Bryan Eisenberg

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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Do you own a B2B consulting firm? Here's what you need for your business: - Clear & concise website - Messaging that speaks to pain points - Technically sound SEO for website - Clear value prop Check out some of our most recent work where we helped a Charlotte based Fractional CTO firm revamp their site & messaging & dial in their technical SEO. Hit us up if you're curious about elevating your digital footprint!

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Email Marketing - Old but Still Powerful (when done correctly). The "start" of email marketing is generally considered to be in 1978 when Gary Thuerk of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) sent the first mass email to around 400 potential clients via the ARPANET, marking the beginning of using email for marketing purposes. New Study Reveals What Your Customers Like About the Marketing Emails You Send ... 1) Presonalization 2) Timing - "Timing is an essential element of every email marketing campaign for consumers regardless of personalization or content, according to Litmus, but the majority of marketers, 51 percent, still need more than two weeks to produce a single email." 3) Balancing brand building and short term "... stated goals and actual priorities in marketing departments. While customer retention appears as the second most common marketing goal in the State of Email in Lifecycle Marketing, it fails to make the top five when marketers rate goals by importance. This short-term focus is reinforced by consumer behavior: 78 percent of respondents rank promotional offers and discounts as a top three engaging email type, with Gen Z particularly responsive with 66 percent ranking it first." Other key data points from The State of Email in Lifecycle Marketing and the consumer survey include the following: - Less than half of marketers use customer retention, lifecycle and onboarding emails, with most marketers focusing in on promotional content instead. However, 55 percent of marketers use email to make sales. - Newsletters are the second most-used email type but are only used by half of all marketers. - The top two marketing priorities have remained the same in recent years, automation and personalization. However, automation takes the top spot this year, with more than a third of marketers wanting to create more triggered emails. - Consumers receive emails from the same company daily, with 67 percent saying they receive too many. Baby boomers at 81 percent are most likely to say they receive too many, while less than 50 percent of Gen Z agreeing. - While only 17 percent of consumers would share location-based data, nearly 50 percent are willing to share their name, basic contact information and purchase history. - More than half of email recipients, 64 percent, put exclusive offers based on loyalty status in their top three most valuable email elements, and 63 percent value product recommendations based on past purchases. https://lnkd.in/ekgSGBwB

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When I started out in marketing I was really sensitive. Really thin-skinned. I was wounded by feedback (especially late feedback) that was anything less than a pat on the head for being great. I was incapable of hearing criticism of any work I had done as anything but a damning of my character. I realize I don't come out very well in this story. That's ok. This isn't really about feedback. It's about learning to collaborate. Because somewhere - I honestly don't know where or when - I learned to listen (a bit). I don't think I'm perfect at it (who is?) but I stopped bristling at an alternative approach and started to rule it in. Is that idea valid? Is it better than my original idea? I've heard some things about how some really successful companies operate on a 'best idea wins' approach. In other words, it's not hierarchical, anyone with a good suggestion can put it forward. Sometimes the people that cause the most friction are the ones that get the most done because they spark us all into action. If you want to dive into better collaboration without the huge emotional journey I highly rate Neil Stoneman's post tagged below. Also tagging Hilton Barbour as someone who (dare I say relentlessly?) challenged me back in the day and made me stand on my own feet to better defend my views but also accept an outside view. #b2bmarketing #b2bstrategy

