Zach just rewatched the extended edition of The Fellowship of the Ring in theaters for its 25th anniversary — and came back with a full notebook of marketing, branding, and design lessons straight from Middle-earth.

Join Nick Loudon, Corey Haines, and Zach Stevens as they break down timeless principles from Peter Jackson’s masterpiece and show how they apply to building better brands, writing stronger copy, and designing more compelling websites.

Whether you’re a Tolkien nerd or just love great marketing, this episode is packed with actionable insights you can steal for your own work.

Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro & why we’re talking LOTR
00:29 - The power of deep world-building
01:18 - Zach’s theater experience + extended edition realizations
04:19 - Lesson 1: More context = more belief & investment
09:38 - Lesson 2: Abstract vs. literal shots (visual rhythm in design)
13:56 - Lesson 3: Contrast without red (better than red Xs)
17:24 - Lesson 4 & 5: Introduce your villain early + repeating villain theme
24:17 - Lesson 7: Differentiation through cultural context (Gondor vs. Rohan vs. Elves vs. Dwarves vs. Hobbits)
27:53 - Lesson 6: Great brands aren’t created — they’re stolen (Tolkien’s real-world inspirations)
30:38 - What franchise should we break down next? (Dune, Breaking Bad, etc.)
31:27 - Outro

If you enjoyed this, hit that LIKE button, drop a comment with your favorite LOTR marketing takeaway, and SUBSCRIBE for more breakdowns of storytelling, copywriting, design, and branding.

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The Factory Floor is hosted by the three co-founders of Conversion Factory, the marketing agency at the forefront of SaaS growth, marketing, and tech trends. Episodes are released on Twitter one day early, @coreyhainesco

Every other week Corey, Zach, and Nick break down what’s working right now in SaaS marketing, share real-world lessons from the field, and give you the strategies you need to outpace the competition.

Don't fall behind. Subscribe. Like. Drop a comment. Or not. The ball is in your court.

You can also listen to the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

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The Low-Hanging Fruit-a-thon: Easy Marketing, Design & Web Wins (Factory Floor Podcast)

In this episode of Factory Floor, Nick, Corey, and Zach run a full low-hanging fruit-a-thon — calling out the simplest, most overlooked changes that can dramatically improve your marketing, design, and website performance.

Based on patterns they see across countless SaaS and tech company audits, the team breaks down the easy wins most companies ignore: missing onboarding emails, inconsistent CTAs, poor heading structure, weak blog conversions, lazy screenshots, and more. These are the fixes that don’t require a rebrand, a rebuild, or a massive budget — just better execution.

Topics covered include:

-Automated emails that recover lost conversions
-CTA consistency (shape, color, copy) that actually works
-Heading structure mistakes that quietly kill SEO
-Why most blogs fail to convert at all
-Simple thank-you page optimizations
-Migration and concierge offers that unlock stalled deals
-Design tweaks that instantly make your brand look more legit
-Why screenshots are almost always the wrong choice

If you’re a founder, marketer, designer, or operator looking for fast, practical improvements you can make today, this episode is your checklist.

Grab a basket — the low-hanging fruit is ripe.

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The Factory Floor is hosted by the three co-founders of Conversion Factory, the marketing agency at the forefront of SaaS growth, marketing, and tech trends. Episodes are released on Twitter one day early, @coreyhainesco

Every other week Corey, Zach, and Nick break down what’s working right now in SaaS marketing, share real-world lessons from the field, and give you the strategies you need to outpace the competition.

Don't fall behind. Subscribe. Like. Drop a comment. Or not. The ball is in your court.

You can also listen to the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

In this episode of The Factory Floor, Nick Loudon is joined by Zach Stevens and Corey Haines to break down why competitor comparison and alternative pages are more important than ever, how AI tools like ChatGPT are changing buyer behavior, and how to use these pages to drive real revenue (without bashing your competitors).

They cover what most SaaS teams get wrong, how to structure comparison pages the right way, and why these pages often have the highest intent and highest conversion rates on a website.

If you sell software and care about positioning, conversions, and controlling your narrative, this episode is a must-watch.

What you’ll learn:

-Why comparison pages sit at the highest-intent point in the buyer journey
-How AI tools influence product comparisons (and what happens if you stay silent)
-The difference between “vs” pages, alternative pages, and when to use each
-How many competitor pages you should actually build
-How to compare honestly without losing trust or credibility
-Why strong positioning makes comparison pages easy to write
-Design and messaging mistakes that kill conversions

This conversation is especially relevant for SaaS founders, marketers, and product teams navigating competitive markets and AI-driven discovery.

Hosts:
Nick Loudon, Zach Stevens, Corey Haines

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The Factory Floor is hosted by the three co-founders of Conversion Factory, the marketing agency at the forefront of SaaS growth, marketing, and tech trends. Episodes are released on Twitter one day early, @coreyhainesco

Every other week Corey, Zach, and Nick break down what’s working right now in SaaS marketing, share real-world lessons from the field, and give you the strategies you need to outpace the competition.

Don't fall behind. Subscribe. Like. Drop a comment. Or not. The ball is in your court.

You can also listen to the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify