In this episode of Construction Disruption, hosts Todd Miller and Ryan Bell of Isaiah Industries engage in a lively and informative discussion with Katie Smith, founder and Fractional Chief Marketing Officer of Wildpath Consulting. Katie shares insights on the impact of authentic and truthful marketing, the evolving customer journey, and her unique approach to helping businesses grow sustainably through customized marketing strategies. She also explains how her background as a wilderness guide influences her approach to guiding companies through the complexities of modern marketing. Filled with anecdotes, professional advice, and laughter, this episode is a must-listen for businesses looking to enhance their marketing efforts.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction and Co-Host Banter
01:11 Introducing the Challenge Words
01:34 What Makes a Business Stand Out?
02:19 Guest Introduction: Katie Smith
03:17 Katie's Background and Marketing Journey
04:50 The Role of a Fractional CMO
06:48 Wilderness Guiding and Marketing Analogies
12:34 Marketing vs. Branding
21:32 The Power of Authenticity in Business
22:49 Identifying Ideal Clients
24:24 Building a Custom Marketing Strategy
25:52 Success Story: Transforming a Metal Manufacturer
32:03 The Importance of Marketing and Sales Alignment
32:47 Trends to Watch: AI in Marketing
34:17 When to Hire a Fractional CMO
35:36 Rapid Fire Questions
39:40 Conclusion and Contact Information
Connect with Katie Online
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiesmithwildpath/
Website: https://followthewildpath.com/
For more Construction Disruption, listen on Apple Podcasts or YouTube
Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn
This episode was produced by Isaiah Industries, Inc.
Construction Disruption was recently featured in this 15 Best Podcasts for Contractors list!
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp
Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
00:00:00
Todd Miller: I'm Todd Miller of Isaiah Industries, manufacturer
00:00:02
of specialty metal roofing and other building materials.
00:00:05
Today, my co host is Mr.
00:00:07
Ryan Bell.
00:00:08
Ryan, how you doing today?
00:00:10
Ryan Bell: Hey Todd, I'm doing great.
00:00:11
How are you?
00:00:12
Todd Miller: Doing well also.
00:00:13
So I'm curious if you read any good books lately.
00:00:16
Ryan Bell: Actually, I'm glad you asked.
00:00:18
I have, I've been reading this book on, anti gravity and it's just
00:00:21
so good I can't even put it down.
00:00:24
Todd Miller: Can't put it down.
00:00:26
Okay.
00:00:27
That's a good one.
00:00:28
That's a good one.
00:00:29
Ryan Bell: Pretty bad.
00:00:29
Todd Miller: I have a question for you.
00:00:31
Ryan Bell: Okay.
00:00:31
What is
00:00:32
Todd Miller: Where do pirates buy their hooks?
00:00:35
Ryan Bell: I've heard this one before.
00:00:37
I don't know.
00:00:39
Todd Miller: At the second hand store.
00:00:42
Ryan Bell: I should have gotten that one.
00:00:44
Todd Miller: But wait, they get worse.
00:00:45
I have another one for you.
00:00:47
Ryan Bell: Oh, good.
00:00:48
Todd Miller: It don't sound so thrilled.
00:00:50
What do you call a song about a tortilla?
00:00:53
Ryan Bell: I don't know.
00:00:54
Todd Miller: It's a rap song.
00:00:57
Ryan Bell: Oh, that's good.
00:00:59
That's a good one.
00:01:00
Todd Miller: Get anything else fun at forest to throw into the mix here today?
00:01:03
Ryan Bell: I don't think so.
00:01:04
I'm ready to get into this episode.
00:01:07
Todd Miller: Well, let's do it.
00:01:08
I'm excited about this episode.
00:01:09
It's going to be a good one.
00:01:10
so.
00:01:11
One of the things that, you know, I think you'll, Oh, by the way,
00:01:13
we are doing challenge words.
00:01:15
So each of us does have a secret word to work into the conversation,
00:01:20
somewhat surreptitiously.
00:01:21
Is that a word?
00:01:22
I think it is.
00:01:23
It's not a challenge word.
00:01:24
Anyway.
00:01:25
we do each have a challenge word to work into the conversation.
00:01:27
So you, our audience can be listening for our challenge
00:01:30
words and we'll see what happens.
00:01:31
We'll let you know at the end, whether we worked them in or yet or not.
00:01:34
But one of the things that I wanted to start out today is, you know, this idea
00:01:39
of what is it that makes a business stand out from their competition?
00:01:45
And I think a lot of times businesses kind of start out and they, they talk all
00:01:49
about the product or service they provide.
00:01:52
But the reality is.
00:01:54
It's the impact they have on the customer.
00:01:57
You know, that sort of human touch, that very personal thing.
00:02:00
You know, what is that impact on the customer that is usually remembered
00:02:06
and talked about by that client?
00:02:08
Um, far long after the sales complete and going to be talked about much
00:02:14
more than the actual physical product or service that company provided.
00:02:19
So, today I'm excited, our guest is Katie Smith.
00:02:23
Katie is known as the queen of the customer journey, she is a visionary
00:02:29
marketer dedicated to transforming chaos and stagnation into strategic success.
00:02:36
Katie is a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer or CMO, and she helps her
00:02:42
clients drive sustainable growth while invigorating their marketing games and
00:02:47
leading them to new heights of success.
00:02:49
Based in Livingston, Montana, one of our favorite places,
00:02:53
we have a team member there.
00:02:55
Katie's business is called Wild Path Consulting.
00:02:59
Katie, welcome to Construction Disruption.
00:03:01
It's a pleasure to have you here today.
00:03:03
Katie Smith: Thank you so much.
00:03:03
I'm really excited to be here and chat with you both.
00:03:07
Todd Miller: Well, very good.
00:03:08
Well, thank you again.
00:03:09
So, I know that you even have some history working specifically in the building
00:03:14
materials space, which is very cool.
