Mike's Marketing Lab

The Bootstrapped Marketing Almanack, Part 5: Content Creation and Working with Creatives

Entries #101 through #125 of the Bootstrapped Marketing Almanack. This section focuses primarily on content creation, videography, and working with…

Sep 3 • 

Mike Carlson

1

May 2025

The Best Marketing is Like Gravity

Great marketing doesn't need to shout. Like gravity, the strongest marketing forces pull you in naturally—so smoothly you don't realize you're already…

May 28

Marketing Outside the Lines: Why Your Next Big Idea Might Come from a Poetry Class

The best marketers are explorers. Here's why your next breakthrough might come from a poetry class.

May 21

The Real Marketing 101: A Self-Made Syllabus for Modern Marketers

The marketing syllabus I wish I'd had: Fiction, films, podcasts, and everything else they don't teach in business school.

May 14

Things They Don’t Teach You in School

Think school taught you everything? From dislocating vacuum nozzles to managing budgets, here's what they don't mention in the graduation speech.

May 7

April 2025

From My Kindle to Yours: A Reader's Guide to Jeff Bezos's Best Ideas

From long-term thinking to the power of sleep, dive into some game-changing insights from Jeff Bezos's shareholder letters that transformed my…

Apr 30

5 Reflections on 5 Years at ANCORE

Five years of building marketing from scratch taught me some fundamental truths—like why fancy tools are overrated and metrics can be dangerous…

Apr 23

My First Lesson in Marketing: The In-N-Out Drive-Thru

A childhood visit to In-N-Out taught me that great marketing isn't about shouting—it's about creating memories that last forever.

Apr 16

The Masters Test: A Better Way to Measure Great Content

An emotional run sparks a revelation: the best content makes us feel something real, just like The Masters.

Apr 11

The Marketing Lab Principles: Real Experience, Open Knowledge

Building the marketing classroom I wish I'd had: real experience, zero paywalls, and lessons that actually matter.

Apr 10

February 2025

One-Liner Lessons: Timeless Wisdom in 10 Words or Less

Here's a selection of one-liner lessons from my journal with a little bit of added thought from myself.

Feb 26

The Bootstrapped Marketing Almanack, Part 4: Planning and Budgeting Edition

Entries #076 through #100 of the Bootstrapped Marketing Almanack. This section focuses primarily on year planning, setting a marketing budget, and how…

Feb 19