Pave Your Path to Success for 2026
Want to pave your path to success for 2026?
In this episode of Stop Being the Best Kept Secret, guest Allison DeFord, Founder and Trailblazer at FELT Marketing for Manufacturers.
With over 30 years of marketing experience, Allison is a fierce advocate for American manufacturing. She is on a mission to strengthen the heart and soul of the industry, one brand at a time. Host of the Manufacturing Masters Podcast and Executive Director of the North American Forest Foundation, Allison is helping companies retrofit outdated marketing into powerful systems that make sales easier and more profitable.
Allison will share how manufacturers can align their marketing and sales to attract right-fit customers, communicate with heart, and build legacy brands that stay relevant. Learn how the right message, delivered with purpose, can drive growth and real connection.
Don’t miss this chance to learn how to set your business up for real success in 2026 and beyond.
If you are ready to stop wasting time on what is not working and start building the marketing foundation for your business needs, this episode is for you.
Key Highlights of Pave Your Path to Success for 2026
• Kicking Off the New Year with Allison DeFord 0:03
• Reflecting on 2025 and Planning for 2026 45:05
• Marketing Trends and Strategies for 2026 45:35
• Five Key Strategies for Success in 2026 45:52
• Bonus Tactics and Final Thoughts 46:12
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Transcription
Damon Pistulka 00:03
I really can’t even talk right now, because I’m just gonna say, welcome back to stop being the best kept secret. And like I said, Curt, I really can’t even think right now, this is our first show of 2026 Correct?
Curt Anderson 00:17
I What year was it? I forgot. Yeah, it’s, it is 2026, Happy New Year. This is our annual tradition, as we kick off every year with the one, the only Allison DeFord of felt marketing. Allison, Happy New Year to you. How are
Allison DeFord 00:35
you fantastic? Excited to be here. Surprises.
Curt Anderson 00:40
So, so dame, we got our hearts checked before we went live, just, you know, at our age, you know, you just can’t, you can’t be sure, you know. So I turned my credit for it. I turned my pacemaker up. Damon, I got the AED right over here. Yeah, I’m in good shape. So, all right, hey, let’s snap pony punches. We’re going to dive right in Allison DeFord. What do you got for us? What is on the horizon for 2026
Allison DeFord 01:04
Well, besides the thing I shared with you earlier, I had, we’ll save that for another episode, I did want to give a quick shout out to anybody who is on LinkedIn who is pretty much just being a voyeur at this point, which that’s the majority of people, right? Yep. What do they say? 5% of the people create 100% of the content. Yeah. What do I mean by that? And why is this important? Well, how many years ago did we meet six?
Damon Pistulka 01:47
Yeah, six or seven, something like that.
Allison DeFord 01:49
Okay, yeah, so, because I dared to put myself out there, and quite frequently, I will say, with reckless abandon, which was not easy for me, and because I shared a post that had to do with explosive diarrhea, not Mine, by the way, yeah, I met Curt. And because and Curt sent me this by the by, I still have it. That’s so funny. And because of Curt, I met Damon, and because of a post, right? And so, and because we’ve we decided to show up together, because these fools invited me six, five or six years ago, Curt texted me and said, Hey, can you jump on a call with with me? And I said, Well, sure, like a dummy. And Curt said, Oh, by the way, we’re live. What the hell
Speaker 1 03:04
yeah, I think I go, you go now, yeah, we’re live. We’re live now, yeah,
Allison DeFord 03:10
yeah, so, yeah. So that scared the literal crap out of me, and I pretty much never looked back. And now, even though I’ve never met either of you in person, I would give you guys a kidney, because we have developed such an amazing friendship bond. We’ve worked together, we’ve webinared together, you know, we’ve served manufacturers together. So I just wanted to say that if you are a voyeur and you’re afraid, to post, to put yourself out there, to comment, to share something you’ve been working on, to talk about explosive diarrhea, please just do it, because you never know who you’re going to meet, yeah, and you never know what’s going to come of it. So just had a quick plug there for and so. So ever since I have been invited back for some odd reason to be your first guest of the year.
Damon Pistulka 04:13
So, oh my god, that is so hilarious that he said that to you. I know, isn’t it great? I love this to propagate the third grade mentality. There is one Christmas ornament that I send a picture to Curt of every year, and that is the Christmas poo ornament. Okay?
Allison DeFord 04:37
I am expecting that to be in my stocking this Christmas, putting that out there now, because I love ornaments. Yeah, yeah. So we anyway, okay.
