Episode #517
Why You Should Play the Long Game
December 30, 2017

In episode #517, Eric and Neil explain why you should be patient and play the long game. Tune in to hear what’s changed in content marketing over the years, how long you can expect to wait to see results, and how many followers you need before things start really snowballing.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

  • [00:27] Today’s Topic: Why You Should Play the Long Game
  • [00:35] When Eric and Neil first started, you could get results within six months.
  • [00:52] Now there are many potential marketing channels, so it takes different techniques and more time.
  • [01:15] Now, it takes a year to a year and a half.
  • [01:20] In the US, during 2017, Facebook had more advertisers than inventory.
  • [01:37] The question is: when is it going to be too expensive to do paid advertising?
  • [01:48] Go for the organic route, do it for two or three years: you will succeed.
  • [02:13] The Panchenko marketing agency started small, but now is publicly traded and does $200,000,000 in business,
  • [02:54] Americans tend to move onto the next thing over and over, while business people in Japan stick with on business for years.
  • [03:15] Neil has been doing content marketing for sixteen years.
  • [03:45] Neil started with blogging, but it has become so much more. Always play the long game.
  • [04:04] Now, Eric and Neil get to call the shots about what they choose to invest.
  • [04:30] Eric’s cousin works at a B2B marketing agency and gets most of his customers from old content he created.
  • [05:00] This doesn’t mean new stuff isn’t working, it just means it will work in the future.
  • [06:23] Eric has a great metric for content marketing. The URR (Unsolicited Response Rate) is important to gauge how well your content is working.
  • [07:16] Once you get to 10,000 or so followers, it will continue to snowball from there.
  • [07:31] That’s it for today!
  • [07:32] Go to singlegrain.com/giveaway for a special giveaway.

Leave some feedback:

  • What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below.
  • Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review.

Connect with us:

Discover Latest Episodes

Episode
Revenue Per Employee Is Skyrocketing
February 04, 2026

Neil and Eric break down why revenue per employee is exploding and what AI means for the future of work, education, and careers. They unpack ARR per FTE trends, why top companies need fewer people, an...

Episode
This AI Finds Peoples Calendly And Books Sales Demos
February 03, 2026

Neil and Eric break down how AI is reshaping sales, hiring, and enterprise growth, from AI agents booking demos to why AI-driven outreach is making it harder to stand out. They dive into AI fluency, h...

Episode
The True Economics & ROI of a Super Bowl Ad.
February 02, 2026

Neil and Eric break down the true economics and ROI of Super Bowl ads, explaining why they rarely make sense from a profit standpoint. They unpack real costs beyond the $7–10M media buy, debate shor...