00:03:17
But love to kind of start out with maybe some details on your background
00:03:21
and what brought to where you are today as a consultant, in marketing, and
00:03:27
also this idea of being a Fractional CMO or Chief Marketing Officer.
00:03:32
Katie Smith: So, I've always made my own path in life.
00:03:37
I haven't really taken a traditional role.
00:03:39
I spent my 20s as an outdoor guide, learning how to take people into
00:03:45
the wilderness, make sure they have a good time, make sure we get
00:03:48
where we're going and back safely.
00:03:51
And then I fell into marketing because I really love connecting people.
00:03:56
I love connecting people with a need, with people who can solve that need.
00:04:01
I love communication.
00:04:03
And so I really fell into that role.
00:04:05
And one of the first places I worked at was a metal manufacturing company,
00:04:10
which fell in love with manufacturing.
00:04:12
I mean, come on, how fun is it to build things?
00:04:15
And then how do you communicate those needs out to people.
00:04:19
That's where I really cut my teeth and learned.
00:04:21
and then, because I need to make my own way in life, I wanted to experience
00:04:26
what that was like in other industries.
00:04:28
So I've worked in international nonprofit.
00:04:30
I've worked in FinTech, just trying to gain as much experience
00:04:35
as I can, but I think my heart and my home is manufacturing.
00:04:39
So, what I found is that.
00:04:43
People need, in those areas, in all areas, we need help communicating.
00:04:46
How do you say the right thing at the right time to the right people?
00:04:50
And when you are a large company, you can have a Chief Marketing
00:04:55
Officer who can provide a lot of leadership, can guide your team
00:04:59
through whatever gets thrown at us.
00:05:02
And, You know, why can't a smaller company have that same level of
00:05:06
leadership, that same level of strategy?
00:05:08
And so that's where the fractional comes in, where, I'm not beholden to just
00:05:13
one company taking up all of my time.
00:05:15
A smaller company doesn't need a full time fractional CMO.
00:05:20
So I can come in, I can look at what's going on with their team because I
00:05:25
have all this experience to draw from.
00:05:28
I can create a really solid path for them moving forward, and help guide
00:05:34
them through whatever life throws at us.
00:05:37
And then I can work with multiple people, which keeps my brain engaged.
00:05:40
and really, you know, I like to help those small medium businesses
00:05:45
have a competitive advantage.
00:05:48
Todd Miller: You know, I have to imagine that, you know, doing the fractional
00:05:51
thing, you get exposure to a lot of different companies and there has to be
00:05:55
some overlap that has to help you with all of your clients, just having that broader
00:06:00
base of things to pull from, doesn't it?
00:06:03
Katie Smith: It does.
00:06:03
I mean, honestly, we're solving the same problem.
00:06:06
The components are different.
00:06:08
And because I've worked with a lot of different companies, I
00:06:13
can think outside of the box.
00:06:15
I can bring in different solutions or we come up with different solutions.
00:06:19
So that's really one of the most fun parts of it for me the problems are
00:06:23
the same, but the solutions can be wildly tailored to whatever's going on.
00:06:29
Todd Miller: Very cool.
00:06:30
And there you worked in that wildly word.
00:06:32
So, got to ask you, Wildpath Consulting, not exactly a common
00:06:37
everyday name by any stretch.
00:06:39
What's the story behind that name?
00:06:41
And, I guess what's more, what do you feel that name means to your clients or
00:06:46
means that you bring to your clients?
00:06:48
Katie Smith: Yeah, so that really comes from my years of outdoor guiding and
00:06:53
this idea that, you know, marketing can feel like a wilderness for a
00:06:58
lot of people, and I am the guide.
00:07:01
I'm the guide through, so one of the, activities that I guided was
00:07:05
horseback riding in Yellowstone National Park and, in the surrounding areas.
00:07:11
So I'm in the lead, but I'm never facing forward.
00:07:14
I'm always twisted to the side in my saddle so that I'm watching my clients.
00:07:19
I'm watching what's happening behind me, making sure everyone's having a good
00:07:22
time, but I have one eye looking forward.
00:07:25
I know where we're going, but what's in our path?
00:07:28
Is there a bear in our path?
00:07:29
Is there a moose?
00:07:30
Is there a fallen tree?
00:07:32
How do we navigate the things that, that will often push us off our path
00:07:38
so we can still get to our destination?
00:07:40
Do I need to change the destination based on what's happening in our climate?
00:07:45
So taking all of those pieces.
00:07:47
That's how I work.
00:07:48
That's how I work with my clients.
00:07:49
That's how I work in the industries.
00:07:52
I've always got one eye looking back, making sure everybody's safe
00:07:55
moving along when I coming forward.
00:07:58
And then I'm a guide.
00:07:59
And so I want to join you on your journey.
00:08:02
I want to make it fun, exciting and just take us along on
00:08:07
a wild journey to success.
00:08:10
Todd Miller: I love that analogy to being a wilderness guide.
00:08:13
Obviously you've thought about that and it went into the name of your
00:08:16
company, but, that is a great analogy.
00:08:18
I love that.
00:08:20
So I'm going to go a little bit off of what we had planned to talk about.
00:08:23
I'm going to ask you this question and if this, Doesn't work out.
00:08:27
We'll edit it out.
00:08:28
How does that work?
00:08:29
Katie Smith: Sounds good.
00:08:30
Todd Miller: I'm curious as a guide and it's interesting.
00:08:33
I have a cousin out your way who is a hunting and fishing guide, but I'm kind
00:08:37
of curious ever get in any precarious or scary situations as a wilderness guide.
00:08:43
Katie Smith: Uh, yes, there have been a few, mostly involving wildlife.
00:08:47
So whenever you see a grizzly bear out, you know, your heart just starts pounding.
00:08:52
so I've been out, I prefer to see grizzly bears on horseback because generally
00:08:58
they're not too, you know, too bothered by that and they'll move on and move away.
