The Sendible Insider Podcast

In this episode, join Katelyn and David as we discuss how to get started planning and designing successful graphics for social media.  You'll learn what to consider before you start designing, how to tie your graphics into your brand, and practical design tips to share your message and make your content stand out.  Before you start designing, it is important to think about; checking platform content guidelines, designing different media types for different platforms, choosing the correct image sizes, understanding where the images will be seen, and knowing the goal of your content. Listen for details around these considerations, and more tips on how to design your social media graphics once you have your plan! We want to hear from you - send an email to insider@sendible.com or mention us @sendible on Twitter!

In this episode, join Ellie and Veronika from the Sendible marketing team as they highlight how you can use content pillars to create consistency and structure when implementing a social media strategy. You'll discover what content pillars are and why they are useful for agencies and in-house social media marketers. We'll also go through some practical examples for different types of brands to inspire you and help you implement this planning method right away! Learn more about content pillars on our blog: https://www.sendible.com/insights/content-pillars Our free Social Media Holiday Calendar: https://www.sendible.com/social-media-holiday-calendar Connect with us: Connect with Veronika on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/socialveronika/ Connect with Ellie on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanor-scott/ We want to hear from you - send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

In this episode, Gavin and Martine introduce Katelyn, the new Sendible CEO. Hear about Katelyn's background, how her & Gavin are different, what makes Sendible special, and how to approach a huge life transition (stepping up and stepping down).  With advice and reflections from all three and details about the future vision for Sendible, we are excited to kick off the second season of the Sendible Insider podcast! Connect with Katelyn at CEO@Sendible.com or on Linkedin and don't forget to subscribe for future updates and to hear form other members of the Sendible team.

In this episode, Gavin and Martine discuss the recent acquisition of Sendible. After finally closing the deal and making it public, Gavin talks about the thought process, negotiation timeline, and addresses some of the questions he's received since the announcement, including what he'll be doing next.  Items mentioned in this episode:  Gavin's letter to customers - https://www.sendible.com/insights/new-story-starting-for-sendible  Gavin's newsletter - https://my.growthmaps.com If you have any questions about Sendible or the acquisition, we'd love to hear from you! Send an email to insider@sendible.com

Kristian Downer is the founder of DowSocial Digital Marketing, based in Peterborough, UK. Gavin serendipitously met Kristian on the way to Social Media Marketing World in 2020 and a year later, invited him onto the show.  In this episode, we discuss: Why most small businesses fall into the mistake of making it too hard for their clients to buy from them on social media Why social media is best told by the people that live and breathe your business How Kristian bounced back after losing 95% of his clients The importance of building trust when it comes to growing your business And much, much more... Connect with Kristian: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristian-downer/ Dow Social: https://www.dowsocial.com/contact/  We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message! Want to be a guest on the show? Grab your spot here: https://www.sendible.com/meetings/gavinhammar/sendible-podcast-interview

"Does using a 3rd-party posting tool like Sendible hurt my brand’s organic reach and engagement on Facebook?" — In this takeover episode, recorded at the end of 2020, Veronika and Ellie from Sendible's Marketing Team answer the million-dollar question that every social media marketer wants the answer to.  Following a detailed analysis of almost 60 Facebook Pages (some with more than 6.5 million fans) and over 5000 posts, Veronika and Ellie talk you through their research findings. They also share how you can use these insights to boost the organic reach of your Facebook posts.  If you're a social media marketer striving for more engagement, you don't want to miss this one!  Read the full article here: https://www.sendible.com/insights/3rd-party-social-media-tools-posting-to-facebook 2021 Social Media Holiday Calendar https://www.sendible.com/social-media-holiday-calendar#today Connect with us: Connect with Veronika on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/socialveronika/ Connect with Ellie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanor-scott/ We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Gavin was recently a guest on the Empathise IT podcast with Mordecai Holtz. It was a great interview where Gavin shared a few of his strong opinions on topics such as: Why the fear of remote working is really just a symptom of having the wrong employees Why it's dangerous to stick to best practices Why Gavin refers to himself as the anti-CEO The future of influencer marketing Connect with us Connect with Gavin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavinhammar/ The Empathise IT podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/7tLttj2GxmWHIqz7v98Xj2  We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

