can fix it ourselves” (you get what you pay for)… The additional silos (yes, we created more instead of busting them down)… The false narrative that storytelling is “soft”, or that it doesn’t drive sales… The similar belief that you can’t measure the impact of storytelling… Anything else to add? (I’ll stop here. But feel free to add in the comments.) In short, I believe we got enamored over the last 20 years with the “how”… And forgot about the “why”. (We reference the likes of Simon Sinek & Steve Jobs plenty. But I don’t believe we are applying it to the best of our abilities.) But, this is not doom & gloom. Again to me, this feels like a reckoning — a perfect time for organizations to take back control… to have better harmony between Branding & Marketing, Marketing & Sales, Sales & Storytelling, Storytelling & Insights, Insights that then refuel Branding. After all, it’s all connected. Don’t forget about me. Yours truly, THE BRAND #creative #branding #marketing #storytelling #letstalk #therebirthofbrand

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I got scammed. It cost me $6,000. Here's what happened: I was still relatively new to the wholesale business model on Amazon. I hadn't yet figured out how to properly vet suppliers. So when a supplier made a claim, I tended to believe them. I was in contact with a video game distributor. They had 30+ SKUs that looked to be profitable to resell on Amazon. I'm talking 20%+ gross margins on products that sold 500+ units per month. They had plenty of available stock with minimal lead time. Not exactly realistic and this should have been a huge red flag. The rep assured me the goods were fine and that we'd make a great profit. So I placed an order for $6,000. Sent them to FBA and sales started rolling in. But then so did the returns. Every single unit we sold got returned. Come to find out: The games were only compatible with European consoles. Customers would go to play the games and they literally didn't work. The returns were useless and I was out $6,000. Lesson learned. When the deal looks too good to be true, it is. Follow me Corey Ganim for daily posts like this and repost ♻️ this to your network to help another seller avoid this trap.

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4 easy ways to squeeze more money out of your website. (so simple you probably didn't think of it) 1. Use colors that trigger emotion ↳ Blue builds trust ↳ Orange encourages action ↳ Colors influence decision-making 2. Include human faces ↳ People are drawn to human faces ↳ Promotes comfort and captures attention 3. Keep it simple ↳ Too much info is overwhelming visitors ↳ A clean, simple design promotes action 4. Create urgency ↳ Tap into the natural desire to not miss out ↳ Add limited-time offers for visitors to act fast These are called neuro web design techniques that get inside the minds of your visitors, the right way. NOTE: If you do limited-time offers please stick to the limited-time aspect. If your visitor comes back and sees it's still there will only cause distrust in the future. Found this useful? Repost for your network. ♻️

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