Damon Pistulka 04:52
So, okay, coming back,
Allison DeFord 04:54
I look we’re talking today about paving the way for success in 2026 Yeah. And I thought, you know, how did we kick off the year? Last year? What did we talk about? And as it turns out, we talked a lot about fate, which, as a very good friend of mine says, Is your focused attention, time and energy. And so we talked a lot about slowing down before you speed up. And I was just curious, because I practiced that all year. And I was curious if you two did any kind of that in your lives, business, really. And the answer may be no, but did you spend any time slowing down before you sped up this last year? Were you hyper focused on your fate, your focused attention time and energy? Or do you feel like you guys took a different tact this last year? Because I think reflecting is important before we look forward.
Curt Anderson 06:01
Damon, why don’t you start?
Damon Pistulka 06:04
Well, I can, I try to do it, but I really, and I do do it. That’s for me. It’s getting out and walking around and and just just not being around anything. And last year I started actually walking with air pods in my ears and nothing playing, so it’s even quieter, right? So you don’t, you don’t hear anything and or very little, and it allows you just to think like that. But really the part that I that I don’t do enough, is go, Okay, I’m thinking about what I want to do, and then just the application of what came out of that more consistently for this year is what I really want to focus on.
Curt Anderson 06:46
I love that. Yeah, I absolutely love that. And, and so I’m going to answer then, Damon, we got a few comments. We got to grab. Yeah, I’ll get to the comments so and Happy New Year. Everybody. Welcome us. Welcome to 2026 regardless of when you catch this. And we are here with the one, the only Allison DeFord from FELT Marketing. She is a marketing guru, rock star, all sorts of extraordinary things going on in her life. A wonderful mother, by the way. And please do yourself a favor. Connect with her on LinkedIn. You’ll thank us later if you haven’t picked up on this, now hands on one of the funniest human beings you will ever encounter. And so we’re talking about slowing down. And so Allison, you kicked off last year with your steps on you. I know you have, like, your super friends, and you guys have a mastermind group, and I saw you had a wonderful post. Maybe you’re going to mention it later about how important mastermind and, like the collective energy of others, rising tides, right? Iron sharpens, iron type of thing. So for slowing down, I absolutely I was intentional about it. I don’t, I won’t say I was successful, but I was very intentional work wise, my daughter went to College this past year, so that was a huge new transition, and I have a seven month old puppy who’s like terrorizing me, and so I’m slowing down with him. So hey, let’s grab a few comments here. David, do this.
Damon Pistulka 08:10
Oh. Diane. Buyer, Happy New Year. Happy Wednesday. Thanks for stopping by day. Diane, as always, we appreciate you being here. Yes. Sadla, Sadia, hello, everyone. Hello, great insights. Thanks for stopping by and then Diane’s got a great line here. Damon, yeah, what a great beginning line, because I dared where friends come from.
Curt Anderson 08:37
And eight and say this says Happy New Year. So again, guys drop us a note. Any questions that you have, we have a marketing guru here, Allison, pick back up where you left off. What do you got for us?
Allison DeFord 08:48
Well, one thing that I just wanted to share in terms of fate and slowing down before you speed up, is I started a new practice this last year, and it has completely changed how I start my day, and I never gave myself permission before to do this. So I wake up, I get ready, and then I go sit, I make the bed like Mel Robin says, do that first thing, because then you’ve got something that you have accomplished, right? It’s a it’s a brain thing. Then I sit on the bed made and I read for at least 10 minutes, and it’s usually something empowering, self help. I’ve been reading Grit by Dr Angela Duckworth. It’s phenomenal. And and then I use my headspace app, and I do five deep breaths, powerful. It takes one minute. And then I meditate, sometimes five minutes, sometimes 10 minutes. And I’ve been doing the meditation practice for like, 15 years. And the thing that’s ironic is, did you ever see the movie, Eat, Pray, Love with Julia Roberts, and she goes to the ashram, and she’s sitting there, and a minute has gone by, and she opens her eyes and she thinks, Oh, dear God, that felt like an hour. And she just kind of falls over. That’s still me most days. So what I’ve learned is that that’s why they call it a practice, and it’s just such a great way. There’s no pressure. So I am learning to slow down and to be mindful, and before I ever open my phone, that’s the key. Don’t look at social media. Don’t check your email zero, you do this other thing first. So I just want to encourage everybody to give that a try. I feel like it has changed my life and the trajectory of every workday and how I show up. So just
Curt Anderson 10:58
wanted to share that excellent, Okay, couple recaps. So just first, no social, no phone, no no communication. Right off the bat, just get into the zone, right, take those deep breaths, whether you read, meditate, whatever your thing is, pray, Eat, Pray, Love, whatever you need to do is just kind of get into self to start your day. Game Changer. Yep, absolutely okay. Hey, in a couple Hey, Asia says a couple things. Start your day early morning. Love it.