2020 was a massively challenging year for all of us and 2021 is likely to be another year filled with uncertainty.  In this episode, Gavin invited 3 thought leaders to share their biggest personal and business challenges from 2020, their predictions for the year ahead, and their advice for other businesses and marketers as we begin a new year. Meet our guests: Park Howell is a brand storytelling consultant and host of the hugely popular Business of Story Podcast.  He recently launched the book, Brand Bewitchery: How to Wield the Story Cycle System™ to Craft Spellbinding Stories for Your Brand. Neal Schaffer is an influencer marketing expert, keynote speaker, and author of The Age of Influence: The Power of Influencers to Elevate Your Brand Ted Prodromou is American's Leading LinkedIn Coach and author of Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn For Business. Connect with us: Connect with Park: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parkhowell/  Connect with Neal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nealschaffer/ Connect with Ted: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tedprodromou/  Connect with Gavin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavinhammar/ We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Welcome to Launch, a brand new series from Sendible Insider, hosted by Product Manager, Rachel Orr. In this series, Rachel takes you behind the scenes to give you an inside look at how we make products at Sendible. Today, Rachel is interviewed by Sendible's new Product Manager, Cy Robinson to explain how we've adopted the Shape Up process to bring solutions together and deliver more value for our customers. In this episode, we talk about: Why we replaced 2 weeks sprints with 6-week cycles What Product Management looks like at Sendible How we bring solutions together What we need to consider when working with different teams The challenges we face in product Tips for other product managers We want to hear from you Send an email to product@sendible.com or leave us a voice message! Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-orr/

Syndi Braun is the founder and CEO of The Social Robin and a Sendible Partner. The Social Robin is a full-service marketing company, based in Fort Worth, Texas with a focus on quality growth.  In this episode, we discuss: Why Syndi decided to start her own agency How she convinced her first three employees to work for her (for free) Her number one tactic for finding new clients The impact COVID has had on her business, her team and her processes How her agency bounced back after losing 50% of her clients How to sell the value of social media to clients The importance of sourcing client testimonials and reviews And much, much more... Connect with Syndi: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/syndibraun/ The Social Robin: https://www.thesocialrobin.com/   The Social Robin's Agency Listing: https://agencyvista.com/agency/the-social-robin/marketing-agency We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message! Want to be a guest on the show? Grab your spot here: https://www.sendible.com/meetings/gavinhammar/sendible-podcast-interview

Welcome to Launch, a brand new series from Sendible Insider, hosted by Product Manager, Rachel Orr. In this series, Rachel takes you behind the scenes to give you an inside look at how we make products at Sendible. Today, Rachel is joined by Sendible's Lead Product Designer, Stefano, and UX Researcher, Alexis to discuss user testing and how it's helping us make better decisions when we shape solutions for our product. In this episode, we talk about: Why it's so important to get research and testing right How we use research findings in our work Some of the challenges we face when running these tests Our advice for those wanting to start running their own tests We want to hear from you Send an email to product@sendible.com or leave us a voice message! Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-orr/

In today's episode, Gavin is joined by Katey Gold, Sendible's customer marketing manager.  One of Katey's responsibilities at Sendible is to ensure that our customers are consistently leaving us positive reviews.  Since pioneering Sendible's review strategy, not only has Katey managed to increase the number of reviews by 43% in just 12 months, but our improved rating has helped to get Sendible listed as one of the top 50 products for marketers in 2020.  In this episode Gavin and Katey discuss: Why reviews are so important in 2020 Whether you should focus on multiple review sites or just one. How you should deal with a negative review How to use NPS to get positive reviews And much, much more! We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Welcome to Launch, a brand new series from Sendible Insider, hosted by Product Manager, Rachel Orr. In this series, Rachel takes you behind the scenes to give you an inside look at how we make products at Sendible. Today, Rachel is joined by Sendible's Lead Product Designer, Stefano D'Avascio, and Visual Designer, David Preston to explain Sendible's new design process and how it's helping us to deliver a better experience for our customers. In this episode, we discuss: How we apply a design process to our work at Sendible How we differentiate between Product & Visual design How design forms part of our project work How we build a design culture  We want to hear from you Send an email to product@sendible.com or leave us a voice message! Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-orr/

At Sendible, we've recruited 9 new starters since the start of the pandemic. As a result, all of them have been onboarded remotely.  Petri Lohten, founder of FlowTrace.io, reached out to Gavin to ask a few questions about how we've gone about this and some of the challenges we've been facing.  Gavin thought his insights may be useful to listeners, so he decided to record the conversation! In this episode we discuss: The challenges of remote onboarding vs. more traditional face-to-face onboarding Why Gavin created a Management Playbook for the leadership team and how it's helped drive employee engagement and growth How to measure the immersion and identify extra support needs for the new remote employees The pain points we've experienced with remote employee onboarding in the past and how we're trying to overcome them And much, much more! We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

At Sendible, we have completely changed our sales processes over the last 12 - 18 months in a way that's enabled us to reduce the size of our sales team and continue to hit our sales targets. In fact, as a result of these changes, we were able to grow our revenue by almost 50% in less than a year! So, to explain how we went about this, Gavin invited Nico Watson, our Head of Growth, and Johnny Costello, our Head of Sales to join him on the show. In this episode we discuss: How automation and lead scoring allowed us to downsize our sales team How we increased our close rate from 30% to 50% How we implemented MadKudu at Sendible And much, much more! We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