00:09:04
But definitely have been out on horseback tours and come across grizzly bears.
00:09:10
I think, another one we would go out in the winter time, I'm a Nordic
00:09:14
ski guide, I was, and we would go into the park with a company that
00:09:20
ran snow coaches over snow vehicles.
00:09:22
And, you know, we have various stop offs.
00:09:25
So Fountain Paint Pots is, it's one of the best places to visit in Yellowstone.
00:09:30
It's beautiful, especially in winter.
00:09:32
And, the driver and I, we got there and people were kind of pulling away
00:09:37
cause there were a bison along the boardwalk, but we kind of decided, you
00:09:41
know, let's just, See what we can see.
00:09:43
So we took our people out and there were bison and, you know, some
00:09:48
were on one side of the boardwalk, some were on the other, but we felt
00:09:52
like there was a good safe gap.
00:09:54
So we took our people around and we saw the bubbling mud and
00:09:58
hot pots and the little geysers.
00:10:01
And then the bison just sort of started to come together around us
00:10:07
Todd Miller: Wow.
00:10:08
Katie Smith: On the boardwalk.
00:10:09
And we had to start kind of like dodging bison and and moving really closely and
00:10:14
get our tourists who didn't, they didn't understand, you know, I think they don't
00:10:21
realize that these are wild animals.
00:10:23
And so we have to like get them from taking pictures without panicking,
00:10:29
get them to move in the right way.
00:10:31
So that was definitely a little touch and go between the driver
00:10:35
and I, but we got out of there.
00:10:37
No bison gorings, and, I think the people had a good time.
00:10:42
Todd Miller: That had to be interesting though, cause they probably are
00:10:44
like, wow, what a cool experience.
00:10:46
And you're like, this is kind of scary.
00:10:48
Let's get out of here.
00:10:49
And how do we do that safely?
00:10:51
Ryan Bell: I saw a funny meme the other day that was like a lady standing right
00:10:55
in front of a bison trying to take a picture and it said like it's tourist
00:10:59
tossing season or something like that.
00:11:02
Katie Smith: You know, I feel like they should do it more than they do.
00:11:05
Ryan Bell: Yeah.
00:11:06
Katie Smith: They let people get away with a lot, but they are wild animals and
00:11:10
you should not be close to them at all.
00:11:12
Todd Miller: Well, there's all kinds of analogies there too, because certainly
00:11:15
in marketing and business, we run into a grizzly bear now and then.
00:11:19
And, so that's cool stuff.
00:11:21
What about that geyser that exploded recently out in Yellowstone.
00:11:25
Tell us your perspective on that.
00:11:27
Katie Smith: Biscuit Basin.
00:11:29
Well, Biscuit Basin is a really great site to go to, especially in wintertime.
00:11:35
The colors were really wonderful, but you know that it's not the
00:11:39
coming of the of the next volcano.
00:11:42
It was just really kind of like a hydraulic buildup of gases.
00:11:45
So sometimes that happens throughout the park.
00:11:48
Features are changing all the time in the park, which is one of the
00:11:51
things that makes it so interesting.
00:11:54
So these kinds of things happen often, not generally that big
00:11:59
or in such a populated place.
00:12:01
but I think it's really great that nobody was hurt and, just kind of makes it a
00:12:07
little more exciting and reminds you about just how wild and how cool Yellowstone is.
00:12:13
It's definitely, you know, one of my favorite places is why I've
00:12:17
chosen to live so close to it.
00:12:18
Spend a lot of time in Yellowstone, all seasons.
00:12:24
Todd Miller: Very neat.
00:12:25
Yeah.
00:12:25
The footage of that was just incredible.
00:12:28
But yes, I'm glad no one was hurt and, everyone got away safely.
00:12:32
So let's get back on track.
00:12:34
I suppose we should, I'm kind of curious to hear your thoughts on,
00:12:38
what is marketing and specifically, any distinctions you call between
00:12:43
marketing and another word we use a lot, which is branding.
00:12:46
Katie Smith: So I think that's a great thing to start with because what I think
00:12:51
of marketing as encompassing all the ways that we communicate with people.
00:12:57
So that's external internal, it's sort of a broad brush and then there are different
00:13:03
categories between, you know, within that and then branding, I think of it's like
00:13:09
the foundation in the framing of a house.
00:13:11
So, you know, a lot of people say, Oh, I just need a logo and maybe a fun
00:13:16
tagline and I'm going to design it in the way that I think is really cool.
00:13:21
And you can do that certainly.
00:13:23
But the better a foundation you lay for your business, the more
00:13:27
thought that goes into your branding, what it looks like, what it sounds
00:13:32
like, what's your tone of voice?
00:13:34
Who's your customer?
00:13:36
The better a foundation you're going to have, the better framing
00:13:39
you have, the easier it is to build up your brand down the road.
00:13:43
It helps you maintain, what you're going to do, it eliminates scope creep.
00:13:49
So the branding is really like, what are we, who are we, and how are we
00:13:56
going to communicate that with people?
00:13:58
And then the marketing takes that information and it just
00:14:01
helps you make decisions.
00:14:02
It's easier to say, yes, that fits within our brand.
00:14:06
No, that doesn't fit within our brand, rather than always kind of having
00:14:10
to decide every time a new marketing thing comes up, should we do this?
00:14:15
This is what's trending.
00:14:17
Is this something that we should be worrying about?
00:14:21
If you have a really strong brand, if you have a really strong foundation.
00:14:25
Those decisions become easy.
00:14:26
Yes, it fits.
00:14:27
No, it doesn't fit.
00:14:28
So I think it's important to put some good thought into that.
00:14:32
I actually help people go through rebrandings a lot.
00:14:37
And I'm really happy when they find me before that happens.
00:14:40
because it's really difficult, just like the foundation of a house to re engineer
00:14:45
that once everything's built up around it.
00:14:48
Todd Miller: That is really interesting.
00:14:50
I love the way you explain that.
