Why This Freight Agent Only Hires Family

In this episode we're talking with Jennie Malafarina, CEO of Virago Marketing on the common pitfalls companies make with freight marketing, including failing to research their target market, using overused stock imagery, and neglecting to embrace new channels like podcasting. Malafarina stresses the importance of building a personal brand and shares insights into creating a strategic revenue generation plan.LINKS:Jennie's LinkedInViraago Marketing's WebsiteEd Burns' Post on ImagesJennie's new Freight Marketing PodcastMatt Silver Cargado's Email NewsletterWhitney's Mediocre Marketer PodcastQUOTES:"I find that this industry sucks you in, and you never leave. More importantly, it's good that the industry sucks you in and that you move around the industry because we need that knowledge. We need people to understand the different nuances of the industry and be able to quickly apply solutions versus some of the greenroom people that are coming into the space." - Jennie Malafarina"There's never just this one path for every company. It's really about having a conversation and saying, what is the business trying to accomplish? What are the sales objectives? And how can marketing support that? So it's always going to be different based on that response." - Jennie Malafarina"Don't just start doing things to check boxes. Don't be like, we want a blog, so we're going to have a blog every week. Or we want to podcast so we're going to build a podcast. Who's your audience? Why is there a gap there?" - Jennie MalafarinaWATCH THE FULL EPISODE HEREFeedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.---------------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!Are you experienced in freight sales or already an independent freight agent? Listen to our Freight Agent Trenches interview series powered by SPI Logistics to hear directly from the company's agents on how they took the leap and found a home with SPI freight agent program. Tai TMS is designed to streamline your brokerage operations and propel growth for both FTL and LTL shipment cycles. Book a demo with the Tai team today and tell them Everything is Logistics sent you. Maximize your website’s performance as a sales tool with Digital Dispatch’s website management.

In this episode of Everything is Logistics, Blythe explains the reasons behind her decision to separate her podcast from her web design company, Digital Dispatch. She discusses the need for better communication with clients, upgrading her financial acumen, and streamlining processes to maintain profitability and sustainability.QUOTES:"I went through and I wrote down every part of the process for onboarding, off-boarding, what happens during lead conversations, what happens when somebody becomes a customer, what happens when they move into an active opportunity. I ripped it all down and built it back up from the ashes of those flames from the previous processes." - Blythe Brumleve"I'm a process junkie, and I would not be able to figure out my prices, I would not be able to develop a stronger financial acumen, if I didn't take all of my processes and just tear them down and start almost from like a zero-based budgeting perspective, but start as zero-base processing perspective." - Blythe Brumleve"I thought if I was giving a fair price to me 10 years ago, me then, that was good enough. And that shouldn't be good enough. But I was creating this perception of myself and of my work and of my business, that I was cheap." - Blythe Brumleve"If you never hear from me, it's a good thing; everything is running smoothly. If you hear from me, things are a little shaky. The problem is that my tech team does a really great job. So the clients never heard from me. And that was a gap in our communications." - Blythe BrumleveLINKS:Digital Dispatch WebsiteWATCH THE FULL EPISODE HEREFeedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.---------------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!Are you experienced in freight sales or already an independent freight agent? Listen to our Freight Agent Trenches interview series powered by SPI Logistics to hear directly from the company's agents on how they took the leap and found a home with SPI freight agent program. Tai TMS is designed to streamline your brokerage operations and propel growth for both FTL and LTL shipment cycles. Book a demo with the Tai team today and tell them Everything is Logistics sent you. Maximize your website’s performance as a sales tool with Digital Dispatch’s website management.

