The Story Power Marketing Show

Hosted by Tom Ruwitch

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About the show

Business leaders, coaches, consultants, and thought leaders, The Story Power Podcast will help you harness the power of storytelling so you can grow your business and have fun doing it. Each week, Story Power Marketing's Tom Ruwitch and his guest will share powerful stories, trade business-building insights, and have a few laughs. Tom created this podcast to... ...Help you captivate prospects and inspire them to act… ...so you can get more clients, quickly and easily. That’s what powerful storytelling is all about. That’s what this podcast is all about.

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60 recent

50 min

How to Raise Capital by Thinking Like a Marketer (with Jason Fishman)

Jason Fishman is the CEO of Digital Niche Agency, a marketing firm that helps startups raise capital through equity crowdfunding campaigns. Over the past decade, Jason and his team have worked with more than 500 companies and helped generate nine figures in investment through strategic digital marketing. Jason also hosts the Test Optimize Scale podcast, where he talks with founders and growth leaders about building companies that actually scale.Jason explains key crowdfunding paths and why “strength in numbers” reduces reliance on a few investors while adding marketing awareness and potential partnerships. He and Tom discuss planning for traffic and conversions, using multi-touch funnels, testing audiences/creative, and building social proof, third-party validation, and urgency.This is a comprehensive look at how to market online and leverage an audience for growth.DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE~00:54 Meet Jason Fishman~02:09 Crowdfunding Basics~05:02 Strength in Numbers~06:42 Beyond Capital Benefits~09:26 Marketing Strategy Blueprint~14:08 Think Like Marketers~16:28 Investomers Concept~19:40 Testing Funnels and Ads~22:17 Social Proof Messaging~23:50 Product vs Opportunity~24:52 Pitching Investor Needs~26:31 Team Market And Proof~28:21 B2B B2C Same Psychology~29:50 Personas And Messaging Tests~32:27 Multi Touchpoint Content Engine~35:36 Founder Readiness Checklist~37:35 Seed Capital Social Proof~41:28 Portals Research And Contact~43:28 Build Audience Start Now~47:30 Wrap Up And SubscribeFULL EPISODE VIDEOhttps://vimeo.com/1199682752CONNECT WITH JASONWebsite: digitalnicheagency.comLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jafishman/https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-niche-agency

30 min

How to Turn YouTube into a Pre-selling Machine for Premium Clients (with Ian Garlic)

Ian is CEO of authenticWEB, ranked as one of the top SEO companies. Before getting into internet marketing he worked in the restaurant industry, in sales, as a trader and in commercial real estate in New York City before becoming an expert in online video. He uses his business background and to better understand the channels for a client's story to tell it in different ways.Ian explains how buyer behavior has shifted from researching websites to self-educating on YouTube; how making videos that demonstrate understanding of the prospect’s problem, rather than pitching, can be powerful; and he discusses the “mere exposure effect,” arguing that time spent with a prospect across multiple touchpoints builds authority, and that YouTube maximizes total view time and can support “fish in the barrel” buyers already close to purchasing.YouTube is accessible and filled with prospects and it's never been easier to create quality videos, but if you don't know where to start or you want to up your game on the platform, you'll want to tune in.DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE~02:31 Why YouTube Pre Sells~06:54 Proving You Get Them~11:37 Mere Exposure Effect~15:23 Fish In The Barrel~16:33 Invisible Pipeline Strategy~20:14 AI Search Meets YouTube~25:16 Who Ian Helps Process~27:32 Parting Thoughts OutroFULL EPISODE VIDEOhttps://vimeo.com/1197525527CONNECT WITH IANWebsite:iangarlic.comvideocasestory.com YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/c/iangarlichttps://www.youtube.com/@VideoCaseStor

25 min

How to Stay Visible and Stand Out as AI Replaces Search Engines (with Justin Inman)

