The Agents of Change Digital Marketing Podcast

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

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

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

Description: Remember when stock photography meant scrolling endlessly through the same crying-into-salad images that every other brand was also using? Or spending actual money on "custom" photos that somehow ended up on your competitor's website too? Yeah, those days might finally be over. Lauren deVane—creative director turned AI educator and your friendly neighborhood "AI auntie"—joins the show to explain how AI image generation has evolved from six-fingered curiosities into legitimate marketing tools. And if you haven't checked out what these tools can do in the past six months, you're in for a surprise. Lauren breaks down exactly how small business marketers can create original, on-brand imagery without the stock photo budget or the production headaches. https://www.theagentsofchange.com/613 Need help with your branding, website, or digital marketing? Reach out to me (Rich Brooks!) today at https://www.takeflyte.com/contact

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

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

You're wearing all the hats. Marketing, operations, sales, customer service—maybe even IT support when the printer acts up again. And somewhere in there, you're supposed to actually grow your business. Here's the thing: You don't need to hire a whole team to get help. You need to build one out of AI. Mike Allton, creator of The AI Hat and AI architect for solopreneurs, is going to show you how to create your first AI assistant—one that doesn't just spit out generic responses, but actually works the way you work. We're talking about AI that challenges your assumptions, asks clarifying questions, and handles those repetitive tasks you've been meaning to delegate for months. Whether you're a one-person show or running a small team, this episode gives you the blueprint for building AI teammates that free up your most valuable resource: time. https://www.theagentsofchange.com/607 Need help with your branding, website, or digital marketing? Reach out to me (Rich Brooks!) today at https://www.takeflyte.com/contact

Look, I get it. You've got a modest marketing budget, and every time you hear about Google Ads, you think: "That's for the big players with deep pockets." But here's the thing: paid search can absolutely work for small budgets—you just can't play by the same rules as enterprise brands throwing around unlimited cash. Brooke Osmundson, Director of Growth Marketing at Smith Microsoftware, joined me to break down exactly how small businesses can make paid search work when you're working with $20 to $50 a day (or even less). She's been in the trenches on both the agency and in-house side, managing everything from local clinics to Fortune 100 companies, so she knows what actually works—and what's just burning money. If you've been frustrated by rising costs, spread-thin budgets, or campaigns that seem to eat cash without delivering results, this conversation will change how you think about paid search. No fluff, no impossible tactics—just practical strategies you can use today. https://www.theagentsofchange.com/605 Need help with your branding, website, or digital marketing? Reach out to me (Rich Brooks!) today at https://www.takeflyte.com/contact

You've got brilliant ideas rattling around in your head. Your process works. Your approach gets results. But when someone asks what makes you different, you stumble through an explanation that sounds like everyone else's pitch. Here's the thing: the difference between "yeah, I do marketing" and becoming the go-to expert isn't just what you know—it's how you package it. Melanie Deziel has built her reputation helping speakers, coaches, and businesses transform messy expertise into frameworks people actually remember and share. In this conversation, she walks us through her IRON framework (yes, a framework for building frameworks) and explains why the businesses that stand out aren't necessarily doing different work—they're just organizing it better. If you've ever wondered why some concepts stick while others evaporate, you're going to want to hear this. https://www.theagentsofchange.com/603 Need help with your branding, website, or digital marketing? Reach out to me (Rich Brooks!) today at https://www.takeflyte.com/contact

You're spending money on Facebook ads, and after a week, you see barely any sales coming through. Naturally, you think Facebook is a bust and pull the plug. But what if those ads were actually working—just not in the way you expected? That's exactly what happened to a Maine lobster company that almost wrote off Facebook as useless after spending $4,000 and seeing only one $200 sale. Turns out, they were actually breaking even within a month and making 10-to-1 returns after 90 days when you accounted for the full customer journey. The person who uncovered this hidden goldmine? Scott Desgrosseilliers, founder and CEO of Wicked Reports, who's been playing detective with marketing data for over a decade. Today, we're diving into how you can stop leaving money on the table by understanding what's really driving your results. https://www.theagentsofchange.com/601 Need help with your branding, website, or digital marketing? Reach out to me (Rich Brooks!) today at https://www.takeflyte.com/contact

If you've been feeling overwhelmed by the constant changes in Facebook and Pinterest advertising, you're not alone. Between iOS updates killing our targeting superpowers and algorithms that seem to change faster than a toddler's mood, it's enough to make any marketer want to throw in the towel. But here's the thing: while the platforms have evolved, the opportunities haven't disappeared—they've just shifted. Today's guest, Karen Nelson, manages millions in Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest ad spend for her clients, and she's got some refreshing insights that might just change how you think about paid social. Instead of chasing the latest hack or trying to game the system, Karen's approach focuses on something we sometimes forget in our quest for the perfect campaign: being authentically human. Buckle up, because we're about to dive into what's actually working right now. https://www.theagentsofchange.com/599 Need help with your branding, website, or digital marketing? Reach out to me (Rich Brooks!) today at https://www.takeflyte.com/contact

Most small business owners treat their Google Business Profile like it's some afterthought—maybe they fill out the name and address and call it good. But here's the thing: your Google Business Profile is basically the homepage of your business online. It's often the first impression potential customers get, and it's your ticket to showing up in those coveted top three map pack results. My guest today, Greg Gifford from SearchLab, has been helping businesses crack the local SEO code for over two decades, and he's got some eye-opening insights about what actually moves the needle (spoiler: it's not what you think). From category selection strategies that seem counterintuitive to why your business might get suspended for something as innocent as updating your hours, Greg breaks down everything you need to know to dominate local search. https://www.theagentsofchange.com/597 Need help with your branding, website, or digital marketing? Reach out to me (Rich Brooks!) today at https://www.takeflyte.com/contact

You know that feeling when you hear "link building" and immediately think of sketchy tactics that'll get your site penalized? Yeah, me too. But here's the thing—while the spammy guest posting networks got nuked by Google's helpful content updates, the smart marketers pivoted to something way more sustainable: digital PR. My guest today, Vince Nero from BuzzStream, spent years at agencies like Siege Media figuring out what actually works (spoiler: it's not buying links from "tech123.com"). Instead of chasing quick wins that blow up in your face, he's going to show you how to create content that journalists actually want to link to—because it's genuinely newsworthy, not because you paid them to care. https://www.theagentsofchange.com/595 Need help with your branding, website, or digital marketing? Reach out to me (Rich Brooks!) today at https://www.takeflyte.com/contact