Identifying the problems your company is best suited to solve, with Mark Emond
It’s been seven years since Mark Emond founded Demand Spring, a revenue marketing consultancy that develops a blueprint for B2B companies AND helps them implement it.
In this episode we discuss:
- What led to the creation of Demand Spring and the first step he took
- Lessons from his biggest failure in the past 7 years
- Habits that helped him achieve success and habits he had to work on
- 00:52 Quick Introduction to Mark Emond
- 02:19 What you might not know about Mark Emond
- 03:52 About Demand Spring | What type of companies Demand Spring partners with?
- 05:38 What led to the creation of Demand Spring?
- 06:59 What makes Demand Spring’s model different from a standard creative model?
- 08:37 Demand Spring handles both advisory and implementation — from customer perspective and customer journey to talent optimization within the business.
- 10:00 7 years ago, when you wanted to create Demand Springs, where did you start?
- 12:05 What is the right time to employ people, and, for you, when did that happen?
- 13:26 What Mark learnt from his biggest failure in the past 7 years
- 18:41 Habits that helped Mark create longevity in his business
- 20:23 Habits/Traits Mark had to work on to be successful
- 21:39 Advice to entrepreneurs who are just starting out and want to “stay high”
Quick Juice Questions
- 22:56 Do you invest? If so, what do you invest in?“For the past year, mostly, we’ve been sitting on the sidelines in cash. Prior to that, I’m typically an investor that invests in stocks of industries that I know well – technology industry, financial services and a few others. And then, sprinkle in some growth stocks to drive some increase in earnings with a little bit higher-risk profile.”
- 24:15 What most inspires you? When and where are you most inspired?“I get really inspired when I’m leading an active lifestyle, when I’m eating well, when I’m getting lots of exercise, when I’m coaching a young group of athletes.”
- 24:52 What book has most inspired you and changed your thinking? “I tend to read a mix of business books and fiction. The one book most recently that I’ve read that has really both inspired me and made me think a lot is Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan”
- 27:56 What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received and/or given? “Our work should enrich our lives, not diminish it.”
- 29:23 If there’s one last bit of Executive Juice you can share for people who want to get to the top of their game, what would it be?“Follow your dreams. Follow your passions. Make sure you’re doing something you love to do.”
Links Mentioned:
Books Mentioned:
Quotes
On Demand Spring’s model
- You’re not going to see us [Demand Spring] create ads for the World Cup or the Super Bowl. We’re not about creating brand strategy.
- It’s really focused on the pragmatics of “who are your buyers?”, “how are they buying?”, and then “how do you engage them and deliver engagement to them throughout the buyer journey to really initiate interest and, then, progress that interest through an entire buyer journey.”
- We’re not the type of consultancy that is going to take six months to develop a blueprint, drop off this heavy tome on your doorstep and not be able to help you implement.
On where Mark Emond started in the creation of Demand Spring
- A good marketer should start, “What problems exist today?” and then, “Where are we well suited to solve those problems?” The intersection of talent and passion and the ability to deliver.
Advice to entrepreneurs who are just starting out
- You can only do it if you’ve got great talent around you. You have to have people on your team that you can trust to run their parts of the business, run their teams.