00:14:52
So branding almost becomes sort of like a litmus test, for a lot of, you know, what
00:14:57
your activity and behavior is going to be.
00:14:59
Good stuff.
00:15:00
Well, I'm kind of curious when you step into a company as a
00:15:04
Fractional Chief Marketing Officer, you know, what does that mean?
00:15:07
I mean, you just stay in one little silo trying to help them with
00:15:10
marketing things or do you end up touching more parts of the business?
00:15:15
How do you interact with your clients?
00:15:17
What does that look like?
00:15:18
Do you go see them?
00:15:19
Is it all done virtually?
00:15:21
You know, what are some of the nuts and bolts of it all also?
00:15:24
Katie Smith: Yeah, so when I come into a company, there's no silos.
00:15:29
Marketing touches all areas of the company because marketing
00:15:34
is mostly about listening.
00:15:36
You need to listen to your customers.
00:15:38
You need to listen to every, person in your company has insight
00:15:42
into what a customer needs, what a customer issue is, and also
00:15:47
insight into how we can solve that.
00:15:49
And so I need to be able to talk with the CFO.
00:15:53
I need to know what the financials look like, what products are selling well,
00:15:56
what products are not selling well.
00:15:58
I need their insight.
00:15:59
Marketing and sales work so closely together.
00:16:02
And in a lot of our industry, it's.
00:16:03
B2B, which is sales led.
00:16:07
And so marketing needs to be a tool for sales.
00:16:10
In this day and age in this climate that we're in marketing and sales
00:16:14
can no longer be butting heads.
00:16:16
We need to be working very closely.
00:16:18
We need to not worry so much about attribution.
00:16:22
In marketing, we need to know what are you hearing in sales?
00:16:25
What do you wish you had during sales call?
00:16:27
What do you wish your clients knew before they got to you?
00:16:30
And that's how we can start making decisions.
00:16:33
Um, the people who are customer service have so much insight.
00:16:37
People on the manufacturing floor, they know timing, you know, they
00:16:41
know what promises we can make.
00:16:43
They have ideas about how we can make things better.
00:16:46
And so my job when I first come in is to listen.
00:16:49
I need to find some of that low hanging fruit so that we can get quick wins.
00:16:54
I need to build trust.
00:16:55
and I need to do a lot of listening.
00:16:57
So I don't come in right away with, I mean, I do have my ideas in the back
00:17:01
of my head, but I come in and listen.
00:17:05
It's about building teams.
00:17:07
It's about building trust so that we can all work together.
00:17:11
And a lot of times people have great ideas and nobody's really
00:17:15
listened to them or heard them out.
00:17:17
So, that's what I do.
00:17:19
You know, that first 90 days is how do I get to know this company?
00:17:23
How do I get to know this particular industry very well, very fast?
00:17:28
How do I build up the team?
00:17:30
And then, what are, you know, what's our goal?
00:17:32
What are we working towards so that I can start building our strategy,
00:17:37
based on all of those factors.
00:17:39
Todd Miller: So you've used a phrase a couple of times, um, something like in
00:17:44
the environment that we're in today.
00:17:46
Kind of gives a hint that you feel there's some special challenges or new
00:17:50
challenges, new things we're running into.
00:17:52
Can you elaborate on that a little bit as far as, you know, some of the
00:17:56
perhaps new challenges you do think businesses are facing today and, you
00:18:01
know, perhaps even going forward?
00:18:03
Katie Smith: Yes, so I think this was happening before
00:18:06
COVID, but COVID sped it up.
00:18:08
The customer has so much more control of the buying journey than ever before.
00:18:14
So with the internet, with everything on the internet,
00:18:17
and now it's their preference.
00:18:19
So they want to do the research.
00:18:21
They want to gather more information before they talk to somebody.
00:18:26
And so that really changes how we approach that customer journey,
00:18:33
you know, what does it look like?
00:18:34
It's so much less linear than it used to be because we're dealing with
00:18:38
people, they bounce around a lot.
00:18:40
You know, we might lay out, well, first they're going to experience
00:18:44
this topic and then we're going to lead them to watch this video.
00:18:48
And then we're going to ask them to download this book, but people
00:18:53
are going to come in with their own ideas and they're not going to do
00:18:56
that, they're going to bounce around.
00:18:57
And so now we have to build out.
00:18:59
several options of that journey the customer will take from first discovering
00:19:04
who you are to starting to build trust, understand if you can solve their
00:19:09
problem to wanting to talk to somebody and then going into the sales process.
00:19:15
We have to be so flexible within that and kind of create a space, a comfortable
00:19:23
space for people to bounce around in before they want to talk to somebody.
00:19:27
You're going to get a lot less people if the only thing on your website, the only
00:19:32
thing you're offering people is to talk to you and get a quote, it will frustrate
00:19:35
people if they can't do their own research first and everybody wants to do something
00:19:41
different for their own research.
00:19:43
Todd Miller: You know, I love that.
00:19:44
And that's something we have talked a lot about here also is that, that
00:19:48
customer journey, yeah, it's just no longer A to B to C like it used to
00:19:54
be, and they may enter that sequence at all kinds of different levels
00:19:58
and all kinds of different places.
00:20:00
And yet, wherever they choose to enter at, you got to engage with them in a
00:20:04
personal way and, you know, take hold of that, you know, quickly and personally.
00:20:09
So, I love that and love that, you know, that's where you're leading, your clients.
00:20:15
I know another topic you talk a lot about is truth in marketing.
00:20:20
Seems like a good thing.
00:20:21
Seems like a common sense thing, but I'm kind of curious, doesn't
00:20:25
every company want to be truthful?
00:20:28
Are there some times companies that don't, or maybe they just
00:20:30
inadvertently aren't being truthful?
00:20:33
What does that look like?
00:20:34
That idea of truth in marketing.
00:20:36
Katie Smith: So I think truth in marketing really comes in with authenticity as well.