Justin Inman is the Founder and CEO of Emberos, the first operating system built to orchestrate paid, owned, and earned signals for AI visibility. He works at the intersection of brand strategy, AI systems, and predictive analytics, helping companies understand and influence how they appear inside generative AI platforms.Justin explains that consumers increasingly ask tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews rather than the old Google search. He Tom talk about how SEO fundamentals still matter, but brands must optimize across their fcampaigns to ensure they appear in AI-generated responses - and appear accurately. The two discuss AI visibility, best practices, and how to avoid treating AI like a content machine that all too often dishes out slop, risking search delisting.People are still searching, they're just doing it differently. Listening to this episode can help you position your business for success in this new world.DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE~02:35 AI Replaces Search~04:47 Perfect Storm Impact~05:35 SEO Still Matters~08:19 Check Your AI Presence~09:44 How Emberose Works~12:08 Humans vs Machines~14:29 Avoid AI Content Slop~17:39 What Makes Emberose Different~19:34 Ideal Clients Use Cases~20:57 How to Get Started~21:41 Final Advice Act Fast~23:03 Wrap Up and ResourcesFULL EPISODE VIDEOhttps://vimeo.com/1195428369CONNECT WITH JUSTINWebsite: https://emberos.ai/

48 min

How to Make Selling Fun and Easy Even If You Hate Sales (with Jerry Levinson)

Jerry Levinson is an entrepreneur, business growth strategist, and founder of Profit Now. After spending 20 years building Blind Devotion, a window covering company in Chandler, Arizona, Jerry learned firsthand that expertise alone doesn’t guarantee business success. Following the 2009 financial crisis and the loss of his business, he committed himself to mastering marketing, sales, and business operations. Within three years, he rebuilt Blind Devotion into a company generating more than $1.2 million in annual revenue before successfully selling it.Jerry later entered the flooring industry with no prior experience and founded Carpets of Arizona in 2015. By applying the business principles he had developed, he grew the company into a $2 million-per-year business within three years, continuing to expand at a rate of 30% or more annually. Today, Jerry is passionate about helping entrepreneurs build profitable businesses through smarter marketing, stronger sales systems, and operational excellence.DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE~00:55 Meet Jerry Levinson~03:21 Is Sales Fun~04:35 "Paylessi" Pricing Lesson~08:38 Sell the Feeling~11:43 Simple One Price Offer~14:48 Beat Competition Higher~16:54 Three Discovery Questions~23:34 From Vision to Process~24:30 Budget Questions That Work~25:30 Ben Franklin Bonding~28:33 Win on Experience Not Price~29:10 Stop Emailing Estimates~32:23 Friction Free Selling~34:48 Apply Form Psychology~38:05 Opportunity to Buy Mindset~39:17 Decision Anxiety and Relief~43:12 Anchoring With Financing~45:24 Final Wrap and ResourcesFULL EPISODE VIDEOhttps://vimeo.com/1193427085CONNECT WITH JERRYWebsite: https://www.jerrylevinson.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/flooringdealersandmoreYouTube: https://studio.youtube.com/video/MC1UFAStBp4/edit

38 min

How to Turn Pain Into Purpose and Build a Life That Matters (with Aaron Hale)

Aaron Hale is a US Army EOD veteran, real estate investor, business owner, podcaster, and ultra-endurance athlete. After a tragic injury on deployment overseas took his eyesight and hearing, Aaron hit rock bottom. Instead of staying there, Aaron resolved to not allow his circumstances to dictate the rest of his life. Since the injury, Aaron has become a husband, a father, a real estate investor, a successful entrepreneur, a speaker, and a top-rated podcast host.Hale describes moving from “I can’t” thinking and depression at Walter Reed to rebuilding his life through discipline, adaptive skills, and pursuing daunting challenges. From kayaking and mountain climbing to qualifying for the Boston Marathon and becoming the first deafblind athlete to complete the Badwater 135, Hale has engaged with the world head on. He and Tom discuss how he used his overcoming of adversity to help others through his public speaking and his podcast, The Point of Impact. Aaron shares storytelling lessons about connecting with audiences through selective details, voice and body language, and power of speaking to one person at a time. If you think marketing is tough to stick to, listening to how Aaron ran over 200 miles in Kenya before summiting Mount Kilimanjaro will put things into perspective and give you playbook for optimism you need.DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE00:54 Meet Aaron Hale03:03 From Navy to EOD04:58 The IED Blast06:18 Darkest Days08:35 Rebuilding Identity10:45 Meningitis Setback15:27 Choose Your Hard17:22 Sharing the Blueprint19:59 Speaking Mishaps21:49 Where to Connect23:22 Storytelling Lessons28:11 Badwater Growth Moment33:40 Perspective Shift35:00 Wrap Up and OutroFULL EPISODE VIDEOhttps://vimeo.com/1191146801CONNECT WITH AARONWebsite: https://www.pointofimpactpod.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@pointofimpactpodcastApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-impact-with-aaron-hale/id1681213789 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aclayhaleInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/aclayhale/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-hale-1861477/ X/ Twitter: https://x.com/aclayhale Tiktok Eod fudge: https://www.tiktok.com/@eodconfections?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

