Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Marketing The Invisible
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How to Build a Profitable Business Coaching Practice – In Just 7 Minutes with BJ O’Neal | 16 Jan 2025 | 00:09:01 | |
Why you've got to check out today's episode:
Resources/Links:
Summary: Finding it hard to turn your business expertise into a profitable coaching practice? Many seasoned professionals feel overwhelmed by the lack of structure and direction needed to launch and sustain a successful coaching business. BJ O'Neal is featured in Forbes, also a founding partner with the renowned Maxwell Leadership team as a speaker, trainer, and coach. Today, he leads Business Coach Mastery, a network of nearly 70 coaches across the US. His passion is empowering people to build a profitable business coaching practice, allowing them to live life on their own terms. He provides a done-for-you approach, equipping them with the tools and support needed to succeed. In this episode, BJ shares his proven “done-for-you” approach, emphasizing the importance of building systems for lead generation, client conversion, and coaching delivery, enabling you to achieve freedom and profitability on your own terms. Check out these episode highlights: 02:13 - BJ's ideal Client: Ideal client for us would be men who are seasoned. 02:37 - The problem he helps them solve: They want to do it, but they don't know how to. 03:23 - Symptoms of his client's problem: The bigger portion of all this is that they want freedom. 04:58 - Mistakes client makes before reaching out to him: Just going out there and just trying it with zero process, zero structure, zero strategy to it. 05:59 - BJ's Valuable Free Action [VFA]: Build the three processes that's going to do everything in coaching: Where do I get leads and prospects? How do I convert those leads and prospects into ongoing high paying monthly clients? And then how do I coach them to get simplicity? 07:30 - His Valuable Free Resource [VFR]: Want an overview of what done-for-you means to solve those three areas that you got to solve in coaching? Click here: businesscoachmastery.com 08:01 - Q: Why does someone fail at business coaching? A: No systems, no process and no structure. Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: "You have to have a structure that absolutely builds a relationship that matters, that you become the hunted. That's the goal." - BJ O'Neal | |||
| How to Break Free from Overwhelm – In Just 7 Minutes with Sharyn and Hank Yuloff | 02 Jan 2025 | 00:09:28 | |
Why you've got to check out today's episode:
Resources/Links:
Summary: Are you feeling overwhelmed as a small business owner, constantly juggling tasks and struggling to make meaningful progress? This sense of being stuck—where productivity doesn’t translate into impactful results—can paralyze growth and leave you feeling lost in a sea of to-dos. Sharyn and Hank Yuloff are small business coaches, authors of 8 best-selling business books, hold small business breakthrough boot camps several times a year and have hosted almost 400 episodes of their podcast, The Marketing Checklist View Cast. They focus on Marketing, Sales, Public Speaking and Human Resources: the four areas where most business owners say they struggle. Listen now as they share practical strategies to break free from this cycle of overwhelm. By focusing on high-impact tasks, time-blocking, and aligning business efforts with personal life goals, they help business owners regain clarity, scale efficiently, and create a path toward sustainable success. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: "Begin with the end in mind, and then you can work backwards." - Hank Yuloff | |||
| How to Grow Your Business Faster – In Just 7 Minutes with Laura Patterson | 15 Aug 2024 | 00:09:39 | |
Why you've got to check out today's episode:
Resources/Links:
Summary: Is it a challenge for you to connect marketing activities with real business outcomes? In a business landscape, random acts of marketing are wasted resources; finding a strategic approach is crucial. Laura Patterson is the #1 Amazon Best-Selling author of Fast-Track Your Business: A Customer-Centric Approach to Accelerate Market Growth. In this episode, Laura shares valuable insights on effective B2B marketing strategies. She emphasizes the importance of avoiding random acts of marketing and stresses the need for a strategic, customer-centric approach highlighting the significance of balancing customer value with business value for sustainable growth. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: "It's one thing to have a strategy but if you don't have the processes in place to execute, that can be a problem." - Laura Patterson | |||