In this episode of Everything is Logistics, Blythe speaks with Jennifer Miller, Vice President Integrated Transportation at DHL Supply Chain. They discuss DHL's history as a parcel delivery pioneer, its evolution into a global logistics powerhouse, and its early adoption of digital technologies. Jennifer shares insights into DHL's use of robotics, AI, and sustainable vehicles to drive innovation and meet evolving customer needs.QUOTES:"When you have men and women in an organization, you're inherently going to be better when they can part if you only have women, you only have men that can be effective, but I generally find if you have different perspectives, different walks of life, and you can all come together and approach these problems and innovations differently, you're gonna get to a better place." - Jennifer Miller"Visibility, I would say visibility of what is happening in their supply chain. And the ability to look at exception management through that visibility. So you know, I don't necessarily your customers don't necessarily want to go out and look at everything, but I want to see, tell me what I need to know and tell me in a really efficient digital way." - Jennifer Miller"We have very large operations in both Latin America, both in Mexico and South America, as well as Central America. Mexico has a very large operational footprint for us. as well as cross border services, you know, either starting in Mexico or starting in the US. So that's something that we're very comfortable with and something we do, you know, extensively today." - Jennifer Miller"When I started in supply chain, there weren't very many of us, I'll be honest, and certainly almost none in leadership. DHL has made a huge commitment to women in leadership. I would just tell [others] to be fearless. Just don't hold yourself back. This is a great industry." - Jennifer MillerLINKS:Jennifer's LinkedInDHL Supply Chain's WebsiteWATCH THE FULL EPISODE HEREFeedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.---------------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!Are you experienced in freight sales or already an independent freight agent? Listen to our Freight Agent Trenches interview series powered by SPI Logistics to hear directly from the company's agents on how they took the leap and found a home with SPI freight agent program. Tai TMS is designed to streamline your brokerage operations and propel growth for both FTL and LTL shipment cycles. Book a demo with the Tai team today and tell them Everything is Logistics sent you. Maximize your website’s performance as a sales tool with Digital Dispatch’s website management.

Join Grace Sharkey and Blythe for the latest installment of Freight Friends, where they give some love to the unsung modes of shipping: tugboats and barges. Grace also gives us insight into Uber's third annual Carrier Summit, and gals close out the show by talking about the illegal ivory supply chain, Hubble Network, and good freight marketing. QUOTES:"Conventionally, tugboat captains move close to the assisted vessel to be able to grab the messenger line from the assisted vessels troops, often even under the bow or in the turbulent. A minor floor in the maneuvering can result in major damage or injuries of the deck crew of both the tugboat and the assisted ship." - From the video"Most of the sales processes are very manual, and you got to talk to a lot of people, depending on what you're doing, you may be coordinating across 3456 different parties, each of which you have to communicate individually, depending on your use case. And that creates a really high barrier of entry for shippers." - From the Open Tug video"So we simplify that we're the first digital marketplace to connect bulk and Breakbulk shippers with transportation and terminal capacity. Customers simply search for their requirements or destinations or cargo and their timeline, they booked that shipment and they track it to their destination." - From the Open Tug videoLINKS:Grace's LinktreeNational Geographic’s “Warlords of Ivory”Uber Freight Tugboat mug on Everything is Logistics OpenTugSSBadgerBoatNerdA Crash Course in Freight AI with Garrett AllenLessons from 15 Years at TQL with Chris FieldsTenney GroupHubble NetworkWATCH THE FULL EPISODE HEREFeedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.---------------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!Are you experienced in freight sales or already an independent freight agent? Listen to our Freight Agent Trenches interview series powered by SPI Logistics to hear directly from the company's agents on how they took the leap and found a home with SPI freight agent program. Tai TMS is designed to streamline your brokerage operations and propel growth for both FTL and LTL shipment cycles. Book a demo with the Tai team today and tell them Everything is Logistics sent you. Maximize your website’s performance as a sales tool with Digital Dispatch’s website management.

In this episode, Blythe and Oana Jinga, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial and Product Officer at Dexory, discuss the company's tall, autonomous robotics solution that collects granular data from warehouses to create a dynamic digital twin environment. Jinga shares insights on leveraging this data for optimization, consolidating product locations, identifying discrepancies with WMS systems, and orchestrating other robotics operations.LINKS:Oana's LinkedInDexory's WebsiteQUOTES:"The way we look at a digital twin is like it's a dynamic and living and breathing digital object. So it needs to be able to show you at any point in time, what's the latest that's happening in the physical world [of your warehouse], how that's evolving, and what factors are influencing that change." - Oana Jinga "The robot is there to collect information. But what you can do with that information, is pretty much limitless. You can extract data and different points, you can compare it with other data sources, you can crunch it, you can use it for simulation for forecasting, and so on." - Oana Jinga "So when we say a digital twin of a warehouse, we literally mean like this digital environment that changes continuously as the warehouse changes, and that you can also then use in the future, like if you do want to simulate and try different scenarios." - Oana Jinga "From our perspective, we use the robot to get data continuously from warehouses to push them into that digital twin and show as close to reality as possible what's going on." - Oana Jinga "We take continuous pictures of the racks, and then we deconstruct those and can use computer vision. And again, some elements of machine learning to see what we're seeing in that data." - Oana JingaWATCH THE FULL EPISODE HEREFeedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.---------------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!Are you experienced in freight sales or already an independent freight agent? Listen to our Freight Agent Trenches interview series powered by SPI Logistics to hear directly from the company's agents on how they took the leap and found a home with SPI freight agent program. Tai TMS is designed to streamline your brokerage operations and propel growth for both FTL and LTL shipment cycles. Book a demo with the Tai team today and tell them Everything is Logistics sent you. Maximize your website’s performance as a sales tool with Digital Dispatch’s website management.

