Posts by Shawn Strawser
Shawn Strawser on Using Data Without Losing the Human Side of Marketing
Modern marketing gives us more information than at any other point in history. We can measure traffic. Clicks. Conversions. Search rankings. Email engagement. Calls. Leads. Revenue. Customer behavior. That information is incredibly valuable. But there is one danger. It is possible to become so focused on the numbers that we forget the people behind them. …
Read MoreShawn Strawser on Self-Leadership: The Discipline Behind Consistent Performance
Leadership is usually discussed in terms of leading other people. Managing a team. Setting expectations. Creating culture. Motivating employees. Those things matter. But I believe leadership begins somewhere else. It begins with leading yourself. My name is Shawn Strawser, and one of the biggest lessons I have learned throughout my career is that long-term performance…
Read MoreShawn Strawser on Why Execution Matters More Than Ideas in Sales and Marketing
Ideas are everywhere. Every business has ideas. Every sales team has ideas. Every marketing meeting seems to produce another list of campaigns, improvements, projects, and opportunities. But ideas by themselves do not create growth. Execution does. My name is Shawn Strawser, and after more than 20 years working across advertising sales, business development, digital marketing,…
Read MoreShawn Strawser on Why Salespeople Should Understand Marketing — and Marketers Should Understand Sales
For most of my career, I have worked somewhere between sales and marketing. I started in advertising, moved into high-volume new account development, transitioned into outside sales, and eventually expanded into digital marketing and broader marketing strategy. That experience has convinced me of something I believe strongly today: Salespeople should understand marketing, and marketers should…
Read MoreShawn Strawser on Building a Professional Reputation That Creates Opportunities
My name is Shawn Strawser, and one thing I appreciate much more today than I did at the beginning of my career is the value of a professional reputation. Job titles change. Companies change. Industries change. Technology changes. But the way people remember working with you can follow you for decades. A strong professional reputation…
Read MoreShawn Strawser on Turning Customer Conversations Into Better Marketing
Some of the best marketing research does not happen inside analytics software. It happens in conversations. My name is Shawn Strawser, and because much of my career began in direct sales, I spent years talking with business owners, customers, prospects, and decision-makers. Those conversations taught me something I still rely on as a marketing strategist…
Read MoreWhy the Best Marketing Strategies Start With the Business Goal
My name is Shawn Strawser, and one of the biggest lessons I have learned throughout my career is that marketing becomes much more effective when it starts with a clear business goal. That sounds obvious. But in practice, many companies begin with tactics instead. They ask: Should we run Google Ads? Should we post more…
Read MoreWhy Great Salespeople Ask Better Questions
When people think about great salespeople, they often picture someone who is persuasive, confident, outgoing, and good at explaining a product or service. Those qualities can help. But throughout my career, I have found that one of the most valuable sales skills is much simpler: Knowing how to ask good questions. Sales is not about…
Read MoreShawn Strawser on Building Trust: The Sales Principle That Never Goes Out of Style
My name is Shawn Strawser, and after more than 20 years working in sales, advertising, business development, and marketing strategy, one principle has remained more important than almost anything else: People do business with people and organizations they trust. Technology has changed. Advertising has changed. The way customers research businesses has changed. Sales tools have…
Read MoreWhy Follow-Up Is Still One of the Most Important Skills in Sales
Over the course of my career, I have seen sales tools change dramatically. When I entered advertising in 2005, prospecting looked very different than it does today. Phone calls played a much larger role. Email was important, but it was not surrounded by the same automation platforms, CRMs, analytics tools, and digital marketing systems businesses…
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