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I get so busy and focused on the fires that I sometimes forget to share our recent wins! - Relaunched a vertically integrated MSOs website with improved UX & SEO components. We built a custom blog that categorizes key learning pathways and improved the location pages to attract more local map pack rankings - We launched an engagement with a well known Shopify theme company that has over 10K themes in use. We’re helping their small team build brand awareness within the Shopify ecosystem through thought leadership content, outbound to build partner program & Linkedin paid distribution of helpful content - We’re launching a workshop funnel for a well know Fractional CTO in the Charlotte area. We went soup to nuts from the ground up on defining the program and then built it, built account lists and are now launching distribution to attract qualified leads - We’re rebuilding a SSOs website in a hot licensed market. We’re aiming to relaunch 11/1 with updated UX, reduced clicks to add to cart, optimized SEO and a host of other features that will improve conversion rates - We’re close to wrapping up a sick D9 hemp beverage website and will launch next month. - Our partner company / SaaS client has hit a big milestone of 2 M ARR (up almost 80% from when we began engagement) - We helped improve CTR on a monthly newsletter we send for a client by over 350% by further segmenting the list & refining the design & content for the newsletter - We built a funnel for our pool cleaning business that attracted 20 leads this past weekend & will be launching our paid program (NextDoor, Meta, Google) this week to further build the company’s pipeline of qualified leads. - We helped increase a brick n mortar / e-commerce hemp business in NC increase their organic clicks by 200% and grew online sales to best month to date - We are wrapping a rebrand & refreshed website for a large Canadian extraction company and will be shifting focus to top/mid funnel marketing activities to drive pipeline & our rebuilding their Hubspot setup to improve sales cycles & lead > opp conversion rates. - Helping 3 companies prepare for MJ Biz Con through marketing strategy, assets, event planning etc. - Built (at no cost) a website for an Asheville business owner to help capture donations to support artists in the River Arts District through donation aggregation. - Launching a KY physicians medical card business through website, branding and now GTM through SEO, biz partnerships, and paid media Helping small businesses is our passion and while it’s not always perfect we know we’re making a ripple. That’s what matters

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What does Pisgah Peaks Ventures do? We build fractional marketing teams, but there is more to it than that. I've waffled on positioning for a while I landed on the tagline "We build fractional teams for the price for 1-2 FTEs" But I knew my website needed an update (been a couple years since one) I don't like to use the word agency. Too many biz owners have been burned . Agencies deliver projects. They don't necessarily "join your team" For more developed companies; sometimes this works just fine. We also custom quote things vs put companies in packages. We save smaller companies from: - W2 wages - Benefits - Training - Equity Nothing wrong with FTEs; but when you're trying to scale a marketing program; you can only hire so many generalists. I've been working on a website revamp & I wanted a short / concise video that conveyed our value prop to visitors. I knew David Pascaru & his firm Purely Imagined from LinkedIn from several years. (This is a great example of why staying active on LinkedIn has value; as I wasn't in market for years; but as soon as I was; he was first person I thought of & closed a deal without much in the way of "sales") He & his team helped me take my vision & create a sleek & easy to understand explainer video that will live on my new home page. Check out the video below & excited to share my updated site later in the quarter.

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LOVE this: "Modern technology, vertical & horizontal process & system integration, decision support systems, & cyber-physical systems all come together seamlessly allowing a factory to become smart & agile" My question: what is the secret to getting employees who work in factories engaged & excited about their workplace becoming smart & agile? #EmployeeEngagement #AddressingIneffectivenessAndInefficiencies #IncreasingProductivityandProfitability #FactoriesBecomingSmartAndAgile

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Check out this article where I was featured that shared great lessons and stories from a number of leaders. You can check out my featured interview here: https://lnkd.in/eaxhGAgG

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I'm about a quarter into my salon purchase; here's the good / bad / ugly 👇 Context: I purchased 25% of an existing (15+ year) salon in January. I have right to purchase the remainder of the biz within 2 years for a predetermined price (based on rev levels). The salon did ~ 750K top line (peaked at 1.1 m top line in 2019 i.e. pre-COVID); but grew each of the last 2 years. My process to get to know folks was pretty simple; spend time there. No additional meetings (no one wants extra meetings). Good: - It hasn't been too time consuming (the biz has a manager + strong leadership on staff). Some weeks I spend 0 hours on it; others it's a half-day or so. There are some email chains that go back & forth. But generally fairly hands off. - We had a distribution in Q1. It had to go to pay legal fees for the business acquisition. If you look at it on a rate of return on cash invested; it was about 4% of total cash invested into the biz. If this rate continues (which it should improve; as Q1 slowest); then I'd expect to realize (in year 1); between a 17-20% return on cash invested. You would be hard pressed to find this kind of return anywhere else. - The staff has been very welcoming. They appreciate some new insights & have been helpful as I learn the biz; I also get free haircuts; which is a nice perk! (Yes I tip them) - The biz continues to be profitable (without much in way of major changes) & January is one of the slowest months of the year (cold weather + post holiday slump = slower times) - One of the biggest items to improve top line is just # of staff. We have a few empty chairs still (~100K per chair); so hiring 1-2 new staff this year should help us grow. Bad: - There is a lot of work to be done before we can focus on growth. The salon needs a facelift, there is some issues w/ rising rents (& deciding what to do), the systems are dated (i.e. using paper for everything) - The marketing program is virtually non-existent; a few print fliers here & there, but nothing in the way of a marketing motion. However; with the foundational issues; it makes no sense to spend good $ on marketing until foundational is set. - Things move slow. This is a mix of reasons. #1; both owners have other biz & main owner has a FT job. We could move faster; but hard to do so in a few hours a week. #2; the biz has been around for 15+ years. It's been through the recession & COVID; even though folks say they want change; implementing that change takes longer than realized. Ugly: - Being a minority owner is a dance. You can't make sweeping changes without consensus. You don't control the purse entirely. You're trying to appease staff & the primary owner at the same time, but their perspectives & goals are completely different. It has caused me some stress. - There's a fair amount of politics at a small salon. It can be a lot of unpack & wade through at times. Net/Net Anyone who says "owning a biz is passive income" is mostly full of it IMHO.