When Gavin launched Sendible back in 2008, he ran the site off a server he purchased for £10 from his old boss. He plugged it into his home router and Sendible was born!  In this episode, Martine and Gavin reminisce about the early days and the challenges of getting a bootstrapped company off the ground. Connect with Gavin: Connect with Gavin on LinkedIn Follow Gavin on Twitter   We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

With the world working remotely as a result of COVID, Zoom has been an incredible tool. But 6 hours of Zoom meetings every day for 4 months left Gavin completely burnt out. So, he decided to have a "Zoom fast" and in the process, discovered the power of asynchronous communication. In this episode, Gavin talks about: Why going remote can result in excessive use of real-time communication.  How he ran a company town hall meeting completely asynchronously. How he politely redirected requests for a real-time conversation to asynchronous channels. Connect with Gavin: Connect with Gavin on LinkedIn Follow Gavin on Twitter We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

With so much demand for our attention these days, the best way to get anyone to engage with your content is to build an audience that trusts you. And we know that the best way to gain someone's trust is to connect with them on an emotional level through authentic storytelling. But a lot of agencies and marketers struggle to surface these stories from the brands they manage.  That's why we created a deck of storytelling cue cards to help.  In this episode, Gavin and Martine demonstrate how they used these cue cards to surface stories from a real-life client, Winston Davis. Grab your deck of Storytelling cue cards for free: https://www.sendible.com/swag Connect with Winston Davis https://www.linkedin.com/in/winston-davis-0b338537/ We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

In this special episode, hosted by storytelling expert, Park Howell, we are joined by three Sendible customers who share their tips for increasing your brand’s social media presence through digital storytelling.  This is a panellist discussion taken from a live webinar we ran earlier this year. Panellists Desiree Martinez, Founder of All-In-One Social Media Sophia Rabe, Founder/CEO of Olive + Milo Social Studio Andrew Bartolotta, Digital Media Director at cityCURRENT We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Welcome to Launch, a brand new series from Sendible Insider, hosted by Product Manager, Rachel Orr. In this series, Rachel takes you behind the scenes to give you an inside look at how we make products at Sendible.  On our first episode, Rachel is joined by Sendible's UX researcher, Alexis Camacho to discuss all things UX research and how we apply it at Sendible.  In this episode, we discuss:  What is UX research?  Why UX research is important?  How we built UX research as a function within Sendible's Product Team  What are the benefits of UX research? We're hiring! We currently have two vacancies in our Product Team. Check out our careers page to apply: https://sendible.com/careers We want to hear from you Send an email to product@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!  Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-orr/

As a result of COVID-19, Gavin recently had to deliver one of the most important presentations to the team - he had to explain his strategy for navigating the crisis. Gavin shares his 4-step process for planning and structuring a memorable presentation that utilises storytelling techniques to elicit emotion and inspire action. In this episode, Gavin talks about: How he used to fill his presentations with too much text, too many charts and too many numbers How he went about preparing a presentation to the team to address the COVID-10 crisis How he prepares for presentations using a simple notetaking app His 4-step process for structuring a memorable presentation Connect with Gavin: Connect with Gavin on LinkedIn Follow Gavin on Twitter We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

This week, Gavin discusses how his personal experience with an affiliate software company has reminded him that during these uncertain times, it's now more important than ever to help your customers.   In this episode, Gavin shares 5 things we're doing at Sendible to help: Live chat for all our customers with real humans, no bots Introducing an entry-level, lower-priced plan Offering free time for those severely impacted by COVID-19 Hosting weekly Q & A product training sessions for our customers Running live weekly workshops to connect our customers with industry experts Connect with Gavin: Connect with Gavin on LinkedIn Follow Gavin on Twitter We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

In this episode, Gavin talks about how he was recently psycho-analysed on a podcast interview and explores the true emotions he was feeling at the time.   Connect with Gavin: Connect with Gavin on LinkedIn Follow Gavin on Twitter We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

In this episode, Gavin and Martine talk about the challenges they've experienced while working from home with the kids around and what they're doing to overcome them.  Some of the tips shared:  Be sensitive to what your kids are feeling Come up with a daily routine for your children Get up before everyone else for writing, meditation or exercise  Be flexible, adapt your schedule and work later into the night if you need to  Embrace the madness and show your authentic self  We want to hear from you, send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

