Erin Balsa

Content Marketing Consultant and Writer 

I build and execute content marketing strategies for sales-led B2B SaaS startups that sell complex, enterprise-ready solutions.

Erin enjoys B2B content marketing, keeping the Halloween spirit alive year-round, and talking about herself in the third person. 

No but really ... 

I've been working in content since 2011 when I landed my first job as an editor. Since then, I've worn a bunch of hats like:

- Content marketing agency leader
- Inc. 5000 B2B SaaS marketing director
- Freelance content strategist, writer, and editor

Over the years, I've written for a bunch of brands you probably know including:

- HubSpot
- Drift
- G2
- Intuit
- And a Fortune 100 that shall not be named

These days, I help marketing teams at B2B SaaS companies (Series A-C) survey a representative sample of their ICP and write a 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 original research report that positions their brand as a credible authority — to secure press mentions and close enterprise deals.

If you're ready to publish research that builds trust instead of skepticism, let's chat. And if you just want to connect with a fellow marketing nerd who decorates for Halloween in July, I'm here for that too.

Hausofbold.com

Content Marketing Consultant

I build and execute content marketing strategies for sales-led B2B SaaS startups that sell complex, enterprise-ready solutions. 

Unlike some strategists and agencies, I don't hand you a content strategy and say, "Best of luck!" I ensure your success by helping across four buckets:

▶ People 
▶ Process 
▶ Strategy
▶ Execution 

Learn more and read client testimonials at: hausofbold.com

It's been 3 years since I joined Navattic as a marketing advisor.

In celebration,  I'm pressing buttons on my keyboard! 

(Look at me go.) 

I remember reaching out to Devin Reed and asking him how he got into advising. A simple question — but putting my intention out into the world changed things for me. 

Next day, Natalie Marcotullio reached out ... and the rest is history!

I'm grateful to have found such a wonderful long-term partner. Amazing people, amazing product, and super customer-obsessed. What's not to love?

👉  If your B2B needs regular guidance from a content/brand leader with deep experience in content strategy, original research, and thought leadership, drop me a note.

B2B Content Marketing Leader & Advisor | Creating Data-Backed Narratives That Make Selling Easier

I opened my LinkedIn notifications to see that someone left me a mean comment. 

My blood instantly started to boil. 

"Your research report reads like a sales brochure — you just don't know it yet."

𝘞𝘰𝘸. 𝘙𝘶𝘥𝘦! 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦?!

Oh. 

It was me.
I posted that.
A few days ago. 

This is what happens when you take the advice to "lead with a spicy hook." It comes back to haunt you every time you open your notifications. 😂

It’s 9:07am and we have already:

- eaten breakfast, twice
- built a haunted house out of Picasso tiles 
- made cookies with Play-Doh 
- put ghost stickers on a sheet of paper 
- colored (but not on the wall this time)
- played in 3 feet of snow 

Ah, what other joys will the day bring? 

I know one thing it won’t bring: the ability to work in silence. 

Those days are long gone. 🙃

No alternative text description for this image

If your buyers are skeptical — and they are — would your research pass the sniff test or raise red flags? 🚩 

Most B2B research falls into one of four categories based on:

Rigor of methodology (competence)
Transparency of reporting (integrity)

Here’s a quick gut-check:

Is your methodology rigorous or sloppy?

Q: Was your sample size large enough to support the claims you made?
Q: Was your sample actually representative of your target market?
Q: Was the person who designed the survey and handled the data properly trained?
Q: Did you do data quality checks to weed out bots and people speeding through for rewards?
Q: Did your screener questions weed out respondents who lacked relevant, recent experience?
Q: Were your survey questions clearly worded, non-leading, and free from bias?
Q: Did you run cross-tabulations to analyze relationships within the data?
Q: Did you clearly disclose your confidence levels, margin of error, and study limitations?

Score it like this:
1 point for every “yes”
Higher score = higher rigor

Is your reporting transparent or selective?

Q: Did you set out to test a hypothesis rather than go digging for interesting stats after the fact?
Q: Did you report on the findings that challenged your assumptions — and not just the ones that supported them?
Q: Did you publish your survey questions verbatim instead of paraphrasing them?
Q: Did you distinguish between correlation and causation?
Q: Did you invite external experts to interpret your findings?
Q: Did you acknowledge limitations and uncertainties in your data?
Q: Did you keep your analysis neutral without turning it into a sales brochure?
Q: Did you show the full distribution of responses instead of only highlighting favorable results?

Score it like this:
1 point for every “yes”
Higher score = higher transparency 

Tally up your answers and see where you're at: 

High rigor + high transparency = Believable Research 
High rigor + low transparency = “Trust us” research
Low rigor + high transparency = Amateur research
Low rigor + low transparency = Hogwash research

Was this helpful?

Michael Pedersen

Revenue Growth | Emotion-Based Brand Messaging To 3x Your Revenues | Bridging the gap between sales and marketing

High call-volume teams don’t fail from lack of skill.They lose performance across the shift when rough calls stack and recovery lags the next dial.Morning numbers are strong.Afternoons drift.DecideFast™ runs in the seconds after a call so performance holds from first block to last.No integration.No coaching.No training.No workflow changes.No IT involvement.Training happens before the shift.Coaching happens after the shift.Dashboards explain the drop once it already hit the numbers.Nothing protects the transition between one call and the next.That is the gap DecideFast™ fills.DecideFast™ shortens after-call transition so the day doesn’t slide as it progresses.Used in seconds.No management overhead.See after-call recovery live.No slides. No pitch.