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Check out our recent case study for a Shopify website We teamed up with Pinkergreen (who assisted w/ UX & design) Outcomes from work? Conversion rate up ⬆️ 60% Avg order value ⬆️ 7% Upsell value (within 45 days) $8100 SEO up ⬆️ Bounce rate ⬇️ Check out the full case study below with more info on process & outcomes

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Calling your company ‘the Tesla of ______’ is the clearest sign you haven’t thought about your own brand positioning. And it’s the easiest indicator to your customers that you have no idea what problem your product can solve for them. In fact, I see a version of this almost daily, along early stage startups. ‘The Uber of ice cream’ ‘The Tesla of toilet paper’ ‘The Apple of cookware’ And I’m positive I’ve never seen a successful company using one of these taglines. So if you’re planning on calling yourself the ‘Tesla of protein powder’, please don’t. No one will understand what you mean, except yourself. #branding #marketing #startup

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SB Single vs. Multiple Custom Image Campaigns: Surprising Results! My team recently ran a test to see how single custom image campaigns stack up against multiple-image (slideshow) campaigns for Sponsored Brands. The results were not what we expected! Conventional wisdom suggests that multiple images would tell a better story, engage shoppers more effectively, and ultimately drive better performance. But the data told a different story: single custom image campaigns consistently outperformed multiple-image campaigns. This test gave us a deeper understanding of what resonates with Amazon shoppers—and it might challenge how we think about ad creatives moving forward. 📊 If you're looking to refine your ad strategy, check this out: https://lnkd.in/g6-8naKy. To all my LinkedIn connections: if you’re running Sponsored Brands campaigns, you might want to give this strategy a closer look! Let me know your thoughts or if you’ve seen similar trends. #amazon #amazonadvertising #amazonads #itsalwaysdayone

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FOMO is something every brand needs to master in different parts of the customer journey. We've gone from 0 to $80M in the last 5 years. This is what we've learned in the 3 easiest ways to induce FOMO. ✔ Push UGC Not in the standard influencer usage of UGC. Encourage your buyers to share stories, reviews, and photos featuring your products. Here’s the plug-and-play setup: 1)  Create a page on your website dedicated to customer stories.  2)  Social Media Campaigns (make a hashtag)  3)  Contest and Giveaways - Host a contest where users share photos or videos of them using your product for a chance to win a prize. ✔ Leverage Social Proof Include it in your copy. People love reading about the success stories of others, especially first-time buyers. Garners trust for the brand + makes them feel confident that if it worked for others, it’ll work for them too. Do it through email, SMS, ads, or any other content that you push out to your audience. ✔ Create REAL Urgency There’s a few ways you can do this, 1) If you say there are only ten pieces left in stock – once the ten pieces are sold out, you MUST say SOLD OUT. 2) Limited-Edition Products Change up the packaging, sell it only in-store, or the countless other ways to run a limited-edition item. 3) The Countdown Timer Stick a live countdown timer on the page where you’re running a limited-time offer. The reason this method is so effective is because it’s something about actually visualizing time running out that makes buyers start running around like headless chickens. Alright so urgency, social proof, UGC What am I missing?

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On your checkout page, Meta ads now present customers with the option to reconsider their purchase, abandon their cart, and explore similar brands instead of completing the transaction. For example, if I'm shopping for a multivitamin through Facebook or Instagram ads and I'm about to checkout, I'll be prompted to consider other brands offering multivitamins. This is detrimental to the conversion rate and may significantly increase cart abandonment. Is Meta making a mistake? On one hand, they offer several products designed to boost conversion rates, on the other, they are testing features that could undermine those rates. Have you noticed a drop in your conversion rate in the last 1-2 days? This might explain why.

