The Duct Tape Marketing Podcast

Hosted by John Jantsch

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1299

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Nov 2026

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About the show

Insightful interviews with authors, experts, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders who share valuable marketing tips, growth strategies, and resources. Hosted by John Jantsch, one of America's top small business marketing experts, this show is dedicated to helping you craft effective marketing strategies that will grow your business. Whether you're a small business owner, marketing professional, or marketing agency owner, you'll gain valuable insights and actionable advice on topics such as marketing strategy, consulting, social media marketing, content marketing, SEO, email marketing, lead generation, business management, entrepreneurship and much more. With over 900 episodes since its inception in 2005, The Duct Tape Marketing podcast is your go-to resource for all things marketing or business growth. Join us each week as we dive into the latest marketing trends and strategies that will help you achieve your business goals. Don't miss out on this opportunity to learn from the best in the business. Tune in to The Duct Tape Marketing podcast and start listening today!

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60 recent

November 4, 202623 min

How to Build Executive Presence and Communicate With Confidence

Building executive presence and communicating with confidence are skills anyone can develop, but even experienced leaders can struggle to connect with their audience. The words you choose matter, but your voice, body language, and delivery can determine whether your message inspires confidence or creates doubt. John Jantsch speaks with Gina London, Emmy-winning former CNN correspondent, executive communication coach, and author of *Amplify You: How to Connect More Powerfully in an AI World*, about what makes communication effective. Gina explains how to recognize habits that undermine credibility, overcome public speaking anxiety, and communicate with greater intention in presentations 00:00 Why Human Connection Matters More Than AI 02:52 Why Executives Struggle to Communicate 04:02 Is AI Making Us Worse at Communicating? 07:48 The Say It, Look It, Be It Framework 12:17 How to Connect With Any Audience 14:00 The Mistake That Alienates Decision-Makers 15:51 How to Overcome Public Speaking Anxiety 17:44 Break Bad Communication Habits Rate, Review, & Follow If you liked this episode, please rate and review the show. Let us know what you loved most about the episode. Struggling with strategy? Unlock your free AI-powered prompts now and start building a winning strategy today! 👉 Get Your Free Prompts: https://dtm.world/freeprompts

October 29, 202622 min

How to Find Your Voice and Speak With Clarity at Work

Speaking with clarity and confidence at work starts with knowing what you stand for and learning how to communicate it. Dr. Kristine Sickles, author of The Clearest Voice in the Room, joins John Jantsch to explain why being the loudest person in a meeting doesn't make you the most influential. She introduces the voice-values gap, the hidden barriers that keep people from speaking up, and her VOICE framework for communicating with greater intention and impact. Discover how business owners and leaders can make their ideas heard, build executive presence, and lead more authentically without trying to become someone they're not. 00:00 When Your Values Don't Match Your Voice 06:01 Why People Stay Silent at Work 07:50 How Leaders Make Candor Work 11:23 Stop Trying to Be the Loudest Voice 12:59 How to Speak Up Without the Spotlight 15:52 The VOICE Framework for Clear Communication 19:15 How to Build a Paid Speaking Career Rate, Review, & Follow If you liked this episode, please rate and review the show. Let us know what you loved most about the episode. Struggling with strategy? Unlock your free AI-powered prompts now and start building a winning strategy today! 👉 Get Your Free Prompts: https://dtm.world/freeprompts

October 28, 202622 min

How to Protect Your Business Name With a Trademark

Protecting your business name starts with understanding trademark rights, registration, and the risks of building a brand without proper legal clearance. Trademark attorney Natalie Nguyen, founder of Pro Legal, joins John Jantsch to explain why forming an LLC or securing a domain doesn't guarantee trademark protection, how to research a business name before launching, and why a trademark strategy should support your long-term business goals. From USPTO searches and trademark registration to infringement and enforcement, discover what entrepreneurs and small business owners should know to protect their brand and avoid expensive legal disputes. 00:00 What Happens When Your Brand Name Is Taken 05:04 Why an LLC and Domain Don't Protect Your Name 06:04 How to Search for Trademark Conflicts 08:11 How to Protect a Brand You Already Launched 11:20 The Risks of Cheap Trademark Filing Services 16:03 How Trademark Use and Ownership Are Proven 18:06 TM vs. ® and Protecting Your Trademark Rate, Review, & Follow If you liked this episode, please rate and review the show. Let us know what you loved most about the episode. Struggling with strategy? Unlock your free AI-powered prompts now and start building a winning strategy today! 👉 Get Your Free Prompts: https://dtm.world/freeprompts