In this episode of Everything is Logistics, we talk with Steve Burroughs, agency owner at SPI Logistics, who exclusively hires family members to work at his freight agency. Hear how this approach has shaped the dynamics of his business, from maintaining work-life balance to building a resilient and loyal team. Steve shares personal anecdotes and lessons learned from integrating family into his professional world and navigating the intricacies of the freight market.LINKS:Steve's LinkedInSPI Logistics' WebsiteWATCH THE FULL EPISODE HEREFeedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.---------------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!Are you experienced in freight sales or already an independent freight agent? Listen to our Freight Agent Trenches interview series powered by SPI Logistics to hear directly from the company's agents on how they took the leap and found a home with SPI freight agent program. Tai TMS is designed to streamline your brokerage operations and propel growth for both FTL and LTL shipment cycles. Book a demo with the Tai team today and tell them Everything is Logistics sent you. Maximize your website’s performance as a sales tool with Digital Dispatch’s website management.

In this episode of Everything is Logistics, Blythe speaks with Heather Hoover-Salomon, CEO of uShip, about her journey from a PR intern to leading the 20-year-old company. She discusses writing an unsent resignation letter that changed her career trajectory, advocating for customers, embracing AI, and encouraging women in logistics. Heather also explores navigating entrepreneurial challenges, leveraging data for streamlined solutions, promoting diversity in male-dominated industries, and using strategic communication to drive organizational change.QUOTES:"Did I really want to leave? No. But it helped me clearly articulate and put on paper, what the roadblock is, what I want to do about it, and then clearly articulate alright, what am I going to go back and talk to my senior leadership about and really make the case that we need to drive change here in order for our business to be sustainable in order for us to earn the right to continue to innovate in areas outside of our core business." "Week one was all communication to the company: here's what's happening, here's why. Here's the plan- just giving confidence, lots of meetings with lots of people internally, and then communicating the plan and the way forward." - Heather Hoover-Salomon (on her first week as CEO)LINKS:Heather's LinkedInuShip's WebsitePowertofly InterviewuShip on Shipping WarsWATCH THE FULL EPISODE HEREFeedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.---------------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!Are you experienced in freight sales or already an independent freight agent? Listen to our Freight Agent Trenches interview series powered by SPI Logistics to hear directly from the company's agents on how they took the leap and found a home with SPI freight agent program. Tai TMS is designed to streamline your brokerage operations and propel growth for both FTL and LTL shipment cycles. Book a demo with the Tai team today and tell them Everything is Logistics sent you. Maximize your website’s performance as a sales tool with Digital Dispatch’s website management.

In this episode of Everything is Logistics, Blythe speaks with Jake Hoffman, CTO of Gnosis Freight, about container visibility and execution in global supply chains. He explains how Gnosis provides a "container operating system" that connects disparate data sources to give shippers real-time visibility and enable automated execution. Jake also discusses overcoming imposter syndrome when tackling unsolved supply chain data challenges, the importance of managing supply chain exceptions, and how Gnosis approaches data standardization across ocean carriers, terminals, and customers.LINKS:Jake's LinkedInGnosis Freight's WebsiteQUOTES:"If there was standardization in the industry that everybody adheres to that would be easier. And I think there are efforts being made by the Digital Container Shipping Association to work with the ocean carriers themselves. If we get all the ocean carriers to follow this data model and their API's and their data exchange that they're participating in, that it makes it easier for both individual shippers, software companies like us, freight forwarders, and so on to digest that data and do things with it." - Jake Hoffman "Visibility helps you understand what's happening and execution helps you actually do something about that." "We have a ubiquitous data model for everything. Every container that flows from Shanghai to Los Angeles is on these big vessels. And we know the route that it's taking and the stops that the vessel is making along the way. So we can make predictions for say 80% of it. And then the last 20% is at the customer level." - Jake HoffmanWATCH THE FULL EPISODE HEREFeedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.---------------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!Are you experienced in freight sales or already an independent freight agent? Listen to our Freight Agent Trenches interview series powered by SPI Logistics to hear directly from the company's agents on how they took the leap and found a home with SPI freight agent program. Tai TMS is designed to streamline your brokerage operations and propel growth for both FTL and LTL shipment cycles. Book a demo with the Tai team today and tell them Everything is Logistics sent you. Maximize your website’s performance as a sales tool with Digital Dispatch’s website management.