CEO & Founder

Does your website convert? When was the last time you gave it a refresh? How does it compare to your competitors?

Your company website is your brand on the Internet. An under-performing and outdated website will cost you revenues. 

Let’s jump on a discovery call to see if we are good fit to work together 

Visit: www.AZNetmarketing.com or 
Email: mike@aznetmarketing.com

Most phone sales “burnout” isn’t burnout.

It’s compounding.

A rough call ends.
The rep logs it.
The dialer fires the next one in seconds.

➡️ Nothing clears what just happened.

By the third or fourth tough call in a row, tone tightens. Close attempts lose edge. Response speed slows just enough to matter.

Morning block looks strong.
Afternoon block drops.
Same script. Same leads. Same rep.

What changed?

Not energy.
Not motivation.
How fast they bounce back after a rough call.

If it takes 3-4 calls to get back to normal, the afternoon is gone.
If it takes 1, the day holds.

➡️ Training builds skill.
➡️ Coaching fixes patterns.
➡️ Dashboards show the drop.

But the real break point lives between calls, or more specifically after a rough one.

That’s where the afternoon is won or lost.

The gap is the 5-8 seconds after a rough call when the next dial starts and they're still carrying the last one. 

You don't need to make them better salespeople. You need to help them start the next call without dragging the last one into it.

➡️ 14-day, 25 rep contained pilot. 
➡️  Does afternoon output hold.
➡️  Email me: mike@decidefastbusiness.com

#insidesales #phonesales #salesmanagement

Mike Pedersen

High-Volume Phone Teams See Afternoon Performance Drop | Between-Calls Reset Software Prevents It | No Training. No IT. No Workflow Changes.

If your sales reps make 60 to 100 calls a day, read this. ⬇️ 

If you run a phone sales team, you already know this.

Mornings feel steady.
By mid-afternoon, you are pulling reps aside, calming people down, resetting tone.

You are not coaching skill.
You are managing carryover.

You've already invested in training and coaching. That's not the gap.

The gap is the 5-8 seconds after a rough call when the next dial starts and they're still carrying the last one. 

You don't need to make them better salespeople. You need to help them start the next call without dragging the last one into it.

➡️ 14-day, 25 rep contained pilot. 
➡️  Does afternoon output hold.
➡️  Email me: mike@decidefastbusiness.com

How much is a rough call costing your phone team?

Most leaders look at call volume, close rate, and revenue.

Almost nobody looks at what happens right after a rough call.

Over the past few months, we interviewed three dozen reps and agents working in high-call-volume environments.

We asked one simple question.

What actually happens after a bad call?

The answers were consistent.

“That last call threw me off.”
“I was still thinking about that one.”
“I’m not ready for the next call.”
“I need a reset before the next dial.”
"I don't need more coaching, I need to get out of my head."

That moment is short.

The cost compounds across the day.
One rough call can affect the next call.
Then the next one after that.

Across a team, the numbers add up fast.

So we built a simple Rough Call Carryover Calculator where leaders can plug in their own numbers and see the real impact across a team.
No assumptions.
Just your numbers.

If you lead a high-volume phone team and want the calculator, comment below, and I’ll send it.

What is rough call carryover.

Most leaders call it burnout.

Morning block looks sharp.
Afternoon block widens.
Same reps. Same leads. Same scripts.

What changed?

After a stretch of tough calls, hesitation between dials stretches.
Five seconds becomes eight.
Eight becomes twelve.
Across a team, that compounds fast.

That’s not exhaustion.
It’s rough calls accumulating.

Definition of Rough Call Recovery: The ability of a phone sales rep to return to normal pace and tone before the next dial after a rough call.

I wrote a breakdown on what it is and how to spot it in your numbers.
https://lnkd.in/gycdm6eq

If you are a phone sales leader and you want to stop your afternoons from crashing, there is a way. And it's not in your current tech stack.

➡️ 14-day, 25 rep contained pilot. 
➡️  Measure: Does afternoon output hold.
➡️  Email me: mike@decidefastbusiness.com

How a phone sales rep recovers from a rough call

Listen to how recovery is being explained right now:
➡️ Take a minute.
➡️ Extend ACW.
➡️ Build in a buffer.
➡️ AI agent assist.

That all sounds reasonable.

It doesn’t match how these environments actually run.
✅ Calls are back-to-back.
✅ Queues don’t wait.
✅ Reps are already into the next conversation.

So recovery never happens the way it’s described.
A rough call ends.
The next call hits.
The last one comes with it.

You can hear it in the opener.
You can see it in the close.

And by the afternoon, the numbers show it.
That’s the miss.

Recovery isn’t about adding time.
It’s about what happens in the seconds right after a rough call, before the next one connects.

That moment decides the next call.

DecideFast™ delivers a real-time reset right after a rough call, clearing the carryover before the next call connects, so bad calls don’t stack, the afternoon doesn’t fall apart, and managers stop watching the numbers drop with no way to stop it.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Test It With A Small Team
14-days
25-reps
We measure whether afternoon output holds without additional manager intervention. 

For more information, feel free to reach out via email: mike@decidefastbusiness.com.

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