512. Building Trust Through Design: A Case Study with Greg Merrilees

🚀 Most authors waste thousands chasing vanity metrics like Amazon “Best Seller” tags. In this Marketing Speak episode, Alex Strathdee takes a different approach—helping authors get their books into the right hands to generate leads, build authority, and drive real business growth. With 1,000+ nonfiction books marketed, Alex shares why giving away free copies can sometimes be your smartest move—and how to use Amazon & Meta ads strategically to scale. 🎧 Listen now to learn how to turn your book into a lead-gen engine! The show notes, including the transcript and checklist to this episode, are at marketingspeak.com/516.  

💡 "Don't try to be like Apple unless you have Apple's brand authority" - Greg Merrilees This insight from Episode 515 explains why so many premium service websites fail to convert. Greg Merrilees, founder of Studio1 Design, just walked us through a case study that every business owner needs to hear. We transformed Quintessa (a high-end cosmetic surgery center) from a sparse, "clean" website into a conversion powerhouse. Key breakthrough: When you have a high-ticket service, your brand MUST match that price point. Clean minimalism often reads as cheap or untrustworthy. The strategic redesign included: ✅ Real team photos (not stock imagery) ✅ Social proof above the fold ✅ Strategic content organization ✅ Conversion-optimized user journeys Result: Traffic doubled, keyword rankings soared, and lead quality improved dramatically. Ready to stop leaving money on the table with an under-performing website? 🎧 Listen to the full teardown on Marketing Speak! The show notes, including the transcript and checklist to this episode, are at marketingspeak.com/515.

While everyone's worried about AI replacing them, Dustin Riechmann built a $1M business by doubling down on what AI can't replicate: human connection and shared values. Dustin's journey from traffic engineer → marriage ministry → meat stick entrepreneur → seven-figure business coach proves that relationships trump tactics every time. His unconventional strategies: 🎯 Using podcast guesting for "relationship arbitrage" 🎯 Training AI on private client calls (not public content) 🎯 Non-dominant hand writing for breakthrough insights 🎯 Prayer before every AI session for better results The game-changer: One podcast appearance led to a Walmart deal AND his first coaching client. That's the exponential power of human-to-human marketing. Want to build your own relationship-driven business? Marketing Speak episode 514 breaks down his complete system. Tune in! The show notes, including the transcript and checklist to this episode, are at marketingspeak.com/514.

💡 The marketing game isn't just changing—it's being completely rewritten. Lauren Pawell returns to Marketing Speak with a reality check: if you're not experimenting with AI in your marketing, someone else will take your clients. From professional ballet to medical device sales to generating quarter-million dollar campaigns, Lauren's unconventional path led to breakthrough AI strategies that are transforming how fractional CMOs deliver results. She reveals why traditional social media is dead (hello, "interest media"), how to turn 45-minute interviews into viral 90-second reels, and why your first AI output should never be your final output. The bottom line: Lean teams with AI can now outmaneuver massive marketing budgets. Ready to future-proof your marketing? Listen now!   The show notes, including the transcript and checklist to this episode, are at marketingspeak.com/513.

🎯 Your website is never finished. It's your silent sales machine working 24/7. Greg Merrilees just shared the blueprint that took Firefly Legal from outdated to industry-leading in our latest Marketing Speak deep dive. Here's what most service businesses get wrong: They treat their website like a digital brochure instead of a conversion-focused sales tool. Greg's systematic approach fixes this with strategic questioning, authentic branding, and conversion funnels that actually work. The proof? Organic traffic skyrocketing, keyword rankings climbing, and lead generation hitting all-time highs. This Marketing Speak episode is packed with actionable insights for any service business ready to level up! The show notes, including the transcript and checklist to this episode, are at marketingspeak.com/512.