| How to Legally Protect Your Business – In Just 7 Minutes with Heather Pearce Campbell | 02 Nov 2022 | 00:10:47 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Have you been wanting to legally protect your business from potential copyright infringements? Legally protecting your business leads you to become a better business leader– want to know how? Heather Pearce Campbell is a warrior mama, nature lover, and dedicated attorney and legal coach for world-changing entrepreneurs. She is based in Seattle, Washington, and can be found online at www.legalwebsitewarrior.com. Dive into the world of legal basics with Heather and learn what it means to legally protect your business and how it can help you become a better business leader. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “Get yourself organized. Go gather up what you do have in place.” -Heather Pearce CampbellClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. Today, I’m joined by Heather Pearce Campbell. Heather, a good day from Down Under. A warm welcome! Where are you hanging out? Heather Pearce Campbell 00:21 Excellent! So good to see you, Tom. I am over in Seattle, Washington. Tom Poland 00:26 The home of Oldham and North America’s greatest coffee. The scene and culture and innovations are quite extraordinary. So, for those of you who don’t know Heather, she’s warrior mama. And by golly, sometimes you have to be a warrior mama. How old are the little ones? Heather Pearce Campbell 00:43 Yep, so I’ve got one who is four and about to turn five. And my nine-year-old just turned 10 a couple of days ago! So, we joke, we have a little person who’s already a decade in the house. Tom Poland 00:55 Right, very cute ages, both of them, especially the four-year-old. So, in addition to being a warrior mama, she’s a nature lover. She’s a dedicated attorney and legal coach for world-changing entrepreneurs. She can be found on-site, on the website, I should say, Legalwebsitewarrior.com. Folks, really, really important subject. A lot of people, and I’m one of them, get hot and heavy about marketing because you got to make sure that your asset is protected. You may be doing all the right things. You might be being quite careful but there are some pretty malicious people out there because the north of the USA is hot and heavy about legal stuff. I’ll say a quick story. I was looking to franchise in the US and I went to see a franchise specialist in the US he sat me down in front of his desk and he was in the old days where you picked up the phone and talk to your receptionist, “Dolly, bring me in the phonebook.” And Dolly brought in the phonebook, the Yellow Pages. And he grabbed the Yellow Pages. And he had rifled through it and he held up the Yellow Pages. And the Yellow Pages were sort of you know, three inches thick, reading one section. He said the first thing you need to know is that’s the number of attorneys that want to sue your ass. Heather Pearce Campbell 02:07 Nice visual demonstration, just in case you’re wondering. Tom Poland 02:10 Welcome to America! Yeah, welcome to the minefield. And it’s true, you’ve got to have your legal. You’ve got to have your I’s dotted and your T’s crossed. Otherwise, you could be losing your shirt, all in all, work. So, let’s get on with the interview, “How to Legally Protect your Business.” Our seven minutes start now. Question number one, Heather, is, who’s your ideal client? Heather Pearce Campbell 02:28 My ideal clients, like we said in the intro, are world-changing entrepreneurs. I call them “information entrepreneurs”. They’re generally online experts, speakers, and authors. They do all kinds of things in their business, you know. They’re podcasters, but they are largely dealing with information, right? Consultants and coaches. People whose entire business is developed around a body of work. Tom Poland 02:52 And very appropriate that you’re on the Marketing the Invisible Podcast because what they have is not a physical product, but intellectual. Heather Pearce Campbell 02:59 That’s right. Tom Poland 02:59 So, tell us, question number two, six and a half minutes left, what’s the problem you solve for these world-changing entrepreneurs? Heather Pearce Campbell 03:05 So, a couple– the list of legal problems is long but going, you know, moving out, the bigger picture, typically, the largest problem people face is getting a legal understanding of their business, having what I call “the map”, right? The legal roadmap to your business. People tend to cherry-pick their legal needs, like, “My business coach told me this”, or my friend in business told me this, but they’ve never sat down with somebody to get a comprehensive understanding top to bottom of their legal needs, so that they can, from a strategic perspective, prioritize what they need. Tom Poland 03:41 Right. Thank you for that. What would you say are some of the typical symptoms that your ideal clients are experiencing before, but they’re sort of- what would give someone listening to this a bit of a heads up that they need to find out more about what you do? Five and a half minutes left. Heather Pearce Campbell 03:55 Right? Well, so one is they’re just not connecting with somebody who they feel understands their business from a legal perspective, that’s like an entry-level pain point. But the other pain points are they’re hiring. They might be hiring internationally. They’ve got an online business, and they’re facing privacy issues. They have intellectual property issues; they’re concerned about launching a new course or program or they’re thinking maybe I need to get a trademark. They’re reaching into the US and I work with a lot of people internationally as well. So, they’re facing the whole sea of legal issues that you just referenced in that Yellow Pages book, right? They’re facing being in the