Targeting Solutions for Small Businesses | Brad Thibeau from Everlance

Ernesto Quezada: Pathmonk is the intelligent tool for website lead generation. With increasing online competition, over 98% of website visitors don’t convert. The ability to successfully show your value proposition and support visitors in their buying journey separates you from the competition online. Pathmonk qualifies and converts leads on your website by figuring out where they are in the buying journey and influencing them in key decision moments. With relevant micro-experiences like case studies, intro videos, and much more, stay relevant to your visitors and increase conversions by 50%. Add Pathmonk to your website in seconds. Let the AI do all the work and get access to 50% more qualified leads while you keep doing marketing and sales as usual. Check us out on pathmonk.com. Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Brad from Everlance, head of platform partnerships with them. How are you doing today, Brad?

Brad Thibeau: I’m great, thanks, Ernesto. I’m excited to be here.

Ernesto: Excited as well, for you being here and for learning more about Everlance. I’m sure our listeners are too. So let’s kick it off. Brad, in your own words, can you tell us a little bit more?

Brad: Yeah. So Everlance is all about automating the tedious tasks that come with mobile work. Anyone driving for work—whether you’re self-employed, with a small business, or even with an enterprise—our goal is to make your life easier. Whether it’s for taxes or reimbursements, we found this process to be incredibly painful and outdated. Our founders, in 2016, envisioned what a mobile-first platform could look like in this space. We started with mileage tracking and have since expanded into many tools that help these workers. At the end of the day, in one word, it’s all about making things effortless.

Ernesto: Ok, perfect. Great to hear that. So, for our listeners to get a good understanding of Everlance, what would you say is the key problem you solve for clients?

Brad: Yeah, great question. We found that many of our clients, before coming to us, were doing things by hand—writing down where they were, where they were going, how many miles they drove, and the purpose of the trip. With technology, that’s no longer needed. We’ve taken on that process in the background to help users, whether it’s a report for taxes or for reimbursement by their employer. We do it all automatically. We also offer expense tracking, allowing users to link credit cards or bank accounts and track expenses in a similar way. It’s intuitive and easy—personal trips are swiped one way, work trips another, and reports are generated that are IRS-compliant.

Ernesto: Ease of use. Perfect. Awesome to hear that. So, is there a particular vertical you focus on, or is Everlance open to anyone?

Brad: Good question. Our ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) varies quite a bit. We do really well in the self-employed space with realtors, photographers, and artists, as well as in the gig economy with Doordashers, Lyft, and Uber drivers. Basically, anyone using their car for work who needs to separate personal and work trips. On the business side, we also work with enterprises and small businesses. We do well with salespeople and even in the beer industry with wholesalers and distributors. The beauty of our platform is that anyone can come to it. In the last 30 days, we’ve had over 30,000 different income sources come to the platform, which leads to some cool customer stories.

Ernesto: Interesting. Thanks for that. So how does someone usually find out about Everlance? Do you have a top client acquisition channel?

Brad: We do a lot of inbound across all our ICPs, focusing on paid ads, organic growth, and partnerships as our main three channels. We also attend trade shows where we meet customers face-to-face and discuss better ways than spreadsheets or paper logs. But I’d say our main three channels are paid marketing, organic growth through app stores and SEO, and partnerships with platforms like DoorDash, real estate associations, and Lyft.

Ernesto: Interesting. Thanks for sharing that. Listeners can visit you at everlance.com. Does the website play a big role in client acquisition?

Brad: Yes, a very large role. We’re at scale in this space, but regardless of size, when people hear something for the first time, they usually Google it. Our website drives downloads, meetings with decision-makers, and provides free resources for users. It’s the lifeblood of our acquisition process.

Ernesto: Awesome. Thank you for that, Brad. Do you have any tools, tips, or methods to recommend for website lead generation?

Brad: I’ve seen a lot in my career, especially in the tech space. One thing I always recommend is to test everything. Your audience is unique to you, and even if something works for a competitor, it might not work for you. Test your copy, the color of your buttons—everything. Measure and track all aspects to resonate with your specific audience.

Ernesto: Great insights. Let’s switch gears and talk about you as a leader. As head of platform partnerships at Everlance, what are some key tasks you focus on day-to-day?

Brad: I focus on finding new partners and managing existing ones, making sure they’re comfortable with the platform and can confidently recommend it to their workers. I also manage our organic channels like the blog, app store messages, and email campaigns. Being at a startup, I wear a lot of hats, which keeps things interesting!

Ernesto: Sounds exciting! How do you stay up to date with news, trends, and strategies in the marketing world? Do you have a preferred channel?

Brad: Honestly, I try to stay out of the fray of too many trends. I believe in observing human nature and how companies interact with people. I download apps, read books, and follow a few newsletters and Twitter accounts. I focus on timeless strategies instead of chasing every new trend.

Ernesto: Great advice. Let’s jump into our rapid-fire question round. Are you ready?

Brad: Yeah, absolutely.

Ernesto: What’s the last book you read?

Brad: The Fish That Ate the Whale by Rich Barton. It’s about the early banana business in the U.S. and how one immigrant turned discarded bananas into a massive business, eventually leading to the Chiquita brand. It’s fascinating!

Ernesto: Sounds intriguing! If there were no boundaries in technology, what’s one thing you’d want to fix in your role as a marketer?

Brad: I’d love to understand people’s entire life stories before they come to our website, so I could see what influences their decisions. Obviously, that’s not realistic, but it would be incredibly useful!

Ernesto: Interesting take. Is there a repetitive task you’d automate?

Brad: I’d love a machine that suggests four ideas every day for things to test. Sometimes you’re just not sure what to optimize, and having something generate ideas for you would be amazing.

Ernesto: Great idea! Lastly, what’s one piece of advice you’d give yourself if you were restarting your journey as a marketer?

Brad: Take more risks. Once you realize everyone is just figuring it out along the way, it opens up so many more opportunities. Most decisions aren’t irreversible, and the upside of taking risks far outweighs the downside.

Ernesto: Fantastic advice, not just for you but for our listeners as well. Brad, we’re coming to the end of the show, but before we go, what’s the one thing listeners should remember about your company?

Brad: Throw away the notebook—there’s a better way.

Ernesto: Love it! Listeners, check out everlance.com. Brad, thank you so much for being with us today. To our listeners, thank you for tuning in, and I’m looking forward to our next episode on Pathmonk Presents.

Brad: Thank you, Ernesto.