Why Marketing Sucks With Nathan Smith

About Why Marketing Sucks With Nathan Smith

Why Marketing Sucks is a weekly business podcast hosted by Nathan Smith, founder of the SEO and marketing agency SEOptimize. Every guest gets asked the same question: Do you actually think marketing sucks? Each episode, Nathan sits down with a founder or operator running a growing company and walks through how that business really gets customers. Not the version on the website, the real one. What they tried first and why it fell flat. The channel that finally worked, whether that turned out to be SEO, Google Ads, cold outreach, referrals, or word of mouth. What broke when they tried to scale it, who they hired, who they had to let go, and what it cost them to learn that. Then the conversation goes where most marketing shows stop. What happens if the one channel carrying the whole business quits working tomorrow. What the founder is still personally holding that nobody else can do yet. Where the next 12 months actually go. Why Marketing Sucks is for founders, owners, and the people responsible for growth, especially anyone who has paid for marketing that produced good reports and no revenue. Hosted by Nathan Smith from Colorado. New episodes weekly. Be a guest, or hear past episodes: whymarketingsuckspodcast.com (http://whymarketingsuckspodcast.com) Nathan Smith's agency, SEOptimize: seoptimizellc.com (http://seoptimizellc.com)

Publisher

Nathan Smith

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

23 Aug 2026

Latest episode

2 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

21 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   2 Nov 2026

   Scaling A Functional Beverage Brand On Amazon | Dan D'Souza

   Most beverage founders discover that paid ads are a bottomless pit and getting stocked on shelves means nothing if venues do not sell through the product. Dan D'Souza is the Marketing and Finance Director of Mush, a functional drinks brand that makes low-sugar lion's mane drinks, elixirs, and mixers with added vitamins and fiber for health-conscious consumers. In this episode, Dan shares how cutting 90% of their Amazon ad spend made their business profitable, why driving a branded electric-blue Rolls-Royce around London creates more inbound demand than paid ads, and how they secure predictable B2B sales through venue contracts with retro discounts. In this episode: - Why cutting 90% of unprofitable Amazon ad spend unlocked real bottom-line profitability - How driving an electric-blue vintage Rolls-Royce through London drives job applicants and sales - The B2B sampling trap and why getting stocked in independent bars does not guarantee reorders - Structuring B2B elixir contracts with retro discounts to secure high-margin cocktail placements - Why functional drinks must lead with great taste and experiential sampling rather than health claims - Navigating UK health regulations around lion's mane by pairing mushrooms with vitamins and fiber - Why relying on full AI automation destroys brand trust and tone of voice About Dan D'Souza: Dan D'Souza is the Marketing and Finance Director and Co-Founder of Mush. His company, Mush (operating at muush.co), produces functional lion's mane mushroom drinks, ready-to-drink cans, and cocktail elixirs designed to provide brain, gut, and immune benefits without relying on pills or powders. The business serves consumers across the UK on Shopify and Amazon, supplies independent hospitality venues, and exports to major grocery retailers in the Netherlands. After working in corporate marketing and running a hospitality cafe and bar, Dan launched Mush two years ago with his business partner to solve the lack of great-tasting, functional, low-sugar alternatives in the beverage space. Website: https://muush.co/ (https://muush.co/) About Why Marketing Sucks: Why Marketing Sucks is a weekly business podcast hosted by Nathan Smith, the founder of SEOptimize, an agency that owns the full marketing funnel for a small book of clients across SEO, paid ads, content, PR, and web. Each episode is a conversation with a founder or operator about how they actually get customers: what they tried first, what finally worked, what broke when they scaled it, and whether they think marketing sucks. New episodes every week. https://whymarketingsuckspodcast.com (https://whymarketingsuckspodcast.com) https://seoptimizellc.com (https://seoptimizellc.com) Watch the full conversation above and subscribe for weekly breakdowns of how real companies get customers. Topics covered: functional beverage marketing, lion's mane drink business, Amazon ACoS reduction, experiential sampling events, B2B drink distribution, CPG product line profitability, retail grocery export, founder delegation challenges Chapters: 0:00 Why functional mushrooms needed a drink format 4:12 Building a lean early stage startup team 12:46 The dangers of end to end AI marketing 20:51 Leaving corporate marketing to start a beverage brand 26:42 Using an electric blue Rolls Royce for brand awareness 34:03 Navigating lion's mane education and UK regulations 47:12 Rising paid ad costs on Meta vs Amazon 1:08:17 Why getting stocked in venues is only step one

2. 

