Paid Ads, Social Media, and SEO
The Content Lab
When is a social strategy the right way to go and when is SEO the right way? We’re joined by Ashley Rector, CEO of Quimby Digital, for a fun convo between agencies about the pros and cons of each of our approaches. We dive into: When we each recommend our clients DON’T use our services Tips for SEO best practices on social media The best ways to use paid ads and social content for lead generation Ashley’s unconventional journey to owning an agency How much you should spend on ads What ROI you can expect from social channels and paid ads Creative ways Ashley is using AI for work Show...
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Building An Audience By Saying The Quiet Part Out Loud
The Content Lab
What happens when you stumble into content creation, and suddenly thousands of women see their story in yours? In this episode, Nora Schlesinger and Lindsay Rios sit down with Paige Connell, a content creator who built a deeply resonant platform by talking candidly about motherhood, mental load, and the invisible work so many women carry. Paige shares how she unintentionally grew her following, and how she balances authenticity, boundaries, and burnout as a creator. In this episode, we talk about: How Paige grew her platform through authentic content Why “mental load” content...
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Welcome to The Content Lab
The Content Lab
We're not going anywhere... but our name is. After years as the Growth Machine Marketing Podcast, we're rebranding to something that better reflects what this show has become: a space to explore how real people use content to build meaningful brands. In this short episode, you'll hear why the change felt necessary, what you can expect going forward, and why we're so excited about the future of The Content Lab. Thanks for being here! Links: MBE Group:
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#46 Lessons From a Merger Pt. 2: The Buyer Side
The Content Lab
Frank Buscemi and Tom Eisbrenner from MBE Group share their POV of the acquisition of Growth Machine. We talk about how the merger process went on their end of things as the buyers, covering: Why they wanted to buy us How they chose Growth Machine Their biggest fears in the buyout process What they learned merging our two companies Advice for business owners looking to acquire a company Show Notes (1:35) You’ve heard the acquisition story from the Growth Machine side, but this time, hear it from the MBE Group side. (1:57) Meet Tom, our President, and Frank, our CEO, as they share their...
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#45 Mailbag: Subpar Website, Optimizing for AI, and Selling Your Company
The Content Lab
It’s Q&A time! Nora and Heather tackle listener questions, including: How do you build a better content strategy when your current content is suffering? Should I be optimizing for Google Gemini, Perplexity, and other AI tools? I have a limited budget and want to do SEO, paid ads, and social media, but can’t afford all of them. Where is the best place to start? If you plan to sell in the future, what should you be doing now to prepare and put your agency in an attractive position to be acquired? What is the best lesson/resource to teach yourself SEO? Show Notes (1:45) Today’s...
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#44 How to Make Sure Your Content Agency Doesn’t Fire You
The Content Lab
Want to make sure your content agency doesn’t fire you? This week, Heather and Nora are breaking down the must-haves every business needs before diving into content marketing. Without them, you might be setting yourself up for failure. From choosing the right CMS to nailing your brand voice, we’re covering everything that makes content agencies want to keep working with you for a long time. Show Notes: (1:04) So you've decided to hire a content agency. That's great! In this episode, we're giving our tips on what you can do to build a lasting partnership. (2:46) Before you invest in any...
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#43 Setting Yourself Apart and Getting Hired as a Freelance Writer
The Content Lab
As our VP of Content, Heather has hired hundreds of writers in all sorts of niches. There are writers who pop right off the page and make her want to talk to them immediately, and there are writers who get disqualified before she’s even opened their portfolio. She’s sharing all her tips and answering new freelancers’ questions in this advice-packed episode. You’ll walk away knowing how to structure an application to a freelance writing job and how to communicate your eagerness without looking too desperate. In this episode: Advice from working freelance writers How to stand out from...
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#42 Lessons From a Merger
The Content Lab
We’re being acquired, and we’re spilling all the tea about what the process was like from start to finish! Nora will go over how she knew it was time to sell the company, how it felt going through the acquisition process, and what she learned along the way. Show Notes: (1:02) Big news at Growth Machine! We will share our experience and takeaways for you out there who may be going through or are considering an acquisition. (2:11) Nora talks us through the process of being acquired and how long it took. (4:57) How did we come to this decision to join another company? (12:05) Nora shares her...
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#41 How Do You Become a LinkedInfluencer?
The Content Lab
Heather, Lindsay, and Nora spent a few months trying to post on what could be considered the lamest social media of them all: LinkedIn. We all took different approaches and each found at least some degree of success building up a LinkedIn network and getting more followers. We share what worked, what miserably failed, and our pleasant surprises in navigating the cringey waters of LinkedIn. Show Notes: (1:01) You guessed if from the title… today we’re talking about our journeys on LinkedIn! (2:20) Lindsay kicks us off by sharing why she began using LinkedIn a year ago, and what her...
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#40 Our Own Blog Used to Suck
The Content Lab
Welcome back to the Growth Machine Marketing Podcast! In this episode, we’re peeling back the curtain on a project near and dear to us: Transforming our own blog into a high-performing, strategic asset. It’s a story of starting from scratch, building a strategy, and practicing what we preach. You’ll hear from our Senior Director of Client Strategy, Leilani, on how she spearheaded our blog’s overhaul. Plus, we're dropping the deets on the tangible results we’ve achieved—from ranking competitive keywords to increasing our blog's traffic by 65%—and how we’re keeping the momentum...
info_outlineThe Growth Machine Marketing Podcast is back! And we're excited to jump back in with a topic that has been all the buzz lately.
Our VP of Content, Heather, and CEO, Nora, are here to discuss both sides of the AI coin. Does it have a place in content marketing, what are its limitations, and what is Google's algorithm favoring?
We chat about:
- The accuracy of AI checkers
- Why human-generated content remains the best investment
- Which types of tasks AI can be useful in
And much more!
Show Notes:
(0:55) After a long hiatus, we’re back! We remain cautiously optimistic about AI, and Nora explains why.
(05:05) How AI takes away the mental strain of having to start from zero.
(08:29) What are some things that AI is not particularly good at?
(12:39) AI and humans continue to differ in the way that they process and classify information.
(16:33) Heather shares her experiences working with our freelance writers amidst the emergence of ChatGPT.
(21:30) The over-promise of AI tools and why investing in human writers and editors is the best decision you can make for your content.
(26:29) Google continues to favor articles that share unique perspectives. Is Google making movements towards penalizing AI content?
(31:21) It all comes down to quality vs quantity, where quality always wins.
(34:54) Despite the many changes and updates throughout the years, Google has not changed their stance on rewarding high-quality, authoritative content.
(36:55) Keyword research and strategy: Can AI assist in planning your SEO content?
(40:54) We’ve got the much-awaited tea you've been asking for. We've tested numerous AI content checkers. And the results are in...
(46:01) Our final take: Work with writers and teams that you can fully trust with your content.
(53:01) Thanks for listening! We have more episodes coming your way, so make sure to stay tuned.
Links:
Should You Use AI to Write Blog Posts?
Grammarly (42:40)
Connect with Nora and Heather:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/noraschlesinger/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-leith/
Growth Machine:
https://twitter.com/growthmachine__