00:20:42
There's a lot of pressure to put out perfection.
00:20:46
We are this perfect place.
00:20:48
And if you are talking about something, you know, I think a
00:20:52
lot of this might be like ESG.
00:20:54
We are environmentally friendly and you put out something and no,
00:20:59
In our world in manufacturing, you can't be perfect about it.
00:21:03
And so, you know, you see pushback with like the Amazons or like the
00:21:07
bigger companies, and then people feel discouraged when they actually are
00:21:12
doing what they can within their power to, you know, have clean air or provide
00:21:17
their people with a good work life balance, but they can't be perfect.
00:21:23
And what we're really seeing is that people are craving authenticity.
00:21:27
They don't buy into the mistruths or trying to just smooth everything out.
00:21:32
And so telling the truth is being authentic and it's saying, this
00:21:36
is as far as we can get right now.
00:21:38
And we're doing what we can, and not being perfect.
00:21:41
Or if you make a mistake, being honest about that, that builds trust, it builds
00:21:46
authenticity because nobody's perfect.
00:21:49
And so it makes you feel more real.
00:21:51
And when you're just trying to kind of weave a story to be perfect around
00:21:58
your imperfections, it's inauthentic.
00:22:01
People will smell it a mile away.
00:22:03
And so I take that pressure off.
00:22:06
We tell the truth because most people aren't out here doing bad things.
00:22:11
So if we tell the truth of the struggle, if we tell the truth of,
00:22:15
what's working and when things aren't working, then people start to trust
00:22:19
us more, we become more authentic.
00:22:22
Todd Miller: So I can see that all over the place now that
00:22:24
you've explained it that way.
00:22:26
I mean, so many businesses, I don't think they're not trying to be truthful,
00:22:30
but you know, they're sugarcoating.
00:22:32
They're not necessarily telling the whole truth.
00:22:34
They're not being vulnerable with inauthentic with their struggles.
00:22:38
And, you know, what are our next steps?
00:22:41
This is, you know, where we got to eventually get.
00:22:43
so I love that you did a great job of that is really cool.
00:22:47
That's cool.
00:22:48
Good stuff.
00:22:49
So what does your typical client look like?
00:22:52
Do they usually come to you and you find that they're already pretty progressive in
00:22:57
terms of their marketing and you just kind of elevate them further or, sometimes the
00:23:01
clients come to you who are pretty stodgy and stuck in their past and, you know,
00:23:06
you got a long way to climb with them.
00:23:08
Katie Smith: So I think there's a lot of different, you know, different types of
00:23:12
CMOs and different places in business.
00:23:14
I'm not here to convince anybody that they need to do marketing.
00:23:17
I need buy in because otherwise, if people view marketing just as an expense, Then
00:23:25
we're not really going to get anywhere, you know, and they don't need me because
00:23:28
they can just go and do your run of the mill advertising and nothing special
00:23:34
and invest your dollars there and see it as an expense and grumble about it.
00:23:38
That's not a good fit for me.
00:23:39
So I work with companies who are already forward thinking.
00:23:44
They probably don't know a lot about marketing or newer tools, but
00:23:48
they're open to learning about it.
00:23:50
They're open to experiencing it.
00:23:52
They know that they want to get to the next level.
00:23:55
I like to come into companies who, you know, they're past the
00:23:58
beginning stage, so they have their business structure figured out.
00:24:02
They know how the business operates, and now they're
00:24:05
ready to get to the next level.
00:24:07
And they know to do that, they need to instill some kind of marketing plan.
00:24:11
They may have one person doing marketing.
00:24:14
They may have a couple of people who have taken on pieces of
00:24:17
it aside of their regular job.
00:24:19
And I like to build a marketing program within the company.
00:24:24
So I like to help the company develop something that works within their
00:24:30
climate, within their environment, with how they want to build, with
00:24:34
the people that they already have.
00:24:35
I want to elevate that talent and then fill in the holes where they need it
00:24:40
and where we need it, depending on, you know, what strategy we've built.
00:24:43
No company has to do every marketing that's out there.
00:24:47
You may feel the pressure to follow the trends, but we
00:24:50
talk about being a trailblazer instead of being a trendsetter.
00:24:54
A trailblazer means that you're focused on your goal.
00:24:57
You're focused on where you want to go and that can help you pull
00:25:02
in exactly what you need and then not invest in, what's just going to
00:25:08
be extra, not going to be helpful.
00:25:10
There are a lot of tools that we can use and it's really dependent on who your
00:25:14
customers are, what your resources are, who you already have in your business.
00:25:19
So I like to keep things lean.
00:25:21
I like to keep things flexible.
00:25:22
and I like to keep things really laser focused and you know, people need
00:25:27
to be ready to go along with those ideas and ready to take some risks.
00:25:32
You know, marketing, I think of it a little bit like a science experiment.
00:25:36
So you have a hypothesis that's based on data, based on information,
00:25:41
and you test that hypothesis, and then you make decisions from there.
00:25:46
So it's not a guaranteed thing, but it's not a magical thing either.
00:25:50
Todd Miller: Very interesting.
00:25:52
Can you share with us a story or two perhaps of a client whose business
00:25:57
was really transformed by, you know, having this greater focus on
00:26:01
marketing that you can bring them?
00:26:03
Katie Smith: Yeah, so I think a great one of a great examples is I work with a metal
00:26:08
manufacturer here, and they had worked for a larger manufacturer and they broke off.
00:26:14
They wanted to make sure that they focused on the quality of life of
00:26:17
their employees and of their community.
00:26:20
and those were their major pieces.
00:26:21
They wanted a place that was fun to go to work to every day.
00:26:24
And they wanted to value families.
00:26:26
They wanted to make sure their employees could make their kids sports games.
00:26:31
That was important to them.
00:26:32
And we were also in a really interesting building climate.
00:26:36
So we were worried about, catastrophic growth.