Damon Pistulka 11:26
Yep. Go ahead. Damon, spiritual connection is must in the mornings. It’s the best time. It definitely is.
Curt Anderson 11:35
Totally agree. So hey, if anybody has any other comments, any suggestions, any questions, drop those in the chat, like, how do you get your day started? So Allison, pick it up for us. You are here. You are our guru on how we’re all going to have an incredible, amazing, wonderful, best year ever. What do you got for us?
Allison DeFord 11:53
All right, couple of facts. So when it comes to marketing, I just read something from LinkedIn that said that Gen Z and millennials are now 71% of B2B decision makers. Okay, so this is important. Why is it important to know this? Well, a lot of people hear this statistic, but they do nothing about it. They keep doing what they’ve always done, especially if you’re a small menu to mid size, manufacturer, small business owner, change is hard, right? It doesn’t it doesn’t feel exciting, it doesn’t feel easy, and so we avoid it at all costs. But if you know who your ideal customers are, knowing that they are getting younger, and understanding how they consume information, where they’re consuming information, is imperative. You have got to pay attention to this. And the thing that I want to say, though, what hasn’t changed in B2B, and I think I know you guys will totally have something to say on this as well. Is earning and maintaining trust to make sales easier period so you can have some convoluted I was reading something on LinkedIn yesterday. I wish I would have captured it and shared it here. It was talking about marketing, and it was so many buzzwords and so much like, you know, P to C, abbreviations, digital I read this whole thing and I thought, I’m a marketer, and I’m like, What the hell would did that even just say,
Curt Anderson 13:41
Was it my post? No, I’m just kidding. I’m kidding.
Allison DeFord 13:45
No, but seriously, I thought, okay, if I’m my client, and I read something like that from felt I don’t even know what what they’re talking about, and I’m a marketer, and I felt that way when I read this paragraph and I thought, I think sometimes we make it too difficult, so that’s why I like to go back to what hasn’t changed. You can adopt every digital practice on the planet, but if you forget the why you’re doing it and who you’re doing it on behalf of you’re gonna It’s like pissing in the wind. You’re just spinning your wheels, you’re spending money, and you wonder why you’re not really getting any different results. So I think it’s important to always go back to like, it’s plain and simple, folks, it’s you’re building trust. So how you do that depends on who it is you’re trying to be of service to
Curt Anderson 14:45
absolutely love that I’m actually I’m reading a wonderful book, if you guys are familiar with Victor Frankel’s famous Holocaust survivor. And he wrote the book, Man’s Search for Meaning, yep. And in that book, he talks about the why. And he goes into like people that survived Holocaust camps. What have you get too deep there, but they talk about the why, how important that is. Damon, a couple more comments we want to grab here. Yeah?
Damon Pistulka 15:11
Aisha says, Yes, be a morning person, not an IO, yeah, I’m with you there. Diane, being mindful every morning. She says, I journal and start with being present.
Curt Anderson 15:22
Nice, awesome, great advice. And speaking of great advice, that’s
Damon Pistulka 15:26
what good advice, she says, yep. And Diane says, again, trust be real, be honest and be real, honest. And Aisha says, in marketing, make it simple and easy,
Curt Anderson 15:40
keep it super simple. That’s, you know, I was at the gym at like, 430 this morning, and this friend of mine was there and and she was like, oh, like, these people that they’re there at four in the morning, they go to bed like, you know, seven, eight o’clock. They’re like, I just love going to bed early, then I get up early, and they just come in and conquer the day. So, great advice here. So alright, let’s keep the party rolling. Allison, what’s next for us?