marketplace. So, they generally have a host of legal things going on in their business, but one of those pain points is going to jump up and bite them. Tom Poland 03:55 Are they in that sort of situation where they don’t know what they don’t know, but they know that they don’t know what they don’t know? If you like, it sort of says, you know. Because you’ve got intellectual property protection rights. You’ve got potential litigation for which they need some sort of legal professional identity or protection. Heather Pearce Campbell 04:58 That’s right. Tom Poland 04:58 Is the outgoing legal stuff to protect your intellectual property as well as the incoming? Heather Pearce Campbell 05:03 It’s all of the above, right? And the ways that we grow our businesses through relationships, are all opportunities for things to go sideways. Tom Poland 05:13 You’re right. Tell me about it! I mean, the thing is that folks, you can be as pure as the white-driven snow and as well-intentioned as Mother Teresa, and you can still get someone who wants to have a go at you. So, let’s just assume that people are aware that there are some legal issues that should be taken care of, what would you say, question four, are some of the common mistakes that people make when trying to resolve those? Heather Pearce Campbell 05:39 Yeah. Totally. They will often attempt first like a do-it-yourself approach, cobble a contract together, borrow it from somebody else’s business when it’s not really a fit for them. The worst is going to Google and just taking whatever they find, which can often- yes, templates. But if they- the crazy part about the online world is you can often find yourself in a copyright infringement scenario, not thinking like, “Oh, yeah, legal work belongs to somebody.” So, I end up chasing down people all the time that have ripped information off of my client’s websites, right? So do not do any of those things! Tom Poland 06:23 A sub-question, how much of you, and I’m stopping the clock here because I’m squeezing another question in. How much of your percentage of your time is chasing people who have infringed copyright? I mean, we have it all the time. People just blatantly copied our programs and courses and put them up on their websites. Heather Pearce Campbell 06:38 You know, for once I enroll clients, especially clients that have good visibility in the marketplace, and truthfully, all my other clients, too, are on their way to good visibility, if they don’t have it already. I tell them, you just need to plan for this. This is the reality, unfortunately, of yes, it’s going to happen. It’s not really a matter of if, it’s a matter of when and it tends to be ongoing once you’ve reached certain levels of business. Tom Poland 07:03 I would say we discover someone every week. We now have a system in place that once a month, we have to scan for our product names, and we find people- Heather Pearce Campbell 07:11 That’s right. Tom Poland 07:12 Yeah, and, folks, it’ll happen to you before you think that you’re highly visible. That’s the thing that I was surprised at. Okay, back on track. Thank you! Just under three minutes left. Question five, I know from painful experience, that people should not try to do this themselves. We’re coaches. We’re marketers. We are whatever we are, but we’re not legal people. And DIY is just a frickin disaster! You could actually create more problems than you’re trying to solve. So that said, that’s a big mistake. But we’re not suggesting people should do it themselves, but give us one valuable free action that someone could take to not solve the whole problem, but take them a step in the right direction. Heather Pearce Campbell 07:52 Yes, a step in the right direction is to get yourself organized. Go gather up what you do have in place. So, for example, maybe you’ve got a client agreement in place for your standard client services. Maybe at some point, you did put a privacy policy from a template generator site on your website. Create a legal file for yourself and go gather up the resources that you have. This will help somebody like me do an audit for you very quickly, right? You’ve got your stuff altogether. And also, if you haven’t done this, like, Tom, I’m sure you’ve got a million pages all over the internet, Tom, between landing pages, sales pages, webinar funnel, like all the things. Make sure you have all of your online real estates because that is where our IP lives, most of us in the online space, documented in a spreadsheet tracked by page. Tom Poland 08:01 Excellent idea! Pain in the butt, but just so important. Heather Pearce Campbell 08:35 You will feel so good when you’ve done even just that initial step. Tom Poland 08:52 Right. Okay. Thank you for that. 70 seconds left, two questions to go, and one valuable free resource. Where can people go to find out more about what you do? Heather Pearce Campbell 09:01 Yes, legalwebsitewarrior.com/legalbasicsbootcamp. This is a free, really mini, bite-sized legal basics boot camp that will walk you through a framework that I created that will help you quickly understand your business from a legal perspective. Tom Poland 09:18 So, folks, it’s www.legalwebsitewarrior.com/legalbasics, plural, bootcamp. Go get it! 40 seconds left, Heather. What’s the one question