October 22, 202621 min

How to Build an AI-Native Business That Actually Saves Time

Building an AI-native business starts with redesigning workflows to save time, improve efficiency, and create better results. For small business owners and marketers, that means moving beyond individual AI tools and rethinking how everyday processes work. John Jantsch is joined by Jeremy Jarry, who shares lessons from rebuilding his marketing team around AI. From identifying the right tasks to automate to managing AI agents and keeping humans involved in critical decisions, Jeremy explains what makes AI adoption successful. Discover how to introduce AI into your business, measure its actual impact, and avoid automation that creates more work than it eliminates. 00:00 What It Really Means to Be AI-Native 03:57 How Small Businesses Should Start With AI 07:21 Why Small Businesses Struggle With AI 11:57 How to Get Your Team to Actually Use AI 15:41 When AI Automation Goes Too Far 18:48 How Bookipi Helps Small Businesses Rate, Review, & Follow If you liked this episode, please rate and review the show. Let us know what you loved most about the episode. Struggling with strategy? Unlock your free AI-powered prompts now and start building a winning strategy today! 👉 Get Your Free Prompts: https://dtm.world/freeprompts

October 21, 202622 min

Why Marketing Agencies Must Shift From Deliverables to Strategy

Marketing agencies must shift from deliverables to strategy as AI continues to commoditize execution, content production, reporting, and other traditional services. Drawing on research from hundreds of agency leaders and clients, Brian Gerstner explains why agencies remain highly relevant while facing growing pressure on fees, retention, positioning, and client relationships. The strongest agencies are responding by developing clear authority, focusing their expertise, and providing the judgment and direction clients cannot get from tools alone. This is a practical look at how agency differentiation, strategic leadership, pricing power, and client expectations are changing in the age of AI. 00:00 Introduction 01:56 What Sets Confident Agencies Apart 05:14 How to Niche Without Losing Revenue 06:35 Why Agency Strategy Fails in the AI Era 08:20 Why Clients Value Agencies but Cut Spending 11:12 From Deliverables to Marketing Leadership 13:06 Why AI Alone Won't Differentiate Your Agency 15:13 How Strategy and Focus Protect Agency Pricing 18:44 Agency Survival and the New Talent Gap Rate, Review, & Follow If you liked this episode, please rate and review the show. Let us know what you loved most about the episode. Struggling with strategy? Unlock your free AI-powered prompts now and start building a winning strategy today! 👉 Get Your Free Prompts: https://dtm.world/freeprompts

October 16, 202622 min

The 5 Stages From Operator to Owner

Most agency owners think building a successful business means becoming the CEO, but many never escape the operator role. John talks with Jason Swenk about the five stages agency founders go through as they scale from overworked operators to true owners. They discuss founder dependency, leadership identity shifts, hiring the right people, building systems that remove bottlenecks, and why so many agencies struggle to let go of sales and daily operations. If you want to build an agency that can grow without relying on you for everything, this episode breaks down the mindset and structural changes that make it possible. 00:00 Introduction 02:12 The 5 Stages From Operator to Owner 05:26 Reinventing Agency CEOs 10:43 Scaling Beyond the Founder 15:41 Letting Go to Become a True Owner 18:48 The First Step to Escaping Operator Mode Rate, Review, & Follow If you liked this episode, please rate and review the show. Let us know what you loved most about the episode. Struggling with strategy? Unlock your free AI-powered prompts now and start building a winning strategy today! 👉 Get Your Free Prompts: https://dtm.world/freeprompts

October 14, 202622 min

AI Has Leveled the Marketing Playing Field (Rerun)