In this episode, Gavin discusses how he first froze and panicked before the constant reports of job losses inspired him to take action and come up with the 5 initial steps to help navigate Sendible through the crisis.  The 5 steps discussed: Communication Offering relief Looking at runway Improve support for customers Building trust Connect with Gavin: Connect with Gavin on LinkedIn Follow Gavin on Twitter We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Over the next few episodes, our CEO, Gavin Hammar, will be sharing our journey at Sendible as we navigate the company through the COVID-19 crisis.    In this, the first episode of the series, Gavin discusses his personal challenges when it comes to leading a company in a time of uncertainty and what he's doing to overcome them.  Connect with Gavin: Connect with Gavin on LinkedIn Follow Gavin on Twitter We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Miri Rodriguez is an award-winning storyteller and creative journalist at Mircosoft. She is a renowned keynote speaker and international thought leader in brand storytelling, personal branding and youth entrepreneurship.  Her new book, "Brand Storytelling", helps brands trigger human emotions to drive loyalty, consumer behaviour and customer engagement.  Gavin and Martine recorded this episode with Miri over breakfast at the Hyatt in San Diego. In this episode, we discuss: With ads becoming less effective, is there a place for them in the future?  The importance of weaving a story theme across organic and paid content How companies can humanise their brands to drive growth How to create a memorable brand story How Microsoft has used empathy to become #1 How AI and IoT will be used by brands to connect their customers to their memories and trigger their empathy How to extract stories from engineers who don't typically want to share How to craft attention-grabbing content through storytelling The value of building a team of storytellers within an organisation The kinds of influencers that Gen Y typically respect and follow The one piece of advice for someone launching a business today wanting to differentiate themselves And much, much more... Miri's new book: Brand Storytelling: Put Customers at the Heart of Your Brand Story: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0749490470/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0 Connect with Miri: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirirod/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mirirod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mirirod We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Adam Fairhead is an English entrepreneur, author, philanthropist and advocate of cause-driven business. He founded Fairhead Creative to help "good" companies stand out, sell better, and make more impact with the mission of “helping difference makers make a difference."  His book, "Marketing Isn't About You", helps businesses get out of their own way and lead from the front of their industry with empathy and connection. In this episode, Gavin talks to Adam about: Social entrepreneurship and the opportunities it brings. Why people are becoming less tolerant of businesses without a cause. How to get people to pay attention without resorting to sneaky tricks. What the future looks like for businesses that don't make a change today. And much, much more... Links and resources: Marketing Isn't About You (book): https://marketingisntaboutyou.com/ Connect with Adam: Adam's website: https://builtforimpact.net/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamfairhead/ We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

As Sendible's first Sales hire, Johnny Costello has been instrumental in executing each of the various sales processes we've adopted over the past 8 years.  Although we've tried several iterations, we've never had any success with any strategies that have involved outbound sales. That's because these days when future customers go out looking for a solution to their problem, they start by turning to the people they trust or review sites.  It goes like this:  ”Can someone recommend...”  or ”I’m looking for an alternative to...”  And when consumers have all the power as they do today, people can no longer be sold to, they buy.   In this episode, Gavin talks to Johnny about: Whether cold-calling is officially dead The various versions of the Sendible sales process The need for consultative selling How we've generated 50% more revenue with a 50% smaller sales team The importance of turning your happiest customers into advocates The crucial role that Customer Success plays in helping to grow recurring revenue And much, much more... Connect with us: Connect with Johnny on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnny-costello-41932a23/ We're always looking for talented individuals to join the Sendible Sales Team, no matter where you are in the world! Each new hire is an opportunity for us to bring in a different perspective, and we are always eager to further diversify our company. Get in touch here: https://www.sendible.com/careers We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

"Social Media Marketing World (SMMW) has been a game-changer for me, you have to go!" - this was the sentiment echoed by our customers and partners, time and time again. So, it really didn't take much more convincing for us to decide to attend our first conference in March 2019.  And it turns out, they weren't wrong:  The conference was a game-changer for Sendible too and we're going back again in 2020!   In this episode, Gavin and Martine sit down with experienced attendees Desiree Martinez and Rob Balasabas to reflect on the conference and to discuss their top tips for making the most of SMMW. In this episode, we discuss: Who should attend Social Media Marketing World How to prepare for a conference like SMMW What has worked well or not so well in the times we've been to SMMW How to make the most of the conference once it's over The incredible impact SMMW has had on our success so far Advice for first-time attendees (hint:  Never eat alone!) Connect with us: Connect with Desiree Martinez: https://www.facebook.com/mrsdesireerose Connect with Rob Balasabas: https://www.facebook.com/rob.balasabas Links and resources: Social Media Marketing World: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/smmworld/ Join Sendible for The VIP Experience You Deserve at SMMW20: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/join-sendible-for-the-vip-experience-you-deserve-at-smmw20-tickets-88671006367 We want to hear from you: Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