I should have asked you, but didn’t? Heather Pearce Campbell 09:33 You know, what is it that I wish people knew about legal that they don’t? A couple of things. One is that it is synonymous with business leadership. I joke with people that I deliver legal services, but what I sneak in is actually better business leadership. It is about it- because the entrepreneurs that I serve, don’t have in-house counsel. They’re not Starbucks and Nike, but they need to be leading their businesses in a very specific way, right? The other thing is how you- Tom Poland 10:04 Five seconds. Heather Pearce Campbell 10:04 Okay, all wrapped up. Tom Poland 10:06 Alright. Heather Pearce Campbell, thank you so much for your time. Tom Poland 10:11 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Increase the Company’s Capacity to Handle More Business Without Compromising Quality – In Just 7 Minutes with Alicia Butler Pierre | 26 Oct 2022 | 00:09:52 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you want to find out how you can cater to more clients without the stress and chaos? A business isn’t just a one-man job, so it doesn’t have to be all you! Having a solid structure and a loyal team is crucial to growing your business, but what happens if your company is unable to accommodate the high turnover? Alicia Butler Pierre is the Founder and CEO of Equilibria, Inc. and the bestselling author of Behind the Facade, the world’s first published book on business infrastructure. She hosts the weekly Business Infrastructure podcast, which ranks in the world’s top 2%. She’s an adjunct instructor of Lean Principles at Purdue University and Operations Management at Nichols College. She is a chemical engineer turned entrepreneur. She has advised, designed, and optimized processes for organizations including Coca-Cola, Shell Oil, The Library of Congress, and The Home Depot. Dive into how Alicia increases your company’s capacity to handle high turnover, sustain your business, and plan for higher scaling. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “Business infrastructure is simply a system for how you link your people, your processes, and any tools or technologies that you're using.” -Alicia Butler PierreClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the very sunny Sunshine Coast in Australia. I’m joined today by Alicia Butler Pierre. Alicia, good day from Down Under. Welcome, and where are you hanging out? Alicia Butler Pierre 00:25 I am hanging out, Tom, in Atlanta, Georgia, which is in the south eastern part of the US. Tom Poland 00:31 Used to be home to the Braves, what is it now? Alicia Butler Pierre 00:34 It still is home to the Braves! Tom Poland 00:35 It’s still home to the Braves. Alicia Butler Pierre 00:37 Yes, it is. And home to Coca-Cola. Tom Poland 00:41 Right. Oh, that was the Cleveland Browns or something like that. Anyway, Coca-Cola. Yay! I’ve been to Atlanta. It’s a big sprawling- Alicia Butler Pierre 00:49 Oh, wow. You’ve been here? Yes, we’re growing by the day. Tom Poland 00:54 You know, I can’t say I knew the city well. You know, I got a taxi to the conference and back and forth. On one of those visits, unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to savor the highlights. But enough of where you live and where I live. Let’s get on to a very interesting subject. Folks, Alicia Butler Pierre is the founder and CEO of Equilibria. Now I stalked her around the internet, like for an hour yesterday. And my gosh, I’m impressed! Alicia has this, well, her thing is all about increasing your capacity without putting more stress on you and doing more in less time, becoming more efficient, becoming more effective, and getting more clients without compromising any quality. And she walks the talk. And not only is she process orientated, and figures out ways to do things more efficiently and more effectively, because you can do things more efficiently and stuff it up more effectively. She has this, I think quite extraordinary ability to shine the spotlight on her personality. And as I know she’s in the rumination just because but I’m still going to talk about it. So, wherever you find Alicia on the internet, you’ll see her personality shining through. So, she hasn’t templated her personality, it’s just the processes, right? I’m just knock-your-socks-off impressed. Alicia Butler Pierre 02:12 I love that. I love it, Tom. Thank you! Tom Poland 02:15 Yeah, and I know- we’re not doing an affiliate thing here, right? Alicia, you’re not paying any money to sell this? Alicia Butler Pierre 02:20 No, I’m not. But I’m thinking maybe I should. Maybe I should. We should go on a world tour together. Tom Poland 02:29 Yeah, no, I think you’re a star. And I think your star is in the center. So, let’s get going. Official bio, folks! Alicia is the bestselling author of “Behind the Facade”, which is the world’s first published book on business infrastructure. She hosts the weekly Business Infrastructure Podcast, which ranks in the world’s top 2%. She’s an adjunct instructor on Lean Principles at Purdue University, and Operations Management at Nichols College. She’s a chemical engineer, which means she’s got a hell of a brain on those shoulders, turned entrepreneur. She’s advised, designed, and optimized processes for organizations, including