00:26:40
And so my job, they didn't have any kind of marketing department,
00:26:45
but they knew it was important.
00:26:46
So my job was to assemble a team for them.
00:26:49
That could be agile, and decide how much we were going to invest so that we could
00:26:57
put our stake in the market, gain a good share, but also not overflow them while
00:27:03
they're still figuring out their systems.
00:27:06
And that was a really, you know, a really fine line to dance.
00:27:10
How much do we invest?
00:27:12
When do we invest?
00:27:13
What do we start with?
00:27:15
And so I have, luckily, what's something I love about being a, a
00:27:19
fractional CMO is that I have a lot of partners that I can pull in depending
00:27:24
on what kind of marketing we need.
00:27:26
I have an agency that I love and trust and we work really well together.
00:27:31
So, for this one, we needed a lot of manpower.
00:27:34
We needed it fast, but we needed it lean.
00:27:36
We didn't want to hire a graphic designer, hire a, you know, a
00:27:39
website specialist, hire a writer.
00:27:42
That's a lot of investment upfront when we didn't really need to, we didn't want
00:27:47
to go that, that fast and that hard.
00:27:49
So, we brought in an agency that has all of those parts and we can pick and choose.
00:27:54
But sometimes, you know, a graphic designer at an agency doesn't match
00:27:59
the company that we're working with.
00:28:00
So I have another graphic designer that I can pull in so we can make
00:28:03
things perfect or, you know, maybe they can do something faster.
00:28:08
So while I'm working with this company, I'm kind of like
00:28:11
assembling our dream team.
00:28:13
You know, there's someone on their staff who has studied marketing
00:28:17
was really interested in it.
00:28:19
And so I said, okay, come into this team.
00:28:22
With the company, we figured out, part time you can take
00:28:26
on these responsibilities.
00:28:27
I'll help guide you through.
00:28:29
I also have a business manager that I work with who really knows like
00:28:33
social media and all of these pieces.
00:28:35
So I compare them together and help grow people within that team
00:28:40
so we can be really flexible.
00:28:41
So it's all about what do we need?
00:28:43
What's the foundation?
00:28:44
The first thing we did was create a brand.
00:28:47
They already had a logo that they liked, but we created a brand around
00:28:50
their values so that we can pick and choose what we want to do.
00:28:54
We also really narrowed down who the customer was.
00:28:58
So within, you know, within our region here, you work with homeowners,
00:29:03
you work with architects, you work with contractors, the whole gamut.
00:29:07
And we decided to focus on contractors because there are four owners.
00:29:12
They had so much experience.
00:29:14
They can do custom, metal work, metal manufacturing.
00:29:18
They have a whole custom trim shop because that's where, that's
00:29:22
what they knew really well.
00:29:23
They'd all been contractors.
00:29:25
So we decided we're going to focus on contractors.
00:29:28
That's the way the business works the best.
00:29:30
It, you know, it's less time, we speak their language.
00:29:34
So that means that all of our writing, you know, we don't do Pinterest writing.
00:29:39
When we, you know, one of the ways that we've decided to, to just kind of
00:29:44
sustainably grow is to focus on SEO.
00:29:47
And so I have an agency working with them, they have a writer, and we together come
00:29:52
up with the keywords that makes sense for our audience and they're going to get us
00:29:57
the biggest bang for our buck in Google.
00:30:00
And then the four owners, they have all the knowledge.
00:30:03
So I set up an interview and I'm kind of going back and forth.
00:30:06
I know what the writer needs.
00:30:08
I know what I need to prompt the guys to say or to get them talking.
00:30:13
And when things start to, you know, there's a big gap between a writer who
00:30:17
has no building experience and then these guys with, you know, to combine, they have
00:30:23
like more than 60 years of experience.
00:30:26
And so I'm that bridge.
00:30:27
I make sure that we get exactly the information that
00:30:29
we need, that everybody needs.
00:30:31
And then we have these blogs that are really high quality.
00:30:35
They're not beginner blogs.
00:30:36
It doesn't sound like, you know, it's coming from HGTV.
00:30:40
So they're dual purpose.
00:30:42
They're, you know, that is one of the.
00:30:45
The highest driver of traffic to our website is Google
00:30:50
search, is organic traffic.
00:30:52
And these blogs are part of it and are big part of it and they're high quality.
00:30:58
And then the guys can use them in their sales, right?
00:31:00
So they're talking to somebody.
00:31:02
Somebody has a question.
00:31:03
Oh, here, let me send you to this blog.
00:31:06
People could come to our website.
00:31:07
They can peruse the resources, find something that's
00:31:10
actually helpful for them.
00:31:12
That builds trust.
00:31:14
So everything that we do has more than one purpose.
00:31:16
And we're not just going to do something to do it.
00:31:19
We're going to make it the best that we can so that it's valuable.
00:31:24
And I think that's the biggest difference and that's something that I bring in.
00:31:27
Cause as a fractional CMO, I'm very discerning.
00:31:32
We're not just going to do the baseline to do it.
00:31:34
Anything that we're going to do, we're going to do it really well.
00:31:37
If we're not, there's a particular reason why we're not.
00:31:40
So I think that's, you know, that's one of the best things.
00:31:43
And we've seen seven figure growth over the past few years.
00:31:47
And it's been steady and they're maintaining their quality of life.
00:31:51
They're maintaining the ability to go, you know, go on vacations,
00:31:56
show up for family, show up for friends, spend time in the outdoors.
00:32:00
They're maintaining all of it.
00:32:02
Todd Miller: That's good stuff.
00:32:03
and I want to go back to something you said earlier and kind of ties all this
00:32:08
together also is this idea of marketing and sales needing to be lockstep.
00:32:14
And, you know, how often have I seen sales teams, you know, marketing produces all
00:32:19
this great stuff and sales teams later like, oh, I didn't know we had that.
00:32:24
Why didn't you tell me about that?