Allison DeFord 16:01
All right? Well, I’ve got five things, five things you can do to pave the way to success in 2026 I should have done six things in 2026 but anyway, so the first thing you’ve got to do is show up. Right? I have done this myself. I’ve been guilty of it. I have clients that did this for years. We want to show up, but we’re too afraid, or we’re too busy cooking, you know, cooking the stew there in the in the shop, and we never it’s never quite ready to share with anybody. So I can say, from from actual experience, you have got to show up in the ring. So put fear aside and put yourself out there and and listen. That is one of the most important things you can do. If you’re unsure, well, I don’t know what my what’s important to my customers, ask them. And if you don’t have any, maybe you need some new customers. Go on LinkedIn and follow groups that your ideal customers would be in, and listen, listen to what they’re talking about. I think that’s a skill that a lot of people it’s I think it’s diminishing. The more we have social media, the more we have this influx of content and video and whatever. I think we’re becoming poor listeners because we’re just we’re so busy consuming, swiping, scrolling, we don’t actually stop and take the time to read or listen. So I really want to encourage everybody, you’ve got to listen and you’ve got to ask questions so that you can understand what’s important to the people that you’re trying to serve. Two I want to encourage you to be relevant. What does that mean? It means don’t be afraid if you’re putting out social posts for your company or for a company, let’s say you’re the marketing manager, don’t be afraid to use humor, because you’re a real person, you’re a real company, right? You’re human, and you’re talking to humans, so don’t be afraid to use humor. It doesn’t mean that you have to be flippant or or crass or rude or, you know, but like pop culture, like throw some pop culture into and I can tell you wholeheartedly, we have a small Manufacturing client in the Midwest and the highest viewed impressions, engagement, everything post from the entire year that we did for them involved humor and it involved, it spoke directly to engineers, and had a picture of Brian Cranston from Breaking Bad, you know, kind of like the two different like a split screen, you know, and it was silly. And the one picture he had hair, and the other picture, he was bald, 1000s, 1000s of impressions, compared to all the other deep, meaningful posts that we did so, and also the post that had people. People like to see people. So if you’re like a lumber manufacturer or dealer, please stop sharing 59 pictures every week of pallets of lumber. It’s not interesting. You know, and I want to encourage you, share your people, yeah, share what’s happening today. Share a customer story, like, remember, don’t forget. This is human So and, and that’s, that’s, that’s how you remain relevant, right? Is if you’re paying attention to what’s going on, and you’re including people in like, your little pop culture references. You’re showing them that that you’ve got your finger on the pulse, and don’t forget to surprise and delight. That’s part of being relevant is, I think, throwing people a curve ball once in a while, you know, see if they’re paying attention, see if they’re out there, I think I can, I can vouch that that works, right? Because you never know what
Curt Anderson 20:53
you never you never know. So Allison, let’s grab we’ll grab a couple of comments, right? So we’re on number two. We’re moving on to number three. Let’s grab demons. Grab a few comments here.
Damon Pistulka 21:03
Aisha says, Be clear about targeted audience and niche. That is correct. I gotta know who you’re talking to.
Curt Anderson 21:08
The reach. Reaches are in the niches. Is that how you say it? Damon, if you pronounce it niche. Okay, so hey, we got John Graham, and now it’s John. Happy New Year, dude,
Damon Pistulka 21:16
John, good to see you. I’ve always believed in treating everyone the same. The janitor and the CEO titles don’t define character. Amen. On that. Aisha, consistency is the key to success. Diane says, listen and engage. And Aisha said, spend mindful time. I’m going to tell you now I’m just going to stop on that for just two seconds. If you don’t do that several times in a day, and just when you’re ready to complain about where you’re at, just sit there and go, you know, this is where I wanted to be, and these challenges are just part of being where I wanted to be. Yes, and reset. It’s a good a good reset during the day, it’s a
Curt Anderson 21:59
good reset. So pick it up.