a few small businesses you may not have heard of, such as Coca-Cola, Shell Oil, The Library of Congress, and the Home Depot. Extraordinary! Alicia, thank you for being on the show. The title today, which we are going to hold your feet to the fire on delivering is, “How to Increase Your Company’s Capacity to Handle More Business Without Compromising Quality”. Our seven minutes start now. Question number one is who is your ideal client? Alicia Butler Pierre 03:34 The ideal client for us is small businesses with less than 50 employees that have more demand than they can currently handle. That’s the ideal client for us. Tom Poland 03:45 Right. And very well articulated. So, tell us about the problem you solve. I guess it’s something to do with scalability, is it? Alicia Butler Pierre 03:52 Absolutely, of course! Scale, but sustainable scale. So, the problem that we are solving is unsustainable, chaotic growth. What happens when your company is the beneficiary of great marketing and great sales campaigns and strategies? Well, now you might have a different type of problem. You go from not having enough customers to maybe having too many. And that’s when you might need that operational or business infrastructure in place. Tom Poland 04:19 You might! Yeah, never leave an entrepreneur in charge of their own idea unless you put the right people or processes in place, which is where you come in. So, question three has six minutes left. Question three, your target market is very growth orientated. You know, they’ve already achieved something pretty significant. It might be a mess, but they’ve got there through ideas and energy and vision and drive. What I’m saying is they’re going to be trying a bunch of things, but before we get to the mistakes they’ve made along the way, let’s talk about the symptoms that they’re going to be experiencing in their business. What’s happening? I mean, generally, there are going to be things falling through the cracks, but what else is going on in the business that would give them a heads up that they should be reaching out to someone like you? Alicia Butler Pierre 05:02 Sure, absolutely. One of the number one, tell-tale signs or symptoms, Tom, is the loss of employees or their staff or team members, whatever you refer to them as. So very high attrition, high turnover, increase in customer complaints. So many things are happening at the same time. It’s very difficult to keep up. And without the processes that you were just referencing, it’s very easy for important tasks to fall through the cracks. There may not be any quality assurance, let alone quality control. There’s failed audit. A lot of businesses have to be audited, or they have to be accountable to some type of regulatory or some type of governing agency or entity. What if they fail those audits, again, increase in negative reviews? So those are some of the immediate tell-tale signs that you may want to start getting your business infrastructure in place. Tom Poland 05:56 Yeah, that’s a pretty comprehensive list of pain, isn’t it, really? You’ve got this entrepreneur who’s achieved such extraordinary things, but is in danger of losing it unless they get their ducks in a row? So, what sort of mistakes do you see people making before they find your solution? We’ve got just over four minutes left. What are some of the big things that you notice that these clients have done before that before they start working with you, they think, “Wow, that was a big mistake”? Alicia Butler Pierre 06:21 Honestly, Tom, because of the nature of the work that I do, the number one mistake, or I’m not even sure if it’s fair to call it a mistake. Because these business owners and entrepreneurs, don’t know what they don’t know. So, they don’t know to even ask for something or look for something like business infrastructure. There isn’t much exposure when it comes to operations, operational excellence, or operations management. They hear these things and what may happen for those who are savvy enough to even ask that question, or seek out that type of a resource, they’ll find one of two things, Tom. Either, one, the resources are usually reserved for much larger organizations, or maybe even manufacturing companies. And then secondly, that the people would be able to help them just don’t work with small businesses. So that’s why my company, we’re just on this quest to provide the resources and make it affordable, and accessible. Tom Poland 06:21 Yeah, so, and do me a favor, hold up that little sheet of paper that I saw you waving around. Now, folks, for those listening to this, this is a template for interviews. And Alicia is pretty prepared for this interview by using this template. And the reason I’m asking- it’s just on one page, and all the questions are there. Alicia Butler Pierre 07:40 Your name- Tom Poland 07:41 My name and Leadsology, and so on? And the date. Alicia Butler Pierre 07:44 But this is the other thing I do- Tom Poland 07:46 Yeah? Alicia Butler Pierre 07:46 Is your LinkedIn profile? Tom Poland 07:49 My God, the reason I’m asking you to hold that up, Alicia, is and I’m just going to stop the clock here because I’m robbing you of some time. But I just wanted to impress upon people, not just that you’re walking the talk, but how simple a