It's become clear that a more diverse workforce can lead to better products that can address a wider range of customers.  In this episode, Gavin is joined by Heidi Pereira, Sendible's first female developer. Originally from Venezuela, Heidi joined Sendible in 2019 and has quickly become an integral part of our Development Team. In this episode, Gavin talks to Heidi about: What it's like to be a female in a male-dominated industry What made Heidi decide to go into software development The role that globalisation has played in bringing more diversity to tech  The unique qualities that only female developers can bring to engineering teams And much, much more... Connect with us: We're always looking for talented individuals to join the team, no matter where you are in the world! Each new hire is an opportunity for us to bring in a different perspective, and we are always eager to further diversify our company. Get in touch here: https://www.sendible.com/careers Connect with Heidi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-pereira/ We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Heather Gilletti joined Sendible at the start of 2019 as our first US-based, customer-facing employee. A few months later, she was promoted to Customer Success Manager. At the time, one of our goals was to get closer to our customers, so Heather was tasked with not only leading but also growing Sendible's first fully distributed department.   In this episode, Gavin talks to Heather about: How she went about successfully recruiting and leading a fully distributed team across timezones Overcoming communication challenges, implementing new processes and managing change as a distributed team The lack of content for managers tasked with building a remote team and the importance of building a support network Her role in Sendible's social committee and how we involve remote workers in HQ-based social events And much, much more... If you enjoyed this episode, you may like these: 17. How Shanaaz Manages Her HQ-Based Team From The Other Side Of The World 09. Maintaining Mental Wellness When Working Remotely 04. Rachel Created A Customer Success Department, Here's How! 01. We've Become A Remote Company & We Love It! Connect with us: We're always looking for talented individuals to join the team, no matter where you are in the world! Get in touch here: https://www.sendible.com/careers Connect with Heather on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heathergilletti We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Since 2002, hundreds of leaders have trusted Chris Hutchinson and Trebuchet Group to help them achieve great accomplishments through creating great teams. Chris brings together real-world experience and understanding to support leaders who feel the weight of their company on their shoulders, and are frustrated by teams not achieving their potential. In this episode, we discuss: What most first-time CEO's getting wrong Whether great leaders are born or made Tips for effective communication at work How to give others the autonomy and confidence to take on big problems Whether all CEOs need a coach and how to find one The essential tools CEOs can use to assess their company's health? The most common positive and negative habits displayed by CEOs And much, much more... Links and resources: Ripple: A Field Manual for Leadership that Works: https://www.amazon.com/Ripple-Field-Manual-Leadership-Works/dp/1942492006 Sendible's Playbook for Success: https://app.tettra.co/teams/sendible/pages/your-playbook-for-success-at-sendible?auth=d5e91c562652beea67563f492360fcaf167601f3a19fb6dcc8e2554d0b9967f769fd7babbc7326ab1c8fee051b8a8e58 Connect with Chris: Trebuchet Group: http://www.trebuchetgroup.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rippleleader We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

At Sendible, we recently implemented a brand new social media strategy and embraced authenticity on a whole new level.  That's because, we believe that people are no longer interested in your perfect life, product or service. They care about the stories you tell so that you can inspire them to be better versions of themselves. See Episode 10:  Don't Be A Social Media Narcissist.  In this episode, Gavin invited Veronika (Sendible's Inbound Marketing Manager) to host a fireside chat with Anneliese and Coral from Sendible's Customer Success Team.   Be a fly on the wall as they each discuss their experience growing up with social media as millennials and the trends they're predicting for 2020. In our final episode of 2019, Veronika, Anneliese and Coral discuss: When they first started using social media Their favourite platforms and why Whether people will start spending less time on social media Whether influencers are still influential  Their predictions for the future of social media Their social media goals for 2020 And much, much more... Connect with us: Connect with Veronika on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/socialveronika/ Connect with Coral on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coralwulff/ Connect with Anneliese on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneliesesabitzer/  We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