In this episode, Nate Cross and Ben Kowalski, creators of the Freight Broker Basics course and the Freight 360 podcast, share their insights on content marketing, freight broker training, and balancing work with side projects. They offer valuable tips on prospecting, follow-up processes, cold-calling techniques, and how AI tools like ChatGPT can aid brokers. The two also cover challenges new brokers face, creating authentic content, effective marketing emails, and advice for managing personal branding efforts.LINKS:Nate's LinkedInBen's LinkedInFreight 360 WebsiteFreight 360: Freight Broker BasicsA Day in the Life of a Freight Broker – Episode 209QUOTES:"The number one reason that brokers don't succeed in the sales side is they're not make they're not putting the activity in, it's a numbers game. And if they just if you're not making the calls, number one, it's less opportunity to talk to people. And number two, it's less opportunity for you to refine your skills to effectively communicate." - Nate "A lot of this was just me and him writing it out, coming up with the topics sharing it back and forth and then sending it to other people we knew in the industry to audit it for us and say, Hey, what are else? What else are we missing?" - Ben Kowolski on creating the Freight Broker Basics course. "So the coffee challenge is really just to go when next time you buy coffee, you have to ask them for a discount, which no matter what it is, you just say hey, can I get 25% off this cup of coffee, which is a really awkward thing to ask." - Ben Kowolski on practicing negotiating skills "Everybody likes to teach and talk about things they know. I want to ask just enough questions to get this person I'm calling to be interested in to want to talk to me a question does that." - Ben Kowolski on effective prospecting. "I think it does help us get better at the things we're doing. I hope there's more of that and less of people just outsourcing it directly and going, whatever, what's good enough, send it as big unintended consequences." - Ben Kowolski on using AI tools to assist rather than fully automate. "And I don't know what that's going to look like. So there's a fear a little bit. But I'm like, Well, I'd rather move towards the fear and be on the front edge of it. Because there will be winners, and there will be losers." - Ben Kowolski on adopting AI early. "The vast majorFeedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.---------------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!Are you experienced in freight sales or already an independent freight agent? Listen to our Freight Agent Trenches interview series powered by SPI Logistics to hear directly from the company's agents on how they took the leap and found a home with SPI freight agent program. Tai TMS is designed to streamline your brokerage operations and propel growth for both FTL and LTL shipment cycles. Book a demo with the Tai team today and tell them Everything is Logistics sent you. Maximize your website’s performance as a sales tool with Digital Dispatch’s website management.

In this episode, Blythe and Yikun Shao, Head of North America Supply Chain at Alibaba.com, discuss how the platform helps small and medium businesses with global sourcing and logistics. Shao highlights Alibaba's AI tools like language translation, image generation for product design, and logistics marketplace. He also details educational resources on trade compliance, managing cross-border shipping challenges, and navigating customs regulations.LINKS:Yikun's LinkedInAlibaba.comQUOTES:"Nearly two thirds of businesses they plan on increasing their reliance on online sourcing, and including those bigger and more established businesses." - Yikun Shao"Using AI capability can also handle real time inquiries from multiple areas and provide even in some instances provide some industry insights, so that our business buyers and sellers can make more informed decisions." - Yikun Shao"We recently launched a smart assistant tool to help facilitate RFQ transaction and communication aspects on our platform. One of the functions is real-time language translation when buyers and sellers are communicating through a video chat, it helps provide translation services in real-time to at least 17 different languages. Since this new RFQ feature has been introduced, it has driven a 29% increase in quotes from suppliers for small businesses." - Yikun ShaoWATCH THE FULL EPISODE HEREFeedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.---------------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!Are you experienced in freight sales or already an independent freight agent? Listen to our Freight Agent Trenches interview series powered by SPI Logistics to hear directly from the company's agents on how they took the leap and found a home with SPI freight agent program. Tai TMS is designed to streamline your brokerage operations and propel growth for both FTL and LTL shipment cycles. Book a demo with the Tai team today and tell them Everything is Logistics sent you. Maximize your website’s performance as a sales tool with Digital Dispatch’s website management.