Welcome back to Business Unfiltered with Mercer and Jeff Sauer today's topic is Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks 0:00: Staying up-to-date in business as an experienced entrepreneur. Old dogs learning new tricks: Staying fresh, and open to new ideas while leveraging experience. 1:13: Adapting to new technology while preserving old methods. Jeff emphasizes the importance of updating one's mindset, skill set, and business strategies to stay competitive in a rapidly changing market. He grapples with the tension between sticking with tried and true methods versus embracing new technology, acknowledging that both approaches have merit. Mercer acknowledges the benefits of automation and AI but is hesitant to switch from a legacy platform like WordPress to a newer one without a clear benefit. 4:48: Using AI and upgrading tech stack for business success. Mercer and Jeff discuss the concept of "move fast and break things" in the context of business and innovation. Jeff shares examples of how Facebook and other companies have adopted this approach, including introducing new products and features despite potential risks. He also highlights the downsides of breaking things, such as losing valuable resources or alienating customers, and how maturity and business stage can impact this approach. Jeff discusses the importance of reevaluating technology stacks every 2 years to stay up-to-date and efficient. He mentions using Kajabi as an all-in-one platform to replace his WordPress system, highlighting the need to adapt to new tools and systems. 10:02: Evolving business strategies and team management. Mercer discusses the importance of evolving with the market and staying up-to-date with industry trends, even for lower-level team members. Jeff shares how he addressed a lack of project management skills on his team by investing in software, training, and up-leveling his team's skills. 11:57: Staying up-to-date in the digital marketing industry. Jeff discusses ways to stay up to date with industry changes, including newsletters, YouTube, podcasts, and networking with other professionals. He emphasizes the importance of resourcefulness and taking action to learn new techniques, rather than simply relying on surface-level information. Mercer recommends paying attention to emails from Google and other providers for important updates and changes. 15:56: Evaluating and improving marketing strategies. Mercer discusses the importance of constantly evaluating and improving marketing tactics, by asking yourself if the current approach is still the best possible way to achieve goals. He highlights the need to stay up-to-date with the latest tools and technologies, such as automation and first-party databases, and to continuously measure and evaluate their effectiveness. He also emphasizes the importance of asking probabilities-based questions to determine the potential benefits of investing time and resources into new tactics or approaches. 18:54: Data-driven marketing and analytics. Jeff discusses the changes in Google Analytics and how it has become more of an analyst tool rather than a marketer's tool. He expresses frustration with the new interface and the need to become more deliberate about data collection and analysis. Jeff emphasizes the importance of data-driven decision-making in marketing, citing examples of how external factors can force a company to adapt and change. Jeff shares his personal experience of using data to identify changes in open rates and click-through rates, and how this led him to adjust his marketing strategies. Using data and feedback to improve systems and decision-making. 23:54 Mercer emphasizes the importance of using data to make decisions and having feedback loops in systems to improve them. He suggests asking "What worked, what didn't, and what's next". Mercer stresses the importance of evaluating what works and what doesn't in various industries, and how AI can assist in this process. His company uses a weekly process to evaluate what worked, what didn't work, and what's next, which has helped them navigate through changes in their industry. 27:15: Business growth and adapting to change. Jeff discusses the importance of indicators to identify when change is needed. Old dogs can learn new tricks with data-driven insights.