Drop The Mic with Jason Hunt

Hosted by Jason Hunt

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251

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May 2026

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Drop The Mic is the pulse of marketing brilliance, where the world's top marketers share their journey from start to stardom. Uncover the tactics and stories behind their success in a rapidly evolving industry. Each episode is a treasure trove of insights, offering inspiration and guidance for marketers at any level. Dive into the minds that shaped the marketing world and discover how to leave your own mark. This is where legends speak, insights sparkle and marketing magic happens.

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May 5, 2026Episode 5048 min

#250 – Daniel Francavilla: The Silent Founder Mistake That Hands Clients to Competitors

Daniel Francavilla built and exited a 12-year creative agency and launched two brands from scratch. In an AI-saturated market where 67% of B2B buyers now prefer to purchase without talking to a rep, and 45% use AI to vet vendors before their last purchase, your content is already doing the selling. And if you're a founder who's staying quiet, you're handing clients to whoever shows up. Daniel is the founder of Clarity Content, a Toronto-based brand strategy and content studio helping founders and leaders show up, build trust, and convert, starting with messaging. He created the "Ecosystem of You" framework, teaches personal branding at startup incubators and accelerators, and runs The Good Growth Company, a parallel practice for non-profits and social impact organizations. With over a decade in brand strategy across B2B and B2C, Daniel's clients include agency owners, founders, and enterprise leaders looking to stand out in a content landscape that AI is making noisier every day. He explains: Why your founder voice is no longer really optional and how staying quiet lets competitors and the market fill in that space on your behalf The "Ecosystem of You" framework: how to build a personal brand from the unique intersection of your skills, passions, and interests (not just your job title) Why DIY lead magnets attract DIYers, not buyers and the assessment-style approach that converts high-quality leads even at $100 a lead The 3-layer content ecosystem (founder-led, company content, and community UGC) that makes every paid ad you run actually work The AI tools Daniel uses every day: Crisp.ai for call transcription and noise reduction, and Opus Clip for identifying high-virality hooks in long-form video How Daniel used AI to audit a client's website and discovered it was speaking to three completely different audiences before a single content dollar was spent The Gartner stat reshaping B2B marketing: 67% of buyers prefer to buy without talking to a rep, and 45% used AI in their last purchase journey. Your content is your sales rep now Timestamps 00:00 – Intro 04:00 – Daniel's agency journey: from founder to acquisition, partnership, and going solo in 2025 09:00 – Why founder personal branding is no longer cringe — it's survival 14:00 – The "Ecosystem of You": building a brand from your unique combination of passions and skills 19:00 – How paid ads work as amplifiers — and the 3-layer content ecosystem that makes them convert 24:00 – Lead magnets: why how-to guides attract the wrong buyer, and what works instead 29:00 – The Clarity Content onboarding: audit, messaging framework, and LinkedIn optimization 33:00 – The AI tools Daniel uses daily ( Crisp.ai , Opus Clip, and AI-powered messaging audits) 37:00 – The Gartner numbers: 45% of B2B buyers used AI in their last purchase — what it means for your content 41:00 – Getting found through ChatGPT, AEO, and where to connect with Daniel SUPPORT AND CONNECT: Website: https://jayhunt.social

April 13, 2026Episode 4949 min

#249 – Pier Paolo Alberghini: Your Building Is Either Healing You or Slowly Destroying You