There is a lot of talk about managing a remote team, but what happens when the manager is remote and the majority of the team are based in the HQ?  When our super-talented Customer Support Manager, Shanaaz, told us she was moving from London, where our HQ is based, down to Cape Town, we knew we had to do whatever it took to keep her. So, we saw it as a massive opportunity to alter the way we work, open offices in South Africa and see if remote management around the world was possible. In this episode, we talk to Shanaaz about: Overcoming the challenges of becoming a remote manager in a different timezone Interviewing candidates from South Africa while not having a physical office Overcoming regular power cuts, yet still being available for her HQ-based team Lessons for other managers tasked with setting up a remote office in a different timezone And much, much more... Connect with us: We're always looking for talented individuals to join the team, no matter where you are in the world! Get in touch here: https://www.sendible.com/careers Connect with Shanaaz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanaazbanks/ We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Ben Ford is a programmer and development team coach. He applies operational principles from the Royal Marines and 10 years in tech leadership to help businesses scale without getting stuck. Ben takes a systems approach, with more breadth than dogmatic agile consulting, and deep technical experience that's sometimes missing in business coaching. In this episode, Ben shares: What tech startups can learn from military operations How the OODA loop process applies to both military and business strategy How to continuously monitor and improve your operations What high performance looks like in an organisational context The importance of cross-functional teams and avoiding silos How to balance operational efficiency with innovation and experimentation The impact that bullying has had on his life And much, much more... Links and resources: About Ben: https://commando.dev/about  The OODA loop: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OODA_loop Team of Teams: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Team-Teams-Rules-Engagement-Complex/dp/0241250838 Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Antifragile-Things-that-Gain-Disorder/dp/0141038225 Connect with Ben: Ben's website: https://commando.dev/ Twitter: @commandodev LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/commandodev/ We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

"We have to think about growth on the agency side as our ability to build trust. Growth comes from being focused on the customer first and having customer feedback inform how we do work. Feedback informs the system."  Talar Malakian is a Business Unit Director at Hubspot diamond tier global partner, Salted Stone, with experience conceptualizing and producing fully integrated omnichannel marketing and advertising campaigns for clients. Clients that she's worked with have included Xbox, Microsoft HoloLens, Microsoft Office, and venture-backed B2B and B2C companies in high-growth periods. In this episode, Talar shares: Her #1 tip for growing a client roster and marketing your agency Why she believes trust is key to retaining clients and growing an agency Her recipe for a winning pitch And much, much more... Links and resources: Salted Stone: https://www.saltedstone.com/ Connect with Talar: Instagram: https://instagram.com/talkhro  Email: talar.malakian@saltedstone.com We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Shamiel Jansen is a business development, marketing, sales and management-oriented entrepreneur with over a decade of experience from working within the tech, retail and financial services industries.  Originally from South Africa and now living in Denmark, Shamiel is a passionate networker who enjoys all things startups, tech and innovation. In this episode, we talk about: Why networking is so important for growing your business How to successfully network yourself and your business (even as an introvert) How to make the most of LinkedIn for networking And much, much more... Links and resources: Ubuntu Biz website: https://www.ubuntubiz.dk/ Fast-Track Your Networking & Personal Brand workshop: https://www.linkedin.com/events/fast-trackyournetworking-personalbrand/ Connect with Shamiel: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamieljansen/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShamielJansenOfficial/ We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Most tech startups want to grow as quickly as possible. They raise capital and instead of working to make their customers successful, they work to make their investors successful. At Sendible, we've taken no outside funding and have grown at our own pace. By doing that, we've been able to keep that startup culture alive.  But, Gavin wanted to find out what it's like working for a larger, VC-funded company.  So, he chatted to Sendible's Anneliese Sabitzer, whose previous role was with a much larger, VC-backed tech company, to find out how it's different.  In this episode, we talk about: The cultural differences between a self-funded vs venture capital-backed tech company The pros and cons of working in both types of company and the impact on career growth Gavin's experience having worked in a 2,500 person company in South Africa How to have shorter meetings with the "Seek feedback, not consensus" principle And much, much more... Links and resources: Basecamp's latest book: It Doesn't Have To Be Crazy At Work: https://basecamp.com/books/calm Connect with us: Discover Sendible: https://sendible.com/why Connect with Annelise on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneliesesabitzer/ We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

One of the core operating principles for success at Sendible is to "Be the CEO of your domain". However, until recently, Sendible had adopted a Product Management process that was reliant on stakeholders passing down the solution to the Development Team. This didn't leave much room for developers to come up with their own solutions.  In fact, it was a complete contradiction of the kind of company we wanted to be!  Something needed to change... In this episode, Gavin discusses: What it means to be the CEO of your domain and practice extreme ownership Why we wanted cross-functional teams to come up with solutions themselves Basecamp's Shape Up Process and how we've adopted it at Sendible How we went from Estimates to Appetites and from Projects to Problems To Solve    Links and resources: Shape Up by Ryan Singer Sendible's 8 Operating Principles  Connect with Gavin: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavinhammar/ Twitter https://twitter.com/gavinhammar Discover Sendible: https://sendible.com/why We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Leanne O'Sullivan is the co-founder and co-owner of Adventure Digital, a digital agency servicing clients all over the Australian eastern seaboard. Leanne's agency has survived and thrived for almost 20 years. In this episode, we talk about: How Leanne attracted her first clients and the importance of word of mouth What it takes to create a successful 20-year old digital agency The importance of educating clients so they can see the bigger picture And much, much more... Links and resources: Leanne's book recommendations: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F and Everything is F'd (Mark Manson) Connect with Leanne on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leanneosullivan/ Leanne's agency: https://www.adventuredigital.com.au/ We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

