The Accidental Recycled Poop Marketer!

That’s the headline of a recent podcast guest application.

And it came from someone leading marketing for an interesting product – a paid B2B and B2C product, sold by a nonprofit, that is run by an independent city government authority, a water and sewer utility formed in collaboration with the federal government.

So no matter what type of marketing you do or business you run, there’s probably a lesson for you in this episode with April Thompson, Senior Director for Bloom, Blue Drop [https://bluedrop.co/], (part of DC Water).

Blue Drop is a nonprofit organization created by DC water to generate revenue and therefore save its ratepayers Money. DC Water is the District of Columbia Water and Sewage Authority. DC Water reported $898 million in operating revenues for 2023.

Thompson manages a two-person saleswoman team that has sold 65,000 tons of biosolids in its recycled poop fertilizer/soil amendment product in fiscal year 2024. Biosolids are a product most utilities pay to dispose of. 

Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketing

Here are some lessons from Thompson that emerged in our discussion:

• Marketing socially and environmentally responsible products is no different than marketing a conventional product
• Champion your champions
• Quit while you're ahead; no risk, no reward
• Optimism is underrated
• “It's not brain surgery on babies”
• Highly successful people give more credit than they take

Discussed in this episode

Get your Quick Start AI Productivity Kit when you sign up for a free, 3-month scholarship to the AI Guild [https://join.meclabsai.com/]

Sustainable Marketing: Take the time to understand your target audience deeply and your value proposition (podcast episode #104) [https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/sustainable]

Why You Should Thank Your Competitors [https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/marketing/why-thank-your-competitors/]

Customer-First Marketing: Every click is a wish (podcast episode #85) [https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/customer-first]

Client Pitch Call from the Maternity Ward: “That sound? Oh, you know, the sounds of Brooklyn” – Podcast Episode #8 [https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/client-pitch-call]

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This podcast is not about marketing – it is about the marketer. It draws its inspiration from the Flint McGlaughlin quote, “The key to transformative marketing is a transformed marketer” from the Become a Marketer-Philosopher: Create and optimize high-converting webpages [https://meclabs.com/course/] free digital marketing course.

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Daniel Burstein Podcaster

Daniel Burstein is the Senior Director of Content and Marketing at MarketingSherpa and the host of the ‘How I Made It In Marketing’ podcast, where he talks to marketing leaders about the lessons learned through their careers.

He also reports on successful marketing campaigns and industry data in MarketingSherpa articles, and helps facilitate the AI Guild from MarketingSherpa's parent organization, MECLABS Institute.

Daniel has 23 years of experience in copywriting, content writing, interviewing, speaking, business journalism, content marketing, sales enablement, and field marketing communications.