Pier Paolo Alberghini has spent 30 years designing and harmonizing spaces using an ancient science that most architects have never encountered. Every building you walk into is either working for your health or quietly working against it and the difference comes down to principles the ancient Romans, Renaissance masters, and Egyptian pyramid builders all understood. Modern architecture forgot all of it in 1700. And we've been paying for it ever since. Pier Paolo is Vice President of Biogeometry for Europe and a direct student of Dr. Ibrahim Karim, the founder of biogeometry. He has designed and harmonized buildings across Toronto, Geneva, and Florence, and has presented to thousands of practitioners across seven countries. One of his most documented cases: a client diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and given 2-3 years to live survived 13 more years inside a home he and Ibrahim harmonized — a case published in a 2013 Montreal architectural magazine. He is now the lead biogeometry architect on the Casitas at Kokomo Botanical Resort in Turks and Caicos, 16 buildings designed from the ground up to emanate healing energy to everyone inside and within a 5-kilometer radius. He explains: ◼️ Why every cathedral, pyramid, and ancient temple you've ever felt at peace in was built on a "power spot" — and why modern architects have no idea what that means or how to replicate it ◼️ The Parkinson's patient given 2-3 years to live who survived 13 more years inside a biogeometry-harmonized home in Toronto — and what that tells us about the spaces we're living in right now ◼️ Why 16 buildings at the golden ratio (1.618) create an energy field that heals everyone within a 5-kilometer radius — and how every single design decision at the Casitas flows from this number ◼️ The EMF truth your phone company doesn't want you thinking about: why using your phone or computer without a biosignature attachment is linked directly to long-term neurological damage ◼️ 13 things you can change in your home or office right now — starting with moving your bed and desk 40 centimeters from the walls to escape the EMF field running through them ◼️ Why sleeping under a cathedral ceiling "desiccates" you the same way a pyramid desiccates a mummy — and the one small fix that eliminates the effect entirely ◼️ How humanity lost its right-brain intuition in 1700 due to the Cartesian shift — and why Ibrahim Karim believes we are finally in the process of reclaiming it ◼️ How to find power spots anywhere in the world using pendulums available on Amazon right now — and exactly what to do once you've found one TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 – Intro 05:14 – What Is Biogeometry? Breaking Down BG3 Energy and Why It Matters 10:00 – Why Ancient Cathedrals Made You Feel Something (and Modern Buildings Don't) 15:40 – The Casitas at Kokomo: Designing 16 Buildings to Heal Their Inhabitants 20:33 – The Parkinson's Patient Who Lived 13 Extra Years in a Harmonized Home 25:00 – Power Spots: The Earth's Gift That Most People Walk Past Every Day 30:07 – 13 Ways to Make Your Home and Office Biogeometry-Friendly Right Now 35:00 – Cathedral Ceilings, EMF, and the Sleep Destroyers Hidden in Your Bedroom 40:00 – Ancient Builders Always Chose Their Sites Deliberately (Here's How They Found Them) 43:00 – The 1700 Cartesian Shift: How Humanity Stopped Trusting Its Intuition SUPPORT AND CONNECT: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/socialmediaspeaker/ Website: https://jayhunt.social

April 1, 2026Episode 4845 min

#248 – Joshua Counsil: The $0 Event That Saved a Brewery

Joshua Counsil is the co-founder of Good Robot Brewing in Halifax, a multi-award-winning hospitality and beverage company with three venues, national wholesale distribution, and The Beverage Factory, a co-manufacturing facility serving brands all the way to Costco. Good Robot Brewing was weeks away from insolvency. No ad budget. No agency. No playbook. Co-founder JOSHUA COUNSIL posted about a silent reading event on Facebook, and within 72 hours the taproom was at capacity. That single idea didn't just save the business, it became 5% of their website traffic for the next five years and helped fuel a $10M brand built almost entirely on earned media, raw authenticity, and doing the opposite of what every competitor was doing. He explains: ◼️ How one $0 Facebook post pulled a brewery back from the brink of insolvency ◼️ The "zig where they zag" framework that turned a corn beer into an award-winning product and a viral campaign ◼️ Why publicity is the most underrated marketing channel — and how to manufacture it without a PR budget ◼️ The brutal truth about running a business vs. opening one (and why most entrepreneurs get blindsided) ◼️ How Josh uses AI as a strategic thinking partner — not a content machine — to break through writer's block and sharpen product positioning ◼️ Why founder-led content still wins, and what happens to your brand when the founders stop showing up ◼️ The mindset shift that keeps entrepreneurs going when the fire hose of problems never turns off Timestamps 02:15 – Why Josh loves conferences more than most people love vacations 05:00 – Raised by murder mystery dinner theatre owners: how that shaped everything 09:30 – From engineering to entrepreneurship — quitting his job in Seattle for a brewery idea 14:00 – Landing in Halifax and the culture shock of a non-hustle market 18:30 – Weeks from insolvency: what the early days of Good Robot really looked like 23:00 – The silent reading event that packed the taproom in 72 hours 27:30 – Zigging where competitors zag: the corn beer campaign that no one expected 32:00 – Publicity over paid ads: why earned media builds brands that ads can't 36:30 – Knowing what you suck at — the most underrated business skill 40:00 – Using AI as a strategic partner, not a shortcut 🔗 Connect with Joshua Counsil on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joshuacounsil 🍺 Good Robot Brewing: goodrobotbrewing.ca 📩 Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe and leave a 5-star review. 🎓 Want the AI tools and strategies we use at Merged Media? Join the Amplify Your Brand community: skool.com/ayb Learn more about Jay: jayhunt.social