   1 Nov 2026

   How To Market A Retail Wine Shop Without Ads | Hunter Rudd

   Most wine marketing relies on snobbery and confusing label designs to push generic bottles, but Hunter Rudd proves that stripping away pretension is what actually builds a retail brand. Hunter is the CEO and Co-Owner of Wine Dispensary, a multi-location beverage retailer in Colorado that sells curated wine, spirits, beer, and gourmet food to modern, experience-driven consumers. In this conversation, Hunter explains why he stopped running paid digital ads entirely, how tasting in-store three days a week drives customer retention, and why listening to real consumer feedback beats relying on industry experts. In this episode: - Why the traditional wine industry is losing an entire generation of younger drinkers - How a gamified tasting app connected consumers directly to a Denver retail shop - The reason Wine Dispensary stopped running paid ads on Google and Meta - Using the maximum legal limit of in-store tastings to drive customer retention - How offshore talent in Nairobi supports single-operator mountain retail stores - Partnering with local nonprofits using affiliate links instead of generic gala sponsorships - Why investing ten thousand dollars into frontline employee wages beats paid ad spend About Hunter Rudd: Hunter Rudd is a former Green Beret, Duke MBA graduate, and the CEO and Co-Owner of Wine Dispensary. His company operates physical retail bottle shops in Denver and Buena Vista, Colorado, selling quality wine, spirits, craft beer, and specialty food items to everyday drinkers and collectors alike. Hunter originally built a gamified tasting app called Sommsays to make wine approachable for younger consumers, which led directly to acquiring Wine Dispensary in downtown Denver[cite: 6]. Today, he focuses on acquiring independent bottle shops and backing frontline retail staff with modern digital tools. Website: https://www.winedispensary.com/ (https://www.winedispensary.com/) About Why Marketing Sucks: Why Marketing Sucks is a weekly business podcast hosted by Nathan Smith, the founder of SEOptimize, an agency that owns the full marketing funnel for a small book of clients across SEO, paid ads, content, PR, and web. Each episode is a conversation with a founder or operator about how they actually get customers: what they tried first, what finally worked, what broke when they scaled it, and whether they think marketing sucks. New episodes every week. https://whymarketingsuckspodcast.com (https://whymarketingsuckspodcast.com) https://seoptimizellc.com (https://seoptimizellc.com) Watch the full conversation above and subscribe for weekly breakdowns of how real companies get customers. Topics covered: retail customer retention, local SEO strategy, wine industry marketing, brick and mortar operations, nonprofit affiliate partnerships, employee experience in retail, Google Business Profile optimization, word of mouth growth Chapters: 0:00 Building a wine game to replace industry snobbery 6:45 Why younger drinkers are abandoning traditional wine 16:42 Capturing first-party tasting data with QR codes 29:18 Training retail beverage experts to have consumer empathy 41:40 Acquiring independent bottle shops across Colorado 47:42 Why Wine Dispensary abandoned Google and Meta ads 58:10 Using OpenAI and global support for local retail 1:07:05 Replacing paid ads with nonprofit affiliate partnerships

3. 

   1 Nov 2026

   Scaling An Outdoor E-Commerce Brand With Lo-Fi Video | Derek Tillotson

   Most e-commerce brands waste thousands of dollars gifting free products to influencers who never post, but Derek Tillotson flipped the entire model on its head. Derek is the Founder of Haven Tents, an outdoor gear brand that designs and manufactures lay-flat hammock tents for campers who want comfortable sleep outside. In this conversation, Derek reveals how simple demo videos shot on an iPhone pulled in 22 million views, how retargeting that organic traffic drove an MER over 6, and why he turned his creator cashback framework into a brand new Shopify app. In this episode: - Why casual, lo-fi smartphone videos consistently beat expensive agency productions - Turning 22 million organic video views into paid ad retargeting campaigns - How Derek stopped gifting free gear and made creators buy products first - The reason Haven Tents positions against traditional ground camping instead of hammocks - How a single broken Klaviyo tag triggered a sudden drop in store sales - Using post-purchase review tools and referral links to drive second orders - Why blocking out one full content day each week is a founder's highest-leverage task About Derek Tillotson: Derek Tillotson is the Founder and CEO of Haven Tents[cite: 4]. His company designs and sells lay-flat hammock tents and outdoor sleep accessories built for campers, backpackers, and outdoor enthusiasts who cannot sleep bent like a banana in traditional hammocks[cite: 4]. Haven Tents launched on Kickstarter in 2019, shipped its first units in 2020, and has now sold more than 50,000 units globally while building a social following of over 800,000 fans[cite: 4]. Derek is also a co-founder of First Shake, a Shopify creator app built to replace broken product-gifting workflows with performance cashback[cite: 4]. Website: https://haventents.com/ (https://haventents.com/) About Why Marketing Sucks: Why Marketing Sucks is a weekly business podcast hosted by Nathan Smith, the founder of SEOptimize, an agency that owns the full marketing funnel for a small book of clients across SEO, paid ads, content, PR, and web. Each episode is a conversation with a founder or operator about how they actually get customers: what they tried first, what finally worked, what broke when they scaled it, and whether they think marketing sucks. New episodes every week. https://whymarketingsuckspodcast.com (https://whymarketingsuckspodcast.com) https://seoptimizellc.com (https://seoptimizellc.com) Watch the full conversation above and subscribe for weekly breakdowns of how real companies get customers. Topics covered: e-commerce video marketing, organic social media growth, creator product gifting, influencer cashback programs, Meta retargeting ads, outdoor gear business, Shopify store optimization, marketing attribution tracking Chapters: 0:00 Hacking the hammock to sleep flat outside 4:04 Building the largest hammock brand on social 8:55 Feeding 22 million organic views into retargeting 11:03 Why lo-fi founder videos outperform polished ads 23:38 The death of product gifting for e-commerce 26:33 Turning creator cashback into a Shopify app 41:50 How a broken Klaviyo tag damaged store sales 59:55 Why founders must block one content day weekly

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