00:32:26
And so that, you know, communication and that ability to be able to
00:32:30
have a sales team that says, oh yeah, they did a blog post on that.
00:32:34
I need to send that to my client.
00:32:35
is really good stuff.
00:32:37
So I'm kind of curious, are there any, trends you're seeing right now that one
00:32:42
way or another, a company should be having on their radar to impact their marketing?
00:32:47
Katie Smith: I mean, everybody's got to be looking at AI and with a thoughtful lens.
00:32:53
But I think it's.
00:32:55
It's really important to see how that's going to change, how it can make things
00:32:58
easier for you, but how maybe your competitors are going to be using it.
00:33:03
And that's even things like having an advanced chatbot on your website.
00:33:07
If you have a chatbot that actually helps somebody, versus somebody who doesn't,
00:33:12
you know, you can, that can help get people into your pipeline faster, So
00:33:17
looking around, seeing what's available, staying on top of things, but keeping in
00:33:21
mind your customer, what do they need?
00:33:23
Not getting too involved in the trends just because they're interesting to you.
00:33:27
It's going back to that foundation.
00:33:30
you know, it's like, You know, you don't want to add just a bag of
00:33:33
Funyuns to, to your mix without really thinking, does it go with the meal?
00:33:39
Does it go with what we're trying to do?
00:33:41
It's the same thing with marketing.
00:33:42
You don't want to just add something because it's trendy.
00:33:46
Todd Miller: Makes a lot of sense, but I love that having your eye on AI also.
00:33:50
And yeah, I agree, I think every company needs to, I mean, and
00:33:53
chatbots are great, great use of that.
00:33:56
I think, I mean, you don't want to have a consumer that's coming to you looking
00:34:00
for butterscotch and you just keep telling them about lemons or something.
00:34:03
So, good stuff.
00:34:05
Well, Katie, this has been a great time talking to you.
00:34:08
We're kind of close to wrapping up what we call the business end of things.
00:34:12
Is there anything we haven't covered yet today that you wanted to be
00:34:15
sure to share with our audience?
00:34:17
Katie Smith: You know, I think, the idea of when you should hire a fractional
00:34:21
CMO, I think a lot of companies, there's such a big gap between
00:34:25
you know, you have some marketing and then you have this leadership.
00:34:29
And I think it's important for companies to know that you can bring in somebody.
00:34:33
Sometimes I'll just come into a company for two months and we create a strategy
00:34:38
that they could execute themselves and then they have their path forward and
00:34:42
that can give you a competitive advantage.
00:34:45
So you don't have to be making, you know, 20 billion to hire somebody.
00:34:51
You can always, look in to.
00:34:54
having just a little bit of help and hiring fractional even for everything,
00:34:59
you know, you can have a fractional CFO.
00:35:02
You can hire a sales director for advice, but I think when companies
00:35:05
are in that transition from that like smaller side of medium and it's
00:35:10
such a big jump to the next step.
00:35:13
If you need guidance in any part of your company, you can find somebody
00:35:16
who can come in and provide that for you so that your company can
00:35:20
move forward without having to invest in a full time staff member.
00:35:25
Todd Miller: Well, good stuff.
00:35:26
And certainly they would be very wise to seek out Katie Smith and WildPath
00:35:30
Consulting and we're going to put all your information in the show
00:35:33
notes, and we're going to ask you for that here in a little bit as well.
00:35:36
But, before we do close out, I have to ask you if you're willing to participate
00:35:41
in something we call rapid fire.
00:35:43
So these are just some simple questions.
00:35:45
Some are silly, some are more serious, that we like to ask our guests
00:35:49
and, see what your response is.
00:35:51
You up to it?
00:35:51
Katie Smith: Oh yeah, I love these.
00:35:53
Todd Miller: Cool.
00:35:54
Well, we will alternate.
00:35:55
Would you like to ask the first one, Ryan?
00:35:57
Ryan Bell: Sure, I would love to.
00:36:00
Question number one.
00:36:01
What is a product or service that you've recently acquired that
00:36:05
was a real game changer for you?
00:36:08
Katie Smith: I love, speaking of AI, Otter AI.
00:36:11
I just have it running when I'm having meetings.
00:36:13
I get so into the meetings that sometimes I forget to take notes and Otter is
00:36:18
just transcribing it for me and then it can pick out the highlights and
00:36:22
it just makes everything easy for me so I can just be in the moment and
00:36:26
then not forget anything later on.
00:36:29
Todd Miller: I love it.
00:36:30
I think I saw the other day where Zoom has something like that now too.
00:36:34
They just came out with where they will actually, you know, create a
00:36:38
summary as you're talking type thing.
00:36:40
So cool stuff.
00:36:42
Second question.
00:36:43
What did the first grade Katie hope to be when she grew up?
00:36:48
Katie Smith: I wanted to be a professional horseback rider.
00:36:51
Todd Miller: Oh, well, you get to do some of that.
00:36:54
So that's cool.
00:36:55
Ryan Bell: Like the ones that race?
00:36:56
Katie Smith: I was thinking jumping, the ones that jump,
00:36:59
Ryan Bell: Oh, jumping.
00:37:00
Katie Smith: but I guess I was a professional horseback rider
00:37:02
for a little bit.
00:37:04
Ryan Bell: Yeah, just in a little bit different of a form.
00:37:07
Todd Miller: I'm
00:37:08
not sure that's the, the, professional horseback rider is a way that
00:37:11
a lot of people make a living, but, some of them do out there.
00:37:14
So that's
00:37:14
Katie Smith: Yeah.
00:37:15
Ryan Bell: All right, question number three.
00:37:17
What non family person in your life have you had the longest friendship with?
00:37:24
Katie Smith: Uh, I think it's my friend Whitney.
00:37:26
So I did a stint as working in a rock climbing shop.
00:37:30
I was a rock climber and, she walked into the shop, and we became instant
00:37:34
friends, and we're still friends to this day, and that was, we've
00:37:38
been friends for over 20 years.