March 20, 2026Episode 4741 min

#247 – Zivko Dodovski: Why AI Outreach is Killing Your LinkedIn Results

Everyone's automating their LinkedIn outreach. Everyone's using AI to personalize at scale. And almost everyone is getting ignored. Zivko Dodovski, CEO of DoneMaker, has built a thriving B2B lead generation firm by doing the exact opposite; zero automations, zero AI messages, and a manual outreach process that consistently books 8-10 qualified calls per month for his clients. Zivko started in radio broadcasting before pivoting into B2B sales, where he discovered that genuine human connection on LinkedIn outperformed every tool, shortcut, and automation he tested. He now runs DoneMaker, a LinkedIn organic outreach firm that has helped clients like J Baker Media land 5 clients in 2 months and Jones & Lamb LLC generate $14K in a single month — all without spending a dollar on ads. He explains: ◼️ Why "over-personalization" is the new spam — and how savvy buyers spot it in seconds ◼️ The exact connection message framework Zivko uses to start real conversations without pitch-slapping ◼️ Why LinkedIn's API suppresses automation tools and what that means for your outreach results ◼️ How to use Sales Navigator to build targeting so precise it turns outreach into a near 50/50 yes-or-no conversation ◼️ The profile optimization mistake most small businesses make — and why the "billboard approach" backfires ◼️ Why commenting on viral posts can generate more impressions than posting on your own feed ◼️ The dot-space LinkedIn trick that instantly reveals who's using automation to reach you ◼️ When LinkedIn simply won't work for your business — and what to do instead Timestamps: 02:00 – From radio broadcasting to B2B sales and founding DoneMaker 05:00 – Is radio advertising still relevant in 2026? 08:00 – How Zivko personally uses LinkedIn to grow his business 09:20 – The hot take: no AI, no automations — everything manual and why 12:00 – "Over-personalization" — the new red flag buyers can smell a mile away 15:00 – The exact connection message framework that starts real conversations 18:00 – Why Sales Navigator is the most underutilized LinkedIn tool 21:30 – From connection request to booked call — the full outreach sequence 24:00 – Profile optimization: what to do (and what to ditch) depending on your company size 26:00 – Where posting fits into the outreach strategy 29:00 – The commenting strategy that beats posting your own content 32:00 – Cadence, blog strategy, and the top/middle/bottom of funnel approach 36:00 – LinkedIn articles and newsletters — worth it or not? 38:00 – LinkedIn ads vs. Meta ads — why you should never test creative on LinkedIn 40:00 – The dot-space automation detection trick and when LinkedIn won't work for you Connect with Zivko: Website: donemaker.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/zivkododovski Connect with Jason: Website: https://jayhunt.social LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/socialmediaspeaker/

March 3, 20201 hr 5 min

005 | What Tim Hortons & Dairy Queen Have in Common - with Ron Caughlin

The Merged Marketing Podcast unlocks the marketing tactics and secrets behind every day brands. Each week, David Louch and his co-host- Jason Hunt, will bring you expert commentary so that you can make better choices when it comes to growing your business. Today we are discussing brand strategy with Ron Caughlin. Ron has an impressive resume of being the head of marketing for brands such as; Tim Horton's, Dairy Queen, Toronto Pearson International Airport, and Destination Ontario. He now operates his own brand marketing agency, Branded, while also educating future marketing professionals at Humber and Centennial College in Toronto, Ontario. Ron is going to share with his experience developing integrated brand marketing solutions on this week's episode of The Merged Marketing Podcast.

