About three years ago, Chris Chasteen was working in his family-run ecommerce business, when a thought struck him — why isn’t there a simple service to hire writers to write articles?
Using what he likes to call “decision velocity,” he jumped on the idea and took action.
Today he is a co-founder and head of marketing at Content Cucumber, where they simplify content creation and enable companies to get content on demand.
In this interview, we discuss:
- The true value of having cofounders in business
- Covid: And a sudden shift from in-person event marketing to driving leads with paid ads
- How to use shiny object syndrome to your advantage
Now, let’s hack…
Chris Chasteen.
Highlights from the interview
- [04:00]: Chris explains the concept of “decision velocity.” It’s the ability to make important decisions quickly and efficiently. You have to become comfortable with making a decision now, using whatever information you have available to you at the time, in order to move forward toward your goals. You may make some incorrect decisions along the way, but as long as more of them are right than wrong, you’ll end up doing well.
- [12:55]: Where founders put their focus in the early stages of a business can impact its growth — that is, if they’re focused on day to day operations hands-on, or focused more on marketing and growth. Many founders, explains Chris, will do a lot of the work themselves early on. When he started Content Cucumber, he didn’t do the writing and editing himself, even at the outset. Instead, he outsourced those operations so that he could focus all of his energy and attention on growing the business instead.
- [21:35]: Most of Content Cucumber’s marketing has been through events and conventions for marketers, at least prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. In retrospect, Chris feels that it was a mistake not to have pursued other avenues for advertising and marketing as well, particularly given the current crisis. But event marketing — being present in person and pitching to people one-on-one — was highly effective. Since doing so isn’t currently possible, Content Cucumber has been running paid ads instead, as well as leveraging some video assets they already had on hand.
Resources and links from the episode
Show sponsor
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