Allison DeFord 22:03
All right. The other thing I want to encourage everybody to do is to be consistent. You don’t just post when you feel like it. Come up with some kind of a strategy, and it doesn’t have to be convoluted in a multi page PDF. It can be really simple. I was talking to a colleague the other day who was struggling with their social media efforts for their company, and I said, What are the three things that your ideal customers are challenged by? She goes, Well, this and this and this. I said, Okay, that’s what you’re going to post about. And she’s like, what I said, that is what you’re going to post about every single week. Solving those three and one, one per post, right? You don’t have to, you don’t have to blanket the whole thing. But excuse me, and she just kind of looked at me and I said, That’s it. That’s all you got to do. Yeah, it we make it hard when we say, Okay, I’m going to do a strategy. And then you sit down and you scratch your head, and you’re like, I’m not sure. I’m not sure. Go back to your audience. Who are they? What do they care about? What problems are you solving? It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that. And I noticed Megan Zimba right. Love her. My cool little sis is what I call her, and she is refocusing her business, which she is a content creator, and she has been putting out posts of her sitting in her car and giving you a little insight on content, and then she shows up again, and then she shows up again, and she’s just, it’s, it’s that simple, guys, and I know from experience that I have made it very difficult in the past. Oh, I had to have the perfect lighting, and I had to have the ring light and right, and I had to have the I had to have the special mic to record. And I we make it hard, so I say, stop making it hard and but be consistent. The algorithms will you will suffer if you don’t. And I can tell you this last year, I took a step back. I was kind of contented out after probably a decade of just going so hard and and it’s true, you come back and you’re way down the bottom of people’s feeds because you haven’t been consistent. So I encourage you to do that. The other reason you want to be consistent is because people you’ll be top of mind, right? This is and none of this is new stuff, but it’s stuff. I see people that were still making mistakes, so that’s why I go back to what works, what’s easy, what makes sense, and how do we stay connected with people? So be consistent. And the fourth thing is service before selling. And I see so many companies for getting this. They’re so busy. I have clients that fight me on this. They’re so busy trying to have some convoluted mission statement that’s three sentences long that no one can remember, that uses words that people don’t use every day in common language. They’re so busy trying to have a meeting upon meeting upon meeting, about meetings, and honestly, and I just, I see so much wasted time and effort. And because maybe somebody at the top has this grandiose idea, but it’s disconnected from the people you’re trying to be of service to, and nobody will tell him, yeah, that’s a problem. Yeah?
Speaker 2 26:10
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. So
Allison DeFord 26:14
I want to encourage you to remember who are we being of service to, before we try to sell them something.
Curt Anderson 26:22
Yeah. So Alright, so let’s recap, and then we’ve got a few comments here. David, I gotta grab So, alright. So show up and listen, right. Show up and listen. Be relevant. Be consistent. Serve before selling. So that’s 123, and four. You guys stick around for five, if you’re just joining us, Happy New Year. Happy Wednesday, we’re here with our one our just delight. Wonderful, amazing, incredible, beautiful. Allison the Ford from fault marketing, please do yourself a favor. Connect with Allison on LinkedIn. Check out her website, fault marketing. She is absolutely amazing, wonderful, hysterical. Hey, check out who’s in the house. Man. We got Ron here today.
Damon Pistulka 27:00
Damon, Ron Higgs, he says, understand and stay up to date on your avatar. Pain points. Yep, Ron, as good as that. Thanks for stopping by today. Aisha says, Great advice. Awesome. Thanks so much. And she says, Thank you,
Curt Anderson 27:16
yep, and thank you. She’s and she’s dropping some great comments. You know, you’re paralleling rate with Allison being consistent, saying in your niche, hey, here’s our dear friend. I want to give a big shout out. Lots of love to our friend here, Poula Santana’s in the house. Poula, Happy New Year to you.
Damon Pistulka 27:30
Yes, don’t get paralyzed by trying to be something you’re not trying to go viral as please as it may sound, just be you. It’s a scary thing too to do that, but you know, it’s, it’s funny how just doing that releases you, right?
Curt Anderson 27:48
Yep, totally, totally agree that’s just got CSR, man, I
Damon Pistulka 27:52
says, CSR, it’s awesome. And Ron said your mission statement should fit on a t shirt. Yeah, I
Allison DeFord 27:59
love that. Yeah, that’s awesome. Steal that. Ron, yeah.
Curt Anderson 28:03
And hey, Allison, let’s see your T shirt. By the way. Let’s get, let me get that comment at eight manufacturing Trailblazer, there’s her mission statement right there. Yeah. And hey, Dan comes back with us with a great comment here. Yep.
Damon Pistulka 28:12
He said, I don’t rush the conversations or posts. Give people real time, real attention and real answers. Focus on understanding the customer needs, being fully present. That’s how trust and contacts are built.
Curt Anderson 28:24
Direct. Well done. John, thank you for the comment guys. Keep them coming. If you have any questions. Comments, we’re all here together. How can we have an amazing, incredible 2026, so we got more comments here.
Damon Pistulka 28:37
Oh yeah, we got more Asia stops by and says, corporate social responsibility for business and companies and much. Now I’m going to tell you, this is one of the things you said something earlier Allison that said 71% of B to P decision makers are now Gen Z millennials. They care about this. If you’re if you’re missing it, if you’re not sharing your employees, you’re not sharing your employees going out and doing good things in your community, you might be missing a big opportunity, because I think it’s an awesome way, because people love it, right? And we have so many people in our companies that we work with that are out doing great things in the community,
Speaker 3 29:16
and we never talk about it exactly.
Damon Pistulka 29:18
Yeah, perfect. It’s awesome.