🎯 What if the ONE thing blocking your business growth isn't what you think it is? Israel Duran went from a child who couldn't speak without stuttering to empowering thousands of entrepreneurs worldwide. In our latest Marketing Speak episode, he reveals his "Beach of Abundance" model that identifies the critical business leaks preventing exponential growth. His insight? Most entrepreneurs keep trying new containers (strategies) without fixing the holes. They chase shiny objects instead of identifying their linchpin leak - whether it's branding, marketing, sales, operations, or mindset. Key takeaways from our conversation:  ✅ The 4 C's of content creation that separate you from the noise  ✅ Why building your own platform trumps social media dependency  ✅ How to leverage existing viral content for rapid growth  ✅ The spiritual partnership that transformed his entire approach to business Ready to identify your business leak? Listen to Episode 511 now. The show notes, including the transcript and checklist to this episode, are at marketingspeak.com/511.

🚀 How a law firm increased conversions by 12x and signed 60 new cases in just 3 months... I just released a powerful case study episode with Greg Merrilees from Studio1 Design, breaking down the complete transformation of Yosha Law - from generic to sophisticated, conversion-optimized powerhouse. Most websites look identical with cookie-cutter templates and autoplay videos that KILL conversions. In this deep-dive case study, Greg and I reveal exactly how we flipped the script from "all about us" to "what's in it for them" using the StoryBrand framework. The result? Brandon Yosha went from signing 12 cases per YEAR to 23 cases in a single MONTH. If your website isn't converting visitors into clients, this case study reveals the exact strategies that work. 🎧 Listen to our complete breakdown on Marketing Speak Episode 510. The show notes, including the transcript and checklist to this episode, are at marketingspeak.com/510.

💡 "Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat" - Sun Tzu This quote perfectly captures what Greg Merrilees and I discovered when analyzing failed website redesigns. Too many businesses jump into design changes without understanding the psychology behind what actually converts visitors. Greg, founder of Studio1 Design, just shared the exact methodology his team used to transform Primal Trust's website from a cluttered, slow-loading mess into a conversion machine that now ranks #4 for competitive wellness keywords. The breakthrough insight? When your audience is dealing with trauma and chronic illness, cognitive load is your enemy. Every moving element, every competing call-to-action, every unnecessary animation adds stress to already overwhelmed visitors. Their solution: Create calm, build trust, then guide visitors through a logical journey that feels supportive rather than sales-y. The result? A website that doesn't just look professional - it actually helps people while driving business growth. Full case study details are in our latest Marketing Speak episode. Tune in! The show notes, including the transcript and checklist to this episode, are at marketingspeak.com/509.

After 25 years in business, Meny Hoffman discovered the secret to scaling culture in remote teams isn't technology—it's intentionality. As CEO of Ptex Group, Meny transformed his Brooklyn-based agency from 100% in-office to a thriving hybrid model by appointing "culture ambassadors" who "burn calories every week," strengthening team connection. His approach? Core values that trigger daily conversations, not collect dust on walls. Key insight: "Every company has a culture—even if default is also a culture. The question is: will you be intentional about what you build?" His framework helped a 600-employee client unify its culture across four locations in just four months. Listen to Marketing Speak Episode 508 to discover Meny's actionable strategies for building an intentional culture that drives results, not just engagement surveys. The show notes, including the transcript and checklist to this episode, are at marketingspeak.com/508.

🚀 How a children's book company increased sales from 4 million to 6 million copies with a strategic website redesign Just dropped an incredible case study with Greg Merrilees, breaking down the complete transformation of Tuttle Twins' website. Here's what moved the needle:  ✅ Leveraged "common enemy" strategy (CNN criticism actually DROVE sales)  ✅ Implemented side cart upsells for instant AOV boost  ✅ Removed ALL distractions from checkout pages  ✅ Built a community around brand vs. generic discounts Greg's conversion-focused approach proves that pretty websites don't pay the bills - converting sites do. Listen to Episode 507 of Marketing Speak to get the behind-the-scenes breakdown of every design decision that contributed to this 50% sales increase. What's your biggest website conversion challenge? 👇 The show notes, including the transcript and checklist to this episode, are at marketingspeak.com/507.