42 min

How to Turn Direct Mail Into a Measurable, Scalable Growth Channel (with Ryan Ferrier)

Ryan Ferrier is the CEO of Lob, the direct mail automation platform that brings the power of digital to direct mail. He leads the company’s mission to automate every step of direct mail campaigns from creation to delivery. Lob’s platform enables personalization and real-time measurement for over 12,000 businesses, including L'Occitane, Ro and Simplisafe. In this episode, he and Tom discuss why direct mail is still critical and is resurging amid digital fatigue and lower mailbox competition. They get into how to use it in an omnichannel strategy, how to treat operational mail like statements and bills as marketing touchpoints, and what it looks like applying variable printing, machine learning, and bandit testing to optimize offers.Ryan is an expert with over 20 years of experience. If you thought direct mail was dead, or are trying to figure out how to get the most out of your email strategy, this episode is for you.DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE~00:54 Meet Ryan Ferrier~02:44 Direct Mail Is Alive~03:37 Why Mail Works Now~05:33 Automating Direct Mail~10:30 Triggered Mail Example~16:10 Mail Driving Digital~19:04 Personalization at Scale~26:31 Lists and Data Quality~30:49 Tracking and Attribution~35:31 Considerate Marketing~37:19 Parting Advice and Links~39:41 Wrap Up and SubscribeFULL EPISODE VIDEOhttps://vimeo.com/1189014694CONNECT WITH RYANWebsite: https://www.lob.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanferrier/

40 min

How To Get Ahead in The AI Age Without Losing Your Human Edge (with Nikki Barua)

Nikki Barua is a serial entrepreneur, keynote speaker, bestselling author, and globally recognized expert on transformation. She is the CEO & Co-Founder of FlipWork, the workforce transformation system that turns AI into ROI by reinventing how people work. A lifelong learner, Nikki holds three master’s degrees, is fluent in five languages, and brings relentless curiosity to every endeavor. She believes we are all limitless and is committed to helping people live up to their fullest potential.In this episode, she and Tom discuss how AI is a lasting “cognitive contagion,” urging people to avoid denial, become early adopters, and unlearn industrial-age, linear ways of working as machines take over drudgery. The key, Barua says, is redeploying freed capacity toward creativity, innovation, relationships, mentoring, pattern-spotting, and judgment, starting by identifying one’s “zone of genius” and redesigning workflows with AI at the center. She describes how AI resistance often stems from identity and self-worth rather than technical skill, shifting value from effort to impact.If you're intimidated by AI this episode can help ease you into a fuller understanding that will expand your abilities, not diminish them.DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE03:40 Leading With Humanity05:08 AI Contagion Mindset08:03 Unlearning Industrial Work10:40 Redeploy Freed Capacity13:32 Zone Of Genius15:06 Identity Roadblocks Story21:54 Originality Beats Slop25:55 Pattern Interrupt Framework33:43 Imagination Needs Space34:47 Resources And ClosingFULL EPISODE VIDEOhttps://vimeo.com/1180240663CONNECT WITH NIKKIWebsite: https://www.nikkibarua.com/Social Media:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkibarua/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenikkibaruaX: https://x.com/nikkibarua

36 min

How To Build A Business That Survives Any Crisis (with Erika Andresen)