The biggest mistake people make on social media is that they position themselves as the perfect hero. But, the truth is that people could care less about your perfect life, your perfect family, your perfect meal or how perfect your product or service is.  They care about how you can make them better versions of themselves. So, if you want to get their attention, you need a new approach.   In this episode, Gavin discusses: Why it's getting harder and harder to get people's attention Why your flaws, vulnerabilities and weaknesses are actually your biggest strengths on social media The winning storytelling formula Gavin uses on LinkedIn And much, much more... Connect with Gavin: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavinhammar/  Twitter https://twitter.com/gavinhammar Discover Sendible: https://sendible.com/why We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Most companies require that their people commute to a physical office where they get to interact in-person every day.  But, if you listened to our first episode, you'll know that Sendible has recently adopted remote working in a big way.  Remote working has a lot of positives for both employees and employers, but it can also be challenging for those who are new to it, especially when your co-workers and customers are in different timezones. In this episode, Gavin talks to Sendible's Customer Success Specialist, Anneliese Sabitzer, about some of the challenges she faces as a remote worker and the tactics she uses to maintain work/life balance and mental wellness.   In this episode, we have a candid discussion about: How to maintain mental wellness as a remote worker Tips to overcome the feeling of isolation How to know when to "leave work" when you work from home The importance of establishing a routine that gets you out of routine The distractions that come with having to be more responsive on Slack And much, much more... Links and resources: Shamiel Jansen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamieljansen/ Remote Work Guides: https://twist.com/remote-work-guides How I keep myself motivated as a remote worker: https://medium.com/swlh/how-i-keep-myself-motivated-as-a-remote-worker-907de1c0335d  Connect with us: Discover Sendible: https://sendible.com/why Connect with Annelise on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneliesesabitzer/ We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Nicky Kriel is an internationally recognised and leading Social Media marketing influencer. She trains, consults and speaks at prestigious events around the world including Social Media Marketing World in California, where Gavin and Nicky first met.  Like Gavin, Nicky is originally from South Africa but spends most of her time in the UK. She is currently a digital nomad and travels the world.  Nicky is passionate about inspiring and empowering businesses to use Social Media to grow. She believes that Social Media is not about tools and technology, but about people and relationships.  Her latest book is: “Converting Conversations to Customers: The Essential Guide to Social Media Sales Success”. In this episode, we talk about: How Nicky got her first speaking gig at Social Media Marketing World How the 30-Day Blog Challenge transformed Nicky's career How to write a LinkedIn profile that gets people's attention What most businesses struggle with when it comes to social media How social media agencies can help their clients surface content for social media using 9 grids Nicky's #1 tip for getting better at public speaking And much, much more... Links and resources: Nicky's book recommendations: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The Road Less Travelled, Known (Mark Schaefer) Connect with Nicky on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickykriel/ Nicky's latest book: Converting Conversations to Customers https://www.amazon.co.uk/Converting-Conversations-Customers-Essential-Success/dp/0995551502/ref=sr_1_1 We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