February 18, 202033 min

002 | Our Gift to You: Better Performing Facebook Ads - with Jason Hunt

February 18, 202045 min

003 | What is an SEO Sorcerer & Why You Need to Hire One - with Todd Foster

March 8, 202227 min

116 | 7 Strategies For High-Quality Leads - With Shiv Gupta

At just 17, Shiv started his journey to the digital marketing world. For the initial three years, he worked as a freelancer and performed his own research-based projects and grabbed deep knowledge of the industry. He later, gained technical skills and market knowledge. He later started a digital marketing agency to serve people at a larger level and be a guide to his own team. It was then that he founded Incrementors . Mentioned in This Episode: Zoom Streamyard Incrementors Shiv’s Youtube channel What you will learn: Shiv’s journey (1:45) Lead generation vs demand generation (3:46) 7 strategies for high-quality leads Providing value (6:26) Content marketing strategy (8:32) Legitimizing your brand (10:28) Virtual events and webinars (13:47) Social media strategy (16:45) Leveraging ads and case studies (19:07) Develop the customer journey and buyer personas (22:24) Get in touch with Shiv (25:03) Shiv Mentality - Quotes From the Show “Offer things of REAL value” “There should be at least 7 touchpoints before your ideal customer makes a purchase” “Always focus on your customer’s need” “People buy from you when they like you, and people like you when they know you” “Demand generation is not about doing different things, it’s about doing things differently”

June 18, 202115 min

078 | Facebook CTA Buttons: Which Buttons Perform the Best on Facebook Ads - with Merged Media

The perfect CTA button on your Facebook ad can make the difference between driving home significant results and ending up with zero response. Why? Because Facebook CTA buttons tell your audience what you need them to do if they’re interested in the ads they see and ready to take the next step. But which CTA buttons should YOU be using for your Facebook Ads to create more leads? Mentioned in This Episode Meera Kothand’s nurture process - see episode 76 What you will learn Does it really matter what CTA buttons I use? (0:52) 3 levels of advertising and what kind of CTA buttons you can use Awareness (3:55) Consideration (4:49) Conversion (5:50) Four most popular CTA buttons on Facebook and why they are effective (8:53) Learn more Sign up Message us Download Merged Mentality - Quotes From the Show “Tell your audience exactly what they need to do if they are interested in purchasing your product, your service, or anything with you and your company” “Almost everybody wants to learn more about something before they actually commit” “Be proactive as much as possible… and be reactive”

November 22, 2022Episode 15827 min

158 - The Jump-Off Point For Starting An SEO Program with Todd Foster

Is it about time your business benefited from an SEO program? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is increasingly the go-to strategy for organizations to boost the ranking of their websites in search engines. Knowing the perfect jump-off point for starting an SEO program can be a rather complicated affair. It is crucial to get that timing right if you intend for your brand to climb in google search rankings by standing out from competitors. Many SEO agencies promise great results within 4 to 6 months of running the program but is that often the case? As Todd cautions, plenty of overly cheap SEO programs on offer would not deliver the rankings sought after. Discover some of the right questions you should ask a potential SEO company before entrusting your cherished brand with them. The key takeaway from this insightful episode is the need to stay consistent with your SEO program, given the ever-changing trends on Google. Staying dormant in the SEO game can adversely affect your website and, by extension bottom line. Have you ever wondered why SEO packages often vary from one agency to another? Yet still, do you have the proper budget and expectations for your SEO program? For answers to these questions and more, get insights from our SEO expert Todd Foster in this episode. Learn how to leverage your SEO program to the fullest today! Key Timecodes (2:09) Introduction to Todd Foster (2:44) Todd’s inspiration for getting into the SEO business (3:40) Keeping with the trends in the SEO business (4:48) Tips to keep in touch with Google updates of SEOs (6:00) Risk of working with a cheap budget for your SEO program (7:10) Why SEO prices vary from company to company (8:02) When does a company know it is ready to deploy an SEO program? (9:03) How quickly can SEO results be expected (10:09) Key questions to ask SEO agencies before taking them on (12:20) Leveraging the safe SEO tool (14:37) Most significant trends in SEO programs (15:50) Recommended SEO program strategies for seasonal business (18:15) Process of onboarding a new client for the SEO program (19:50) How the SEO program grew a landscaping company to a multi-million franchise (22:23) Replicating ranking success for mother company to franchises