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Wondering what the difference between your Google Optimization Score and Optiscore score is? Optimization score is when your doctor has a list of recommendations that apply to almost anyone for "better outcomes". Exercise with Ju-Jitsu; no, now mindfulness and yoga. Watch what you eat, actually, just eat everything without being picky because you might find out you like organic baby food better than applesauce. Measure you food intake with calories; no, now measure it with points. But if you don't sync up your watch to your shoes, you might not count 7 steps. If you spend more money with me at your doctors office, we could hang out more often together and you might be in better health. The entire US is interested in doing Ozempic, so you should too. Reading in dim light is bad for you; turn the lights on. Let us make all your decisions and talk to your insurance, bank account and spouse without you. It will make things easier if we do all the communication so you can sit back and relax in that mindful yoga we told you to do. Sometimes they make sense. Some(most)times they don't. Optiscore is your actual account health status. Ask your account reps for that

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Healthy profitability isn’t what makes a DTC brand valuable. Healthy positive cash flow is... Just because your brand is profitable doesn’t mean it’s creating positive cash flow. Unless you know how to manage your balance sheet efficiently, your profitable DTC brand’s cash flow may be locked up - 1. On warehouse shelves (inefficient inventory management) 2. Your customers’ bank accounts (inefficient receivables management) 3. Your vendors bank accounts’ (inefficient payables management) Need help managing your balance sheet so you can improve cash flow and increase your brand’s valuation on the open market? Shoot me a DM. My team of Ecommerce CFOs can help. — If you found this post helpful, consider resharing and follow me Jon Blair for more content like this.

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The Illusion of Cost Savings in Preferred Provider Networks Anyone familiar with preferred provider networks (PPNs) can quickly arrive at one conclusion: they don't lower consumer costs. In fact, there is not a single corporate PPN that has ever been proven to do so. Instead, what PPNs have consistently done is increase corporate profits, aligning with shareholder expectations, but at the expense of consumers by: - Reducing choice ( independent providers retire, leave or shut down ) - Increasing costs - Decreasing access While being part of a PPN might seem advantageous for the preferred providers, it often means relying heavily on a relationship with a single referring party. Over time, this relationship becomes increasingly controlling, allowing less room for operational independence or a focus on consumer or patient satisfaction. From an economic standpoint, PPNs have never demonstrated the ability to deliver cost savings as efficiently as an open, competitive market. When intermediaries, like PPNs, enter a marketplace, profits within the network may initially rise. But, as administrative costs pile on, consumers end up paying more while receiving less service and experiencing diminished access to patient-centred care. The impact of PPNs on competitors is stark: over time, non-network providers, burdened with higher costs and less market access, are forced to shut down. This creates a scenario where the competitive marketplace is eroded, leaving consumers with fewer options and higher prices. Preferred provider networks essentially create an oligopoly where the network administrators benefit, charging fees on top of already high administrative costs, and exerting control over the service providers themselves. In the end, PPNs may win for corporations, but they undermine the principles of fair competition and consumer choice—leaving patients to bear the brunt of higher costs and reduced access to care. Economies are worse when the myths about open and closed PPN’s are believed as unchecked facts. Yet the truth is evident since not one corporate Canadian PPN has decreased cost and improved services and access over a free and competitive marketplace. Ontario Finance | Ontario Finances Sarah Hutchison, MHSc. LL.M. ICD.D Peter Bethlenfalvy Doug Ford

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Strava's recent changes might be a challenge, but they're also an opportunity. At ROOK we understand how vital wearable and health data integrations are for building not just amazing user experiences but also tools that truly improve people’s quality of life. With Strava's new restrictions potentially impacting third-party apps, we want to make one thing clear: we’re here to help. ROOK's platform is built for reliability, scalability, and compliance, offering seamless data integrations without the noise. If your app relies on Strava and you're worried about what's next, we have the tools, the team, and the technology to support you. Our mission goes beyond data—we aim to empower companies to create solutions that enhance lives, whether it's helping users stay active, track their progress, or achieve their personal goals. Let’s turn this challenge into an opportunity to innovate and grow together. Jonas Dücker // Daniel Martínez Aguilar

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