00:37:41
Todd Miller: That's awesome.
00:37:42
I always think that's a fun question to ask because it's something
00:37:44
you don't often think about.
00:37:46
but, yeah, I think it's a fun question.
00:37:49
Okay.
00:37:49
This next one, dogs or cats.
00:37:52
Katie Smith: Dogs.
00:37:54
Todd Miller: That's a pretty common response.
00:37:56
Katie Smith: Yeah.
00:37:57
I like cats.
00:37:58
Todd Miller: answer.
00:37:59
You like cats, but dogs are better.
00:38:02
Katie Smith: Dogs are better.
00:38:02
I foster dogs,
00:38:04
Todd Miller: Oh, that's right.
00:38:05
You do the dog
00:38:06
sitting.
00:38:07
Katie Smith: So,
00:38:08
Ryan Bell: Okay, question number five.
00:38:10
Do you prefer circus clowns or mimes?
00:38:14
Katie Smith: Ooh, I think maybe circus clowns because you can hear them coming.
00:38:18
Todd Miller: That's interesting.
00:38:20
If you've seen this, these videos of this mime at SeaWorld, I think it is.
00:38:25
Yeah.
00:38:26
He's kind of funny sometimes.
00:38:29
Okay.
00:38:29
Next question.
00:38:30
What is your favorite meal?
00:38:32
Katie Smith: You know, I, um, being in Montana, I'm a big fan of regenerative
00:38:37
agriculture and I have a couple of like meat subscriptions from local
00:38:43
Ranches, so I love to have a nice, steak, from one of our local ranches
00:38:48
and, just a nice, you know, local salad.
00:38:52
So I love to have a local meal.
00:38:55
Todd Miller: That's awesome.
00:38:56
I love going into new towns and, you know, of course you're eating at restaurants.
00:38:59
I'm always looking at farm to table places and places that source
00:39:03
locally and all that type of stuff.
00:39:05
So good stuff.
00:39:06
Katie Smith: Yeah,
00:39:08
Ryan Bell: Question number seven.
00:39:09
Would you rather have the ability to see 10 minutes into the future
00:39:13
or 150 years into the future?
00:39:17
Katie Smith: 10 minutes.
00:39:18
Todd Miller: That's interesting.
00:39:19
I think it's, that's probably more useful than seeing 150 years.
00:39:23
Probably my curiosity would get me on the 150 years thing.
00:39:27
10 minutes would certainly be a heck of a lot more useful.
00:39:31
Katie Smith: I feel like you'd have no context in 150 years and it
00:39:34
would just be so anxiety producing.
00:39:36
Ryan Bell: You'd be lost.
00:39:38
Yeah.
00:39:38
Todd Miller: That's true.
00:39:39
It's true.
00:39:40
Well, Katie, thank you again.
00:39:42
for folks who do want to get in touch with you or learn more
00:39:45
about, WildPath Consulting, tell us some ways they can do that.
00:39:49
Katie Smith: Sure, so you can visit my website which is followthewildpath.
00:39:53
com and I really like to hang out on LinkedIn so you can find me
00:39:57
there but my name is Katie Smith and there are millions of us so you
00:40:01
have to search Katie Smith Wild Path Consulting and then you can find me.
00:40:06
Todd Miller: Good stuff.
00:40:07
Well, we will put that in the show notes as well.
00:40:09
So, thank you again.
00:40:11
This has been great.
00:40:12
I know you got your challenge word in Katie, which was
00:40:16
Katie Smith: Funyuns!
00:40:17
Todd Miller: Funyuns.
00:40:18
Good job.
00:40:19
I worked mine in, which was butterscotch and Ryan got his as well there at the end.
00:40:25
Ryan Bell: Circus clown.
00:40:26
Todd Miller: Good job.
00:40:28
I kept thinking has he worked in Circus Clown yet?
00:40:31
Yeah, you got her in there.
00:40:32
Good job.
00:40:34
Well, thank you again, Katie.
00:40:35
This has been a blast and very informative and I hope very much that our guests
00:40:38
check it out and learn more about Wildpath Consulting and maybe bring you
00:40:43
into their business to help them out.
00:40:46
Katie Smith: Thank you all so much.
00:40:48
Todd Miller: And thank you to our audience for tuning in to this very special
00:40:51
episode of Construction Disruption with Katie Smith of Wildpath Consulting.
00:40:55
Please watch for future episodes of our podcast.
00:40:58
We always have great guests.
00:40:59
Don't forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or YouTube.
00:41:03
Until the next time we're together though, keep on disrupting, keep
00:41:06
on challenging, keep on looking for better ways of doing things,
00:41:09
and don't forget to have a positive impact on everyone that you encounter.
00:41:13
Make them smile and encourage them.
00:41:15
So God bless and take care.
00:41:17
This is Isaiah Industry signing off until the next episode
00:41:20
of Construction Disruption.
Related Episodes
Lead Nurturing and Calculated Growth with Jason Kramer
In this episode of the Construction Disruption podcast, co-hosts Ryan Bell of Isaiah Industries and Ethan Young dive into the intricacies of CRM platforms and sales optimization with Jason Kramer, founder, and CEO of Cultivize. Jason shares his rich experience from over 20 years in the indust...
Eco-Friendly Building Materials with Robert Bedard and Dylan Tinker
In this episode of the Construction Disruption podcast, Todd Miller and Ryan Bell of Isaiah Industries welcome Robert Bedard and Dylan Tinker, co-founders of MOXY OID. Robert and Dylan discuss the development and commercialization of CERLOS, a sustainable material made from forestry and agricultura...
Bunkie Life: Redefining Small Space Living with David Fraser
In this episode of Construction Disruption, Ryan Bell and Todd Miller of Isaiah Industries chat with David Fraser, founder of Bunkie Life. David shares his journey of creating Bunkie Life and how it has transformed small-space living. He discusses the origins of the bunkie concept, the differences ...