This week, Gavin speaks to Sendible user, Dr Adam Gower.  Adam has his own successful podcast, The Real Estate Crowdfunding Show, where digital marketing experts share tips and tactics to help real estate developers raise capital online. Adam has interviewed almost 100 people and through his personal journey, has become somewhat of a digital marketing expert himself. He shares these leanings with his own audience of real estate developers at https://gowercrowd.com/ and we're thrilled to have him join us today to tell us his story. In this episode, we talk about: Why Adam moved into digital marketing as a means to raise capital online How he went about teaching himself digital marketing What motivated Adam to start a podcast The importance of having a presence on social media Why learning and self-development is the key to success And much, much more... Links and resources: The Real Estate Crowdfunding Show: https://gowercrowd.com/podcast-series-3-real-estate-crowdfunding-syndication-in-the-digital-age Hear the interview Adam did with Gavin on The Real Estate Crowdfunding Show: https://gowercrowd.com/podcast/311-gavin-hammar-founder-ceo-sendible We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Gavin and Martine currently work together at Sendible, but although they've been married since before the company launched, Martine wasn't always part of the business.  In this episode, we talk about: What Martine was up to before she joined Gavin in the business. Why Gavin broke the "no friends and family rule" to allow Martine in. Why Gavin created a fake employee called Lisa and made Martine use her maiden name at work. Some of the mistakes Gavin would've made if Martine hadn't been involved. The rules Gavin put in place to ensure Sendible didn't become a family business. The pros and cons of working with your spouse. And much much more... We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Seth Silvers has been passionate about storytelling and marketing since he started his first organization at 16. For the last 4 years, Seth and his team at Story On have been focused on helping small businesses grow in a more authentic way by marketing with stories.   In this episode, we talk about: Why over-hyped Super Bowl commercials motivated Seth to start an agency How to use storytelling to scale trust How to articulate the value of storytelling to clients The 10 Day Live Storytelling Challenge And much, much more... Links and resources: 10 Day Live Storytelling Challenge The Small Business Storytellers (Seth's Podcast) Connect with us: Discover Sendible  Connect with Gavin on LinkedIn or Twitter We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Rachel Orr originally joined Sendible as a Business Analyst, but shortly after starting, we realised that we needed to build a department to look after our most valuable customers. So I asked her to create a department and that's when Customer Success was born.  In this episode, we talk about: Why your customers are your best sales people The definition of Customer Success and how to measure it Why you need to take better care of your largest customers How to determine if you need Customer Success in your organisation How to align Sales with Customer Success using clawbacks  How to use Customer Success and NPS to attract more customers The ideal personality traits to look out for when recruiting a Customer Success Manager And much, much more... Links and resources: The Essential Guide to Customer Success  Connect with us: Discover Sendible  Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn or send her an email at rachel.orr@sendible.com We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Park first met Gavin at Social Media Marketing World earlier in the year and we're super excited to have him on this show to talk about storytelling! That's because at Sendible, we're on a mission to help agencies share their clients' stories on social media.   Park has been in advertising for 30 years, has run his own agency for 20 years, and has been steeped in story marketing for the past 10+ years.  He is the founder of the Business of Story, a proven platform based on his 10-step Story Cycle system to help leaders of purpose-driven brands clarify their story to amplify their impact and simplify their life.    In this episode, we talk about:   How Park first discovered the power of story   The "And, But, Therefore" and "Setup, Problem, Resolution" techniques   How to show the value of business storytelling   How to use social media to tell stories   How agencies can surface stories from their clients with OOOH And much, much more...   Links and resources:   And, But, Therefore   Park's Website   Business of Story Podcast    Connect with us:  Discover Sendible  Connect with Gavin on LinkedIn or Twitter We want to hear from you  Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Instead of everyone sitting at the same desk every day with teams sat in departments and their own silos, we wanted to let them choose a different desk each time they were in the HQ.    In this episode, we talk about:   How we ran out of desk space and needed to either move into a larger space or find another solution. Why we would've stopped hiring if we hadn't adopted remote working and hot desking. How we converted our office into the perfect hot desk space, designed for collaboration. How our culture has literally transformed overnight as a result. Links and resources: Sendible's Hot desking policy Robin - Hot desking software CSK Projects   Connect with us: Discover Sendible Follow Sendible on Instagram Connect with Gavin on LinkedIn Connect with Martine on LinkedIn We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

At Sendible, we have recently adopted a remote first culture. So today, Gavin sits down with Martine to reflect on the journey so far. Martine was instrumental in helping with this shift and is also Gavin's wife. In this episode, we talk about:    The original problems we faced that led us to consider remote working as the solution How we went about introducing remote working and the various challenges we overcame along the way. The tips and tricks we've learnt and the amazing discoveries we've made while implementing remote working at Sendible. Links and resources: Sendible's Manager's Guide To Remote Working Remote: Office Not Required (Book) WeWorkRemotely.com HeyTaco Donut We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!

Gavin Hammar is the Founder and CEO of Sendible, a social media management platform for agencies. Gavin launched Sendible from his apartment 10 years ago and since then, the software has been used by tens of thousands of companies worldwide.  But, he's deliberately kept the company small and bootstrapped. So, he was looking for podcasts where like-minded founders of self-funded tech companies are sharing their learnings.   But, there was very little about the insider stories of a growing, bootstrapped SaaS company.  So, he decided to start one!  Here's what to expect:  In some episodes, you’ll hear some of the discussions Gavin and his wife have around the kitchen table as he lets you into the behind-the-scenes life of a founder and CEO.  In other episodes, he'll be speaking to Sendible team members to learn about some of the challenges they’ve been presented with and the lessons they’ve learnt along the way in overcoming them.   We’ll also be interviewing customers and friends of the company to learn more about their experiences as bootstrapped business owners and let them share their lessons with you.  We hope you'll come along for the journey with us!   Connect with us: Discover Sendible Follow Sendible on Instagram Connect with Gavin on LinkedIn Follow Gavin on Twitter We want to hear from you Send an email to insider@sendible.com or leave us a voice message!