Curt Anderson 29:21
Alright, let’s grab number five. Allison, what do you got for us? Guys? We got number five. Little drum roll. Damon, you got drum you got drum handy? Nah. Okay, ready? Drum roll. We got number five. Let’s hear it.
Allison DeFord 29:34
Okay, ready? Invest, invest, and I will tell you in what I took a look at before coming on and preparing for this yesterday, I took a look across our client base, which are all manufacturers, small to mid size, just for context, and I made some notes of what really stood out to me, because. Every one of them had a banner year with even with all the tariffs, with all the crap that’s been happening, with all the challenges that we’ve had and and I’m not pointing like, oh, it was all us. It was all their marketing. It was a multitude of things. And what I realized in because I like to understand why did each of these companies do so well? And I love to see patterns. So what I connected the dots was they, each one of them, invested this last year and in the year before, when things were hard, they invested. They invested in equipment which scared the crap out of them, because, as we all know, it’s not cheap. They found grant money, which is hard, but they found it. They went looking. They applied. They invested in people. They invested one client, put the CEO himself. Is who I work with directly, and his top two people. This is a really small company, through Sandler sales training. Oh, did they really nice? Loved it. Did they have the time to do that? No, they made the time. They spent the money, and he’s like, it’s been a game changer. Is he the one going out and selling? Per se, no, but it helped him connect with a new sales person for them. Yep, massive, massive investment that is paying dividends already. Yeah, they also invested in marketing, happy to say. And we helped them rebrand the company a couple of years ago, and that was really scary, yeah, really scary for them. It’s a 50 year old company now they have a completely different name, and people are like, we don’t even remember the old name, right? So it was a really smooth transition, and it all took place because it made sense. It made sense for the people they were trying to be of service to. And it was thoughtful and and he never let up, even when things were really crappy. He said. I said, you know, if you need to pause and stop working with us for a while, I totally understand. I opened that door and he said, I think that would be the worst thing I could do, is to take our foot off the gas. He said, We may need to pair, pair it back a little, but no, I’m going to keep going. So that’s huge, because most people, that’s the first thing they want to let go of, is something that they consider an expense when it’s really an investment. All these things are investments. So I just want to encourage people to invest in yourself, invest in your people and your equipment, your facility, your processes. Maybe you need an ERP system that you’ve been putting off. We all know what a giant pain in the ass that is to implement. Yeah, but again, clients, I watched them do it, and it took a year or two, and it was painful, but now they’re so much more efficient, and they’re making more money. Their people are happier. It’s worth it. So make the investment, and then I’ve got some I’ve got some bonus tactics too, if, if anybody wants to hear those
Curt Anderson 33:42
absolutely so let’s we, let’s grab this question here.
Damon Pistulka 33:46
What is one thing manufacturers should stop doing in 2026 to stop being the best kept treat secret and start attracting right fit customers.
Allison DeFord 33:56
Great question. I would say, Stop hiding and stop whispering. No one can hear you or find you. Yep, what do you guys think that
Curt Anderson 34:10
I you know what? I think the the just for anybody that just joined us late, let’s do, let’s do the five, the five point recap. So show up and listen, right? Just show up and listen. Be attentive. Be an eager learner, right? Just Yes, how long does it take to, like, finally realize, like, hey, I need to be a learner, not a you know, so be relevant, be consistent. We’ve seen that in the chat. We’re talking about like, hey, just like, you know, like your client, right there, you just mentioned, you know, he, he saw that he had the foresight of, like, you know, you know, a big word is courage, right? Just having the conviction and the courage be consistent, serve before selling and invest, invest in yourselves. And I think, Aisha, I think you had a comment in here somewhere, invest in yourself. Self development, seeking knowledge and skills through books and mentors. Absolutely love it. And how about what?
Damon Pistulka 34:58
Damon. John Graham says investing in people, marketing, equipment and infrastructure has been key to growing the business, but our best year in 2024 and second best year in 2025 and making those investments was the right move. People see it and they respond to it, and it’s it’s not comfortable when you may be close to losing money or losing money to go I have to keep investing. And like you, Allison, I’ve got a long term person I work with, or a company I work with, and they’ve done that. And it when you see that flip, and people are talking about it in the comments too, it is amazing what that that intestinal fortitude will turn into if you do the right investments.
Curt Anderson 35:42
100% Absolutely. Diane has a great comment here.
Damon Pistulka 35:45
Damon stop. Diane says, Stop ignoring digital marketing, and stop ignoring digital marketing and social media. Embrace that we are in a global digital marketplace and show up there.
