Ed Doherty has achieved something most marketers could only dream of: a 72-78% open rate on his Constant Contact newsletters. His secret? Authenticity. 

Ed launched his consulting business, Ambrose Landen, after being furloughed at the pandemic's start. He also launched a newsletter, Wednesday Weblogs, which he sends every Wednesday at 4:30 a.m. 

At 70 years old, Ed has plenty of experience under his belt, and he views marketing as an essential tool for showing prospective clients that he knows how to help them. He doesn’t use his newsletter to sell his services, though — he uses it to build his reputation. 

“I’m sharing my knowledge, my humor, my toughness,” he says. Three years into sending Wednesday Weblogs, Ed says that many of his current clients started as newsletter subscribers. 

On this episode of Be a Marketer, Ed and host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, discuss how authentic marketing can help you build a community that turns into customers. 

☕ What he does: Ed owns Ambrose Landen, a consultancy that offers strategic planning and leadership development services. In the past, Ed has been the human resources officer for an 11,000-person company and the president of a franchise company with 22 restaurants. He’s also the oldest of eight children. 

💡 Key quote: “Anybody who’s in business by themselves is selling themselves. That’s what you have to do — you have to sell yourself. So I’m selling my knowledge, my humor, my history.”