Erika Andresen, JD, CBCP, MPA, is a recognized expert and consultant in Business Continuity. She has nearly two decades of experience as a lawyer in both the corporate finance world and the military. Erika became a subject matter expert in national security and disaster preparedness and response while advising different commands including during high-risk situations while deployed in Afghanistan and in response to natural disasters. Erika left active duty in 2020 and started EaaS Consulting, LLC, with the goal of keeping businesses in business. She is also a professor of emergency management for the MPA program at the University of Texas at El Paso.In this episode, she and Tom discuss why many businesses fail to anticipate disruptions. From natural disasters and cyberattacks to equipment failures, permit issues, or sudden staffing loss, businesses are often much more exposed in ways they never thought to consider. Erika stresses that preparedness comes from creating, training on, and exercising a usable plan, not a long template that creates false security. She outlines three client types (proactive “unicorns,” crisis-driven, and compliance-forced), describes her audit-to-playbook process, and highlights common gaps like untested backups, power outage impacts, staff accountability, and vendor resilience.This episode is for anyone who'd rather do a little work now to be prepared rather than a lot of work later should catastrophe strike.DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE02:58 Why Businesses Get Blindsided04:31 Disasters vs Disruptions05:31 Where To Start Planning05:50 Three Types Of Clients07:54 Beware Checkbox Plans08:50 Make Plans Short and Usable10:13 Backups That Fail11:27 Test Your Gear Early14:03 Empowerment And Control14:58 Government Won't Save You15:57 Helene Lessons And Anger16:45 Book Recommendations Pivot17:32 Poker Mindset for Resilience17:54 Business Continuity Audit Process19:40 Training and Disaster Exercises20:22 Most Common Disruptions21:26 Accountability During Emergencies22:26 Self Assessment and Business Value24:08 Preparedness as Competitive Edge28:33 Vendor Risk and Backup Plans30:04 Where to Find Erika31:11 Parting Thoughts and Peace of Mind33:38 Final Wrap and Calls to ActionFULL EPISODE VIDEOhttps://vimeo.com/1180007441CONNECT WITH ERIKAWebsite: www.eaasc.comInstagram and TikTok: @dontkillyourbusinessLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/eaas-consulting-llc

32 min

How To Design A Cohesive Brand That Saves Time and Money (with Peet Van Niekerk)

Peet Van Niekerk is the CEO of Designer Needed, a firm empowering entrepreneurs and small businesses worldwide with affordable, cohesive branding that makes them feel proud and confident in every aspect of their brand.In this week's episode, Peet explains that inconsistent logos, colors, fonts, messaging, and user experiences across touchpoints (website, social, print, networking profiles) create mixed messages, reduce trust, and increase costs when businesses juggle multiple designers. He argues that cohesive branding builds recognition through repeated exposure and signals commitment, helping the right clients resonate. He and Tom discuss AI and tools like Canva, along with Pete's process for ensuring a “golden thread” across assets, delivered via affordable flat-rate packages. If you're curious about how to approach branding across multiple channels you'll want to tune in.DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE02:04 What Cohesive Means04:03 Trust Through Touchpoints05:30 AI Versus Consistency07:59 Templates And Canva11:30 Brand Audit Process16:14 Beyond The Foundation18:16 Marketing Collateral Examples21:46 How To Work With Pete25:14 Parting Words And Respect28:55 Final Calls To Action30:59 Outro And ResourcesFULL EPISODE VIDEOhttps://vimeo.com/1179494294/d8fdcdca6bCONNECT WITH PEETWebsite: https://www.designerneeded.com/Social Media:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adesignerneeded/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DesignerneededLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/18651642

37 min

How To Turn Trust Into A Competitive Advantage (with Gal Borenstein)

Gal S. Borenstein is the Founder and CEO of The Borenstein Group, a Washington, DC-area branding, marketing, and public relations firm that has advised B2B, B2G, defense, cybersecurity, and technology organizations since 1994. With more than 28 years of experience, he is recognized for helping complex and highly technical companies transform from overlooked vendors into credible, trust-driven brands that can compete with larger and more established competitors.On this week's episode, he and Tom discuss how trust can become a competitive advantage amid AI-led misinformation and short attention spans.Together, they teach how to lead with mission, strategy, originality, and human-centric research. If you're worried about AI or have been avoiding it, this episode can teach you how it's helpful as a productivity and analytics tool, not a replacement for human judgment or storytelling.DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE02:50 Trust Meets AI07:35 Agentic AI Hype10:08 Trust Signals First11:22 Bad AI Outreach15:21 Voice of Customer18:30 Customer Research Case25:09 AI for Analysis29:56 PLAN Framework32:47 Storytelling Wrap34:22 Where to Connect35:25 Final OutroFULL EPISODE VIDEOhttps://vimeo.com/1179066207CONNECT WITH GALWebsite: https://www.borensteingroup.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/galborensteinexecutiveprofile/