Curt Anderson 35:58
Love it. And then Ron says, step out of your comfort zone. That’s where learning takes place. And I says resilience. Yep, totally agree with you. Aisha, again, guys, thank you for the comments. We’re going to start winding down here. We’ve got some bonus tips for you. Get your get your fingers ready, your pens ready. However you’re documenting, let’s hear it. Allison, what do you got for us?
Allison DeFord 36:21
Well, this is about tactics, because I think a lot of people, they’re not sure what to do, or they think they’ve got to put all their eggs in the social media basket, and they have to show up on every platform. And I’m here to tell you, you don’t, you don’t have to be everywhere, and you don’t have to do everything. So what are some tactics that I recommend focusing on this year? Video for sure, your video also don’t stress out about it being perfect. That is something I have learned the hard way. It’s still not my favorite thing. And if you have trouble, get someone to help you. That’s the biggest mistake I think, that I have made in the past, is always trying to do things myself or within my team, instead of hey, I think we need to bring somebody in to help us, and then also stressing over perfection people prefer, and this is based on research. People prefer things that are off the cuff and honest and real and just down to earth, especially when it comes to video, so I think it’s important to have maybe both, right? You’ve got your reel that you share for your business, but then you show up regularly. And I’ve also encouraged my CEOs and presidents to show up companies where CEOs and presidents show up regularly on video. And again, this was based on some research that I just read are, I can’t even remember, it was like five times more likely people trusted the company more because the CEO or president showed up regularly on video.
Curt Anderson 38:06
Yep, it’s like David Wendy’s right for the old enough to remember David Wendy’s Right, yeah, for
Allison DeFord 38:12
sure, yeah. And two. The other thing is, don’t put all your eggs in the video basket and forget about long form content. I follow Gary Vaynerchuk. If you don’t, I highly recommend that you do. He is always predicting, always on the cusp, usually five years ahead, at least of what where you should be going with marketing. And I gotta tell you, this guy is never wrong. He has not been wrong the I’ve been following him for more than a decade, and one of the things he just started talking about in a he puts out a great newsletter, by the way, but he’s talking about long form content, and he’s not the only one talking about it. So if you don’t already have a sub stack, if you’re not putting out LinkedIn articles, if and you say, Okay, again, I’m not a writer, then get someone to help you. Highly recommend getting someone to help you. The other thing I can tell you is I used to feel like I wasn’t a writer, until I started writing regularly, and now I feel very confident in my writing. So I it just took practice. So I would encourage everybody is to write a little bit every day, even if it’s like a sentence or two. Just challenge yourself. Put something out on LinkedIn. And again, if you’re not sure what to say, or you think, oh, people don’t care what I had for lunch. Again, tie it back to what problems are you trying to solve? You don’t have to pull creativity out of your butt. If you’re you know it’s not, it’s not that hard. You don’t have to be the wittiest. You don’t have to go viral. Just show up and be meaningful, and that’s all you’ve got to do. And. Practice, it’s like a muscle, right? It’s going to get stronger over time. Other thing I want you to remember is you don’t have to have a podcast because it’s a lot of work. I think we can all attest to that, but you could go be on podcasts that is a great way to get yourself out there and get in front of the people who will care. So consider that, and if, again, don’t get hung up. I’ve got a ring light right here. It’s not even on. I didn’t care to turn it on today. That’s okay. I didn’t I didn’t worry about the perfect lighting. You don’t have to have a perfect microphone, but just show up and help people right and be on other people’s podcasts. And the other thing I want you to remember, and I will leave everyone with, this, is content and marketing. It’s a two way conversation, so remember to listen and to ask questions. Be curious as a company. Are all of your posts shouting and trying to get attention? Oh, look at us. We do this thing. We won this award. We can solve all your marketing problems with the you know, the wave of a wand, that’s not what is going to motivate people or attract them. Go up and ask some questions, answer some questions. But remember, it’s a two way dialog.
Curt Anderson 41:34
Drop the mic else in the forge, speaking of speaking of Mike, who is there? Is there somebody with you today? Is there somebody hanging out on your mic right
Allison DeFord 41:41
next to you, right there? Yes. Why? Yes. Thank you. Here she is the one and only
Curt Anderson 41:49
we see your Can we see your pillow one more time? Pardon? Can we see your pillow one more time?