Enterprise-level marketing insights used to require expensive consultants, research labs, and massive budgets. Today, AI has changed that. Roger Dooley explains how entrepreneurs and small businesses can use AI-powered behavioral science to better understand customer psychology, improve messaging, increase conversions, and communicate with more empathy. Along the way, he shares practical prompting strategies, common AI mistakes to avoid, and why the businesses that learn to work with AI—not simply write with it—will have a lasting competitive advantage. 00:00 Introduction 01:45 Why AI Is Reinventing Neuromarketing 06:52 Build Your AI Marketing Dream Team 08:43 AI Workflow for Better Marketing 11:31 Train AI to Match Your Brand Voice 16:41 Can AI Really Understand Human Emotion? 19:42 How to Run an AI Marketing Audit Rate, Review, & Follow If you liked this episode, please rate and review the show. Let us know what you loved most about the episode. Struggling with strategy? Unlock your free AI-powered prompts now and start building a winning strategy today! 👉 Get Your Free Prompts: https://dtm.world/freeprompts

October 9, 202621 min

How to Build a Business That Can Grow Without You (Rerun)

A business that depends on you for every sale, decision, and deliverable can only grow so far. Beth Mazza and Victoria Sivrais share how they built and sold professional service firms by turning expertise into systems, protecting margins, investing in sales and marketing, and building teams that could operate without them. They explain why financial discipline, scalable processes, and a strong network of advisors are essential if you want a business that creates freedom instead of another full-time job. Their approach offers a practical roadmap for entrepreneurs who want to grow profitably and eventually build something valuable enough to sell. 00:00 Introduction 01:31 Build a Business You Can Actually Sell 04:37 Build Your Entrepreneur Kitchen Cabinet 06:11 The Money Rules Behind 30% Margins 08:43 5 Moves to Build a Seven-Figure Business 10:53 Can You Build a Business and Still Be a Mom? 12:26 Expertise vs. Systems: What Actually Scales 14:24 How Cold Outreach and SEO Built Their Firm 18:16 The Money Mistake Most Business Owners Make Rate, Review, & Follow If you liked this episode, please rate and review the show. Let us know what you loved most about the episode. Struggling with strategy? Unlock your free AI-powered prompts now and start building a winning strategy today! 👉 Get Your Free Prompts: https://dtm.world/freeprompts

October 7, 202620 min

9 Shifts Every Marketing Agency Needs to Make (Rerun)

Marketing agencies are under pressure as AI lowers the value of execution, clients expect more for less, and the traditional agency model becomes harder to sustain. John Jantsch outlines nine shifts agencies and marketing consultants need to make—from owning a clear point of view and productizing their services to pricing outcomes, building predictable lead systems, and stepping into a strategic leadership role. He also explains why agencies need stronger operating systems, a more disciplined approach to AI, and networks that make the business less dependent on the founder. The goal is a more valuable, scalable agency built around strategy and results instead of selling more deliverables. 00:00 Why the Marketing Agency Model Is Breaking 02:58 Own a Point of View 04:51 Productize Your Marketing Services 06:01 Stop Pricing Marketing by the Hour 07:35 Become a Leader and Build a Lead System 10:28 Stop Selling and Start Advising 11:30 Build a Marketing System That Runs Without You 13:53 Install AI Into Your Marketing System 15:44 Why Marketing Advisors Need a Network 16:56 How to Charge $12K for Strategy Rate, Review, & Follow If you liked this episode, please rate and review the show. Let us know what you loved most about the episode. Struggling with strategy? Unlock your free AI-powered prompts now and start building a winning strategy today! 👉 Get Your Free Prompts: https://dtm.world/freeprompts

October 1, 202621 min

What Should You Automate With AI, and What Should Stay Human?

AI can make a business faster and more efficient—but automating the wrong things can cost you the human connection customers increasingly value. Ryan Levesque, bestselling author of Ask and Return to Real , explains where AI belongs in a business, what should stay human, and why the things that don't scale can become a competitive advantage. He shares how abandoning ghostwritten content changed his own business, why documenting the real people and process behind your work increases its value, and how entrepreneurs can use AI without outsourcing what makes their brand worth choosing. 00:00 Introduction 01:12 Why Authenticity Matters More in the AI Era 05:02 The $70 Million Deal That Changed Everything 09:03 How to Return to Real Without Blowing It Up 12:15 His Embarrassing Ghostwriting Confession 15:41 Why People Will Pay More for What's Real 19:10 Why Knowledge Workers Need Analog Hobbies Rate, Review, & Follow If you liked this episode, please rate and review the show. Let us know what you loved most about the episode. Struggling with strategy? Unlock your free AI-powered prompts now and start building a winning strategy today! 👉 Get Your Free Prompts: https://dtm.world/freeprompts