Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship |

Sr. Executive in Publicly Listed Agency - Scaled 2x Agencies & Share these Learnings with Solo-preneurs and Small Business Owners.

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

This page represents a summary of my thoughts, my ideas, past and current lesson and generally what inspires me.

I always share that your 20s are the period of exploration, experimentation, knowledge building and "finding" your why/what.

I embraced this in my 20's having worked in SaaS sales of social media listening tools, building a crypto marketing system in India, moved back to venture cap as an entrepreneur in residence to build both a taxi app and a digital marketing agency, shifted to telecommunications, then manufacturing in China and the US, got involved in sourcing building materials, did real estate development, joined the cannabis industry and returned back to digital marketing where I would finally find my calling.

In my 30's I started working for a privately owned agency of 19x team mates and 115+ clients in a tiny office in Hong Kong.

I embraced my role as a digital strategist where I focused on putting together strategies for clients and doing business development.

Fast forward 3 years later, I would take over leadership, scale the agency to 80+ team mates and well in excess of 360 clients, help team mates rise to leadership, build process and infrastructure, new KPI systems, commission schemes, rolled out new capabilities, reduced employee turnover and created a self sufficient corporate culture that was honest, transparent, full of ideas and active conversations. All this whilst maintaining 3-4x times more margins than the industry average of 11%.

My goal was to make myself redundant... Which I successfully accomplished in 2022, enabling me to move to my next adventure.

I'm now the client lead and agency head within a larger agency holding group, rolling out new capabilities around data and SEO, with the intent of replicating the same success of my previous position.

I'm passionate about learning all things new tech, building transparent environments, helping my team members and clients become a better version of themselves whilst fighting in the trenches with my team through good and bad times.

If you've made it this far, I hope that you find what I share of value, learn something new and perhaps even gain some inspiration to apply some of these lessons to your own environment.

Join me in my journey of mutual learning... I'm excited to exchange ideas with you!

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

@PlayasiaXP I feel this....

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

@FynCas AI - curious

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

AI Overviews & LLMs are reshaping SEO.

Top-funnel queries trigger AIO ~70%, slashing research traffic.

Informational sites hit hardest; conversion-driven sites must boost AI visibility & optimize CRO/UX/UI.

Data-driven strategies are key to stay ahead.

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

@ZssBecker DSRPpXWf4F8gBQ29a8TvzcsY4BFfSxmhj53LZpfsF9Jr (SOL)

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

IMO- The best way to work through a divorce is sports!

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

Should we start implementing this in corporate environments? 😂

[Adam Grant @AdamMGrant]

A teacher in Thailand invites her students to pick their greeting.

Can we do this in every classroom in every country?

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

If you're not using any large language model to provide you with food plans or holiday itinerary advice - i have news for you....

You're NGMI....

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

In marketing - if it can't be measured, is it still worth doing? -

When budgets are tight, risk aversion leads to sticking to what clients are used to and know what works, but this mentality doesn't yield sustainable results... especially now.

Why?

Because AI and LLM visibility is becoming more important than ever. Here are some first findings across fortune 500 companies that we do SEO for that you might find interesting.

1) We are seeing a drop in top funnel traffic - which across informational content + queries can put management on edge, however, the focus on pure traffic is becoming outdated and we need to redefine KPI's that work... think "Quality user".

2) We've seen referral traffic from AI overview and LLM's having a conversion rate that can vary between 2x to 4x higher than 'standard' organic traffic. This means that despite the fact we are losing traffic, the visitors that do end up our website are highly qualified.

3) I changed my opinion of LLM's and AI overview from being a 'traffic stealer' to an ally when it comes to client education - so my focus as a marketer on website is more so around making sure the conversion journey is as seamless as possible.

4) If you have a website that doesn't have a conversion metric - and is purely informational - then yes, I think you'll find it harder to find a reason to heavily invest into it from a traffic driving perspective. You should shift to something else.

What have been your aha moments when it comes to organic?

Share your thoughts!

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

@PlayasiaXP 😂😂😂

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

@PlayasiaXP @Nintendo Mario cart incoming... 🏎

[PlayasiaXP @PlayasiaXP]

❗️ GIVEAWAY TIME ❗️

We're giving away (5) @Nintendo Switches! 🎮

Giveaway is hosted & verified through Gleam, to ensure fairness and transparency 😺

The steps are fairly simple:
-🔗 Click the Gleam link below
-✅ Follow @PlayasiaXP
-🫂 Tag 3 friends below
-♥️ Like + RT (no need for QRT)
-💬 Comment and let us know what your all-time favorite game is on console/PC!

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE:
https://t.co/Wvedl56TkN

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

@PlayasiaXP 👀 - It's happening!

[PlayasiaXP @PlayasiaXP]

One of Asia's beloved brands for all things gaming is cooking something new.

You might want to Follow & Turn on Notifications 🔔

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

Our core focus areas over the next few months is completely redefining our SEO approach to now include visibility across LLM's and AI overviews.

The process of getting there is actually not so difficult, but the attribution and measurability component requires more creativity.

Whereas we are able to tell 'referral traffic' from LLM sources - the one mystery is still the actual query that has generated the citation and the referral click -

Will we ever get to a point where we have that data transparency?

What do you think?

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

@trentjhughes I've turned from creating to lurking more now and I'm at peace with that.... Read tons of your things and it's inspired some deeper thought. Keep doing your thing.

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

The wave of creativity that has come from new announcements has been insane.

The game is changing... not next year... NOW - Those that familiarize themselves with new tech will thrive, those that don't will be replaced a lot faster than you think.

Start learning about AI Agents, how to build effective creatives with new platforms and start experimenting as much as you can vs doom scrolling on YouTube or binge watching Netflix series.

The playing field is for the first time leveled - take the opportunity or let it pass you by.

Your choice!

[PJ Ace @PJaccetturo]

I used to shoot $500k pharmaceutical commercials.

I made this for $500 in Veo 3 credits in less than a day.

What’s the argument for spending $500K now?

(Steal my prompt below 👇🏼)

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

Just left the #MarketingSociety Event, and my head’s buzzing with insights!

Here’s the TL;DR from my notes:

Growth Trap Alert: Southeast Asia’s economic dip (down 4.5% YoY, IMF says) screams: don’t chase performance marketing alone. WARC’s wisdom? Brand + performance leads to amplified results (if they don't work in silo's of one another).

Fun fact: Best performing campaigns use 6+ channels, whilst TV + influencers combined rule mass market appeal.

Build platforms that vibe emotionally—cultural hooks are gold!

Timeless Marketing Rules: SEA, US, EU—same game, different flavors. Success hinges on how and where you spread your message, whilst marketing fundamentals are the same (make your customers FEEEL something).

Did you know 70% of SEA consumers trust brands with local storytelling? Nail the right media mix (upper, mid, lower funnel) to win.

Beyond these subjects - there was a lot of chat about AI agents + LLM taking market share from search engines...

It is crucial for marketers to stay on top of it to avoid losing relevance - yet many are still oblivious to the speed of tech developments.

What are you doing to stay on top of tech trends like AI?

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

I find myself having more conversations with other parents around "future proofing" your kids...

What would your advice be around this?

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

@MANTRAIChain @MANTRA_Chain @jp_mullin888 @DelRayMan @proofoftalk @MANTRAIChain not from the main post - don't fall for it.

[Lrsmlr | Living & Breathing Intrapreneurship | @LarsMaehler]

@AngeloW06143498 @MANTRA_Chain look at the chain and do some research, this has been debunked almost in every podcast and interview in existence...