Allison DeFord 41:54
Yes, I think we need to share the pillow
Curt Anderson 41:58
so and hey, in a couple of more comments here, Paula says Damon,
Damon Pistulka 42:02
especially now with a being feeling so intrusive, yes, yes. Aisha says loyalty, trust and honesty comes from being authentic and real. And Aisha also says content is the king in this era of digital world.
Curt Anderson 42:19
Man, I’d say thank you guys for all the comments. This has just been fired, so Allison, I’d be, I do this every year. I’d be remiss if I didn’t. So I’m going to, Hey, there’s this little book that’s called Stop, stop being the best kept secret. So if you didn’t catch the beginning, Allison and I met, I think it was seven. It might have been eight years ago. Now it was like 2018 and if I’m doing my math correctly, and she put out a post, it was hands down. It wasn’t a great post. It was a Hall of Fame post. It was hands down, the greatest post of all time. Absolutely killed me. I had no idea who she was. I sent her a connection. We became fast friends, and we never we didn’t even speak like we had a digital friendship going. We still had not spoke at this point. And I was in the midst of writing a book. I didn’t know Allison personally, and I said, Hey, I’m writing a book. Can I get a quote from you? Do you or, as a matter of fact, I stole a quote from you. You didn’t give it to me. I stole it from a quote that we had somewhere else. But I every year, I love to share it, and as we close out, I’m going to share this. This is from my dear friend my now I’m married 27 years. Is my second love my life. She’s like my soul sister, staying relevant and profitable today. Now she wrote this like seven or eight years ago. Staying relevant and profitable today requires three things, continuous, self disruption, reorganization and strategic communications, continuously innovating and keeping pace with how customers search, purchase and share to avoid falling into the abyss of mediocrity or, God forbid, extinction, manufacturers must do something they’ve always resisted in the past, drop the mic and so thank you for sharing that for with me however many years ago. Allison, just absolute brilliant advice. You are just, oh my gosh, can’t speak high enough about you. You are amazing. You’re incredible, wonderful. Damon, what words, what acronyms have I left or what adjectives have I left out.
Damon Pistulka 44:20
I think we’ve hit most of them. Curt, so okay, and rightly so.
Curt Anderson 44:25
I think so. And hey, John’s got We got one more comment that we’ll grab
Damon Pistulka 44:29
here, John. John says, just to close, I’m confident about 2026, we’ve invested in the right areas, content, people, systems and equipment and infrastructure, and now it’s coming together. Our main source of work comes directly from LinkedIn. Want to hear they want to just focus on that a little bit we talked that we don’t have reps. We don’t have outside sales. 2026 isn’t hope. It’s a result of decisions we made years earlier. Man, thank you.
Curt Anderson 44:55
Thank you. John. Awesome here So Allison, parting thoughts. Words of wisdom that you want to share with everybody, just to go out there and have an amazing, incredible 2026 What do you
Allison DeFord 45:07
got for us? I think my best advice would be, keep doing shit that scares you. Keep doing it. It’s the best way to grow.
Curt Anderson 45:13
Just keep keep doing it. So Damon, let’s just take a moment of silence and just kind of, let’s just savor the past 45 minutes that we’ve had with Allison to Ford. So she opened up with like, hey, we need to take like, those deep breaths. We’re going to take a little deep breath. So Allison, thank you. We heartfelt thanks to you. We wish you and your family, your daughters, an amazing, incredible, monstrous 2026, Damon, what do you want to share with our dear friend? Allison as we close out,
Damon Pistulka 45:44
just thanks for being here today. So great to get to talk to you again, and looking forward to when we can do it again.
Curt Anderson 45:52
Alright, guys, thank you everybody in the comments. John Paula, Aish, Aisha Janice, thank you guys, for everybody, anybody we we know there others that are out there. Didn’t drop comments. Thank you for being there today. Again. Ron was here today. And just just as we mentioned, two things, connect with Allison on LinkedIn, do yourself a huge favor. And number two, just go out and be someone’s inspiration, just like Allison has been for us. And hey, if you’ve been hanging out with for the past 46 minutes, how about staying up and give a big round of applause for Allison to Ford for kicking off our new year with just such wisdom and inspiration and that this is awesome. So yeah, guys, we’re going to close out Allison. Thank you. Stick around with us for a minute. Guys, go out. Have an amazing, incredible rest of your week. If you need a little inspiration you’re feeling down, just come back and catch a replay in this one, and you’re going to get picked right back up. So hey and Ron says, Thanks for the value bombs. Allison, Thanks, Ron. You’re welcome. Thank you, Ron. Alright guys. Have a great rest of your week. God bless you. Yeah. Thank you. Bye.