I’ve been looking into the current marketing landscape for selling physical products. From what I learned through my own research, things have changed considerably since I was selling physical products online. How companies reach customers has evolved materially.

After I felt like I had a high-level understanding of what’s changed, I reached out to an old friend who runs a marketing agency. He’s on the front lines every day buying ads on behalf of his clients. The conversation was great. He was able to give me a front-line perspective about what’s working and not working and share what he’s hearing from his peers who run agencies. It was also cool to hear his thoughtful approach to building his agency and structuring his team in a way that differentiates his services and better aligns his agency with his clients.

What I learned in a single call would have taken me tons of time to learn on my own (if I ever could have). Today was a reminder that when I’m trying to get up to speed on something fast, nothing beats talking with an entrepreneur who operates in the space. I just need to come to the meeting prepared so they don’t think I’m wasting their time.