Jayson DeMers

Jayson is a long-time columnist for Forbes, Entrepreneur, BusinessInsider, Inc.com, and various other major media publications, where he has authored over 1,000 articles since 2012, covering technology, marketing, and entrepreneurship.

He keynoted the 2013 MarketingProfs University, and won the “Entrepreneur Blogger of the Year” award in 2015 from the Oxford Center for Entrepreneurs. In 2010, he founded a marketing agency that appeared on the Inc. 5000 before exiting it in January of 2019, and he is now the CEO of EmailAnalytics, and co-host of the podcast The Entrepreneur Cast.

You can follow him on Twitter and Linkedin.

Where did the idea for EmailAnalytics come from?

I previously ran a marketing agency for 9 years (from 2010 to 2019). During that time, all my employees worked remotely. I found that I could get an accurate measure of their productivity and workloads by monitoring their email activity, but I didn’t have a good way to do that other than manually logging into their email accounts and sifting through their emails. I knew I needed a better way to monitor their email activity, and I figured that many other business owners and managers needed that ability, too. That’s how I got the idea to build EmailAnalytics.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

I wake up and check my emails first thing in the morning. I respond to any important emails, then I feed my dog and make breakfast for myself.

After that, I record podcast episodes for my podcasts on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.

Next, I do some writing for blog posts or guest posts, respond to HARO queries, and monitor my email inbox to make sure I keep projects moving forward.

By the afternoon, I typically have a call with my team to sync up on project status and make decisions about EmailAnalytics.

I also handle customer support requests through Intercom.

In the early afternoon, I eat lunch and take a 30-60 minute break from work to recharge a bit.

I return to work and continue working on various marketing projects such as guest post outreach, and other SEO and content-marketing related projects.

Around 3-4pm, I typically take my dog for a 1-hour walk outside. I return to work for another hour or so after my walk, and then I call it a day.

After that, I like to spend leisure time watching TV, playing video games, shooting hoops (I have a basketball hoop in my driveway), and hanging out with my wife. I also usually work out in my home gym for 30-60 minutes before I go to bed.

How do you bring ideas to life?

I have a wonderful CTO who is fantastic at turning my ideas into reality for EmailAnalytics.

What’s one trend that excites you?

The new trend of working from home caused by the coronavirus pandemic is actually something that excites me. I think that many people working from home will be able to continue working from home after the pandemic ends because so many employers will come to see that working from home yields many benefits.

This will make people happier, less stressed, and more productive. As a bonus, it’ll keep the roads a little less crowded!

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

I’m pretty good at staying physically active, which I think fuels my productivity. As an example, I use a standing desk and I stand all day while working, which keeps me upright and more engaged, and prevents me from slouching.

A healthy mind and body is fueled by healthy physical habits!

What advice would you give your younger self?

Nothing is ever as bad as it seems. Everything always works out in the end, so spend less time worrying and more time focusing on positives and being happy!

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

There is no afterlife — this life is all you get, and you’re incredibly lucky to be alive, so be thankful for being alive and live your life to the fullest!

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Execute! Even if something seems un-fun, but you know you should do it, just do it. Execution is what sets the most successful entrepreneurs apart from the rest.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Content marketing. I am a content marketing expert and have written about content marketing for years for the biggest publications on the web. It really works, and it’s the primary method I use to grow my business. I invest in content marketing through blogging, guest blogging, and running a podcast. I also focus on SEO as part of my blogging strategy and it works magnificently.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

I hired too many employees early in my business career when I was running my marketing agency. The business was going through a period of revenue growth, and I hired a team to accommodate projected growth which did not actualize.

As a result, I had to lay off a significant portion of my staff, which was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do.

However, the experience taught me a valuable lesson about growth and running a business efficiently.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

Create a digital product, such as an e-course, eBook, or set of training videos on a topic that you’re an expert at. Then promote your course and sell access to it!

There are no shipping costs, no inventory to manage, instant delivery, instant payment, unlimited supply, and no employees or upfront money necessary.

The challenge will be getting visibility for your course, but you can do it with enough persistence, as long as you have a quality digital product!

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

I spent $70 on Fiverr for an infographic for one of my blog posts. I submitted the infographic on reddit.com/r/infographics and it got over 200 upvotes and sent a ton of traffic!

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

I like to use Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest keyword tool. I do a lot of keyword research and competitive research for my content marketing initiative, and the tool helps me conduct all that research quickly and easily, so it saves me a lot of time.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

Screw the Zoo, by Sam McRoberts. Sam is my co-host on our podcast “The Entrepreneur Cast”. His book is insightful and covers a lot of interesting psychology elements that most people don’t realize have an effect on them every day.

It aims to help people break out of their mental cages and pursue their own goals and dreams without being a cog in someone else’s machine.

What is your favorite quote?

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” — Winston Churchill

Key Learnings:

• Focus on execution if you want to succeed as an entrepreneur.
• Invest heavily in content marketing — it works!
• Check out EmailAnalytics to visualize you and your team’s email activity
• Stay physically active if you want to stay productive and mentally healthy
• Nothing is ever as bad as it seems. Failure is part of entrepreneurship, so learn from it and keep moving forward. Don’t give up!