process can be. Because a lot of people think they’ve got to have some sort of SaaS, ERP platform, blah, blah, blah, or app thingy. And it can sometimes be efficiency, and effectiveness. It can be something as simple as one sheet of paper. So, I just want to do to reinforce that point. And I’m going to start the clock again. Alicia Butler Pierre 08:22 Okay. Tom Poland 08:23 Now, two and a half minutes left, what’s one valuable free action that you would say an audience member could take? It’s not going to solve the whole problem, but it might just start them heading off in the right direction. Alicia Butler Pierre 08:34 Using things as simple as so you like that one-pager? Well, I have something even more impressive for you, Tom. Something as simple as using stick figures, and index cards. These two tools alone, these very low budget, low tech, analog type tools can do you a world of good in figuring out what work you need to perform, how that work is organized, and who ideally should perform the different types of work that you identify, and how is that work performed? Tom Poland 09:07 My God, I’m loving this! Alicia Butler Pierre 09:08 So, stick figures and index cards. Tom Poland 09:10 The index card was A2 one, another one was C1 on this little stick figure like you see, you know, how you describe that. Just, oh, I don’t know, it’s maybe six inches or it’s got the label on the front. And you got CEO on it, right? Alicia Butler Pierre 09:22 That’s right. And this is laminated. So, this is another product that my company offers to our clients. And the reason it’s laminated is that in the process of trying to figure out well, who ideally should perform task C1? Well, the CEO or the founder may say, “Well, it’s me! I do that.” But, Tom, is that person really the right person to perform that task? Should it really be an office manager, for example, should be the ideal person to perform that task? So again, something as low-tech as these stick figures and index cards. I have done, this exercise with so many companies at this point, and every single time it really brings to life what’s going on in the company. Tom Poland 10:07 You’re the only person on earth that I’ve had to stop the clock twice more. Folks, so this works for entrepreneurs. I call them dogs. Dogs are tactile. They’re visceral. They feel things. They see things. They’re not so good at five-year cash flow spreadsheets, but the little, I can just imagine you holding those up or even someone with a clear kitchen table, putting those down, everything would get crystal clear all of a sudden. And you often don’t get that with software. So, folks, if you’re listening to this, you got to head over to our Leadsology.guru website. Have a look at the podcast and find this podcast so you can see what Alicia just showed. So yeah, so let’s head on. 90 seconds left. Question six, a valuable free resource, where can people go to find out more about this? Alicia Butler Pierre 10:53 If you want to find out how to use tools like stick figures and index cards and so much more? Check out a free audio masterclass where you can learn exactly how to use those types of tools to answer those four questions that Tom and I just reviewed. And the best place to go is smoothoperator.courses. Smoothoperator.courses. Tom Poland 11:15 And that was named after your nickname, was it? Smoothoperator.courses. Alright, so let’s- thank you for that. Smoothoperator.courses, folks. So, let’s go to question seven, 50 seconds left, what’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? Alicia Butler Pierre 11:33 What is business infrastructure, Alicia? Tom Poland 11:35 What the heck is it, Alicia? Alicia Butler Pierre 11:38 What is it? So, business infrastructure is simply a system for how you link your people, your processes, like, you know, and a process could just be in the form of a checklist. Your people, your processes, and any tools or technologies that you’re using. How do those three things link together in a cohesive system such that you can scale in a sustainable, profitable, and repeatable way? It’s literally laying the foundation to support sustainable growth and ultimately scale. Tom Poland 12:13 Alicia, Thank you so much. Alicia Butler Pierre 12:16 We did it! And I hit the seven minutes. Tom Poland 12:20 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Get Clients When Nothing Has Worked So Far – In Just 7 Minutes with Abigail Tiefenthaler | 19 Oct 2022 | 00:08:38 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Have you tried everything but nothing’s working to keep your business out of that plateau? You can’t just dive into sales mode and skip marketing. Having a good marketing strategy gives a good foundation for your business to become high selling even in times that you feel like you’re stuck in a plateau. Abigail May Tiefenthaler is a Co-Founder of Savvy Sales Strategy, a marketing and sales agency that works with professional coaches who want 6-figure years and need implementation with impact to stay focused and on a path to success. Her team is client-getting specialists that create client-getting systems to support coaches with their high-ticket offers. Get an over-the-shoulder experience on how Abigail helps her clients overcome sudden career shifts from providing service to having a business through tactical planning and understanding their platform. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “Marketing creates better selling.” -Abigail TiefenthalerClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the Sunshine Coast in Australia, joined today by Abigail May Tiefenthaler. Abigail, a warm good day from Down Under. Where are you hanging out? Abigail Tiefenthaler 00:24 I’m hanging out in East Tennessee, USA. Tom Poland 00:28 East Tennessee, USA, fantastic! Probably couldn’t get any further apart than where you are- Abigail Tiefenthaler 00:34 Probably not. Tom Poland 00:35 Hands across the water joined in marketing purposes. Folks, sprinkling to Abigail’s bio. She’s the Co-Founder of Savvy Sales Strategy. It’s a marketing and sales agency that works with professional coaches who want to enjoy a six- and I would imagine, sometimes, even, a seven-figure income, but they need implementation. They need implementation of the systems that are going to give them the impact and keep them focused on the path to success. Her team is client-getting specialists. They have done four-year services. They create client-getting and have predictability around the systems which I believe is Abigail’s specialty, and the target market is the coaches who sell high-ticket offers. Now if you’re a coach selling a high-ticket offer, but if you’re someone like a consultant, you’re going to get a lot of value from this as well, so listen up! Abigail, our title is, “How to Get Clients When Nothing Else Has Worked So Far”. There are a lot of people that are going to be able to relate to that. Several questions start now. Out time starts now, I should say. Number one, question one, who’s your ideal client? Abigail Tiefenthaler 01:42 Coaches, service-based professionals, consultants. Tom Poland 01:46 Perfect. Thank you. And tell us, question number two, what’s the problem you solve for them? Abigail Tiefenthaler 01:50 We solve the problem of identifying what’s missing in their marketing that’s making it ineffective. Where are they struggling? We focus on the area of social selling, but Tommy and I have 40 plus years of marketing experience each, so yes, we are that old, it allows us to look at the foundational and strategic aspects of what marketing should be doing, and then identify the right way to promote your coaching business or consulting business. Tom Poland 02:21 Fantastic. So, you and I were pre-internet. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it, for some people that- Abigail Tiefenthaler 02:26 Well, and on top of that I grew up in the industry. So, I truly come to marketing as you know, as a child. My dad was a madman, my mother had a home-based business that was tied to the marketing field. So, there was a lot of conversation. Tom Poland 02:40 It’s in the genes! And I- Abigail Tiefenthaler 02:42 It’s in the genes! Tom Poland 02:43 I often think learning those disciplines of marketing, pre-internet, is actually a big advantage when you understand both worlds. So, tell us, question three, five and a half minutes left. What would you say are some of the typical symptoms of the coaches, consultants, and so on who would really benefit from working with you? What’s going on in their business or life that would give them a heads up, and go, “Oh my God. I’ve got those symptoms!” Abigail Tiefenthaler 03:04 They want to have a business. They don’t want to just be a coach and sell services. So, they want to have a business. They want to make an impact. And the challenge they’ve had is they’ve gone from course to coaching to something, you know, buying the next this or the greatest that. But they don’t really know how to weave them all together. And because they don’t know what they don’t know, and let’s face it, even today’s marketers, many don’t know what they don’t know, it’s incomplete and it’s ineffective. It’s like broken, you know, links in the fence? Tom Poland 03:37 Yes, they’re probably feeling like they’re that world’s best-kept secret. They’ve got terrific value delivery or great client work. But their marketing seems flawed for years. So, question four, and just under five minutes left. We’re talking about growth-orientated people, like you said that they don’t just want to be coaching, you know, be a single coach, they want a business. They’re growth orientated. They know their market is not working, and they’re going to try stuff. What would you say are some of the common mistakes that your ideal clients have made before they find your solution? Abigail Tiefenthaler 04:05 The biggest mistake every small business owner, they go from idea to selling and skip all the strategy steps. They skip the tactical, you know, the tactical planning, and they go right from, “Well, I’m going to do this or I’m going to do that.” And so that strategy is where they hone their message. That strategy is where they identify their real audience. So, by missing those critical steps, you’re like lugging 1000 pounds on your back as you’re trying to go uphill. It’s just not a practical way. Some will get some short-term success because they’ve got a good warm market. But after that, that means they’re in sales mode. That doesn’t mean they ever get into marketing mode. Marketing creates better selling. So, if you don’t like selling, that’s another benefit. You want to really focus on having your marketing bring qualified customers to your sales conversations. Tom Poland 05:02 Right. Selling is what you have to do when your marketing sucks. Abigail Tiefenthaler 05:06 Yeah. Exactly! Tom Poland 05:08 But the way you put it was better because you know, if you do your marketing right, the selling is easier. It kind of sets the stage, right? So, the biggest mistake is rushing into tactics, doing a whole lot of marketing before you figured out the strategy. And I think one of the things you said is you got to figure out the marketing message and whether it’s going to get cut through and motivate people before you start, for example, running ads. Abigail Tiefenthaler 05:29 Exactly, or doing anything– getting on stages, trying to get on stages when you don’t have a message. I will say the last thing, especially in the coaching world, is they don’t have their offer really fleshed out. Even if they want to work with one-on-one clients is that they know what they want to do, but they haven’t really put a framework together. And you don’t need a 10-step process or anything like that. But you need to have a framework because a framework is going to bring confidence to the sales conversation. It’s going to give you purpose in the marketing conversations. Tom Poland 06:01 There is so much powerful psychology in there and in unpacking that, so that would be worth listening to again, folks. If you’ve got clarity, it gets you around how you’re going to go to the value. It gives you confidence in your marketing. That’s a great top tip in itself. Question five, I might have triggered that prematurely. But I’m after one valuable free action here. Two minutes left. A top tip that people could- it’s not going to solve the whole problem, but it might get them started. Abigail Tiefenthaler 06:27 Go spend some time really thinking about where you want to go, where you are now, and how you’re going to get there. That will give you your vision and your mission, then go start thinking about where your client is now and where you want the client to go or where the client wants to go and what they need to get there. Tom Poland 06:46 Terrific! Thank you for that. Question six, valuable free results. We’ve got a URL, I believe, where people can go and find out more. What is the URL? Abigail Tiefenthaler 06:57 It’s savvysalesstrategy.com/15steps. Savvysalesstrategy.com/15 steps! Tom Poland 07:07 With a “.com” right in the middle. So savvysalesstrategy.com/15steps. And, people, you’re going to get a lot of information there about lead generation, about marketing about getting your strategy right. Abigail, thank you for that. The last question and we’ve got 45 seconds left. What’s the one question I should have asked you, but didn’t? Abigail Tiefenthaler 07:27 How do I use social media to actually sell effectively? Tom Poland 07:32 Oh, I would love the answer to that! Abigail Tiefenthaler 07:34 It’s the understanding that there is a difference between social engagement and social selling. We focus on social selling. Social selling is designed to bring people into an appointment to talk about doing business, an event, another place, a private Facebook group, or something. So, people don’t understand the difference between social engagement and social selling. Tom Poland 07:59 Perfect. Abigail, thank you so much for your time and your insights. Folks, savvysalesstrategy.com/15steps. Thanks, Abigail! Abigail Tiefenthaler 08:08 You’re welcome. Tom Poland 08:10 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Increase Sales of Your Self-help or How-to Book on Amazon – In Just 7 Minutes with Geoff Affleck | 12 Oct 2022 | 00:07:08 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Are you planning on publishing a book, but don’t know how to start? Or maybe you’ve already done it but wonder why it’s not selling the way you want it to. Publishing a book is a great way to put yourself out there, sell yourself and your product, and increase your leads and sales. But how can you maximize the potential of your book, especially online in the busy and bustling marketplace? Geoff Affleck has helped hundreds of authors to publish, launch and promote #1 bestselling books ranging from Kindle eBooks to New York Times bestsellers. Listen in to Geoff and find out what are the things you should be doing and you should be avoiding as a first-time author in a busy online marketplace, like Amazon, and get your sales sky high! Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “If someone has a book that's not selling, figure out why it's not selling. And then fix it.” -Geoff AffleckClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I am Tom Poland beaming out to you from the Sunshine Coast in Australia joined today by another Australian but not in Australia. Geoff Affleck, a very warm g’day from Down Under. Sir, where are you hanging out? Geoff Affleck 00:25 Good day, Tom. Yes, I’m hanging out on Vancouver Island, British Columbia where I’ve lived for about the last half of my life, but formerly Melbourne. Tom Poland 00:33 For what, 15 years? Geoff Affleck 00:35 Yeah, that’s right! 15 years. Tom Poland 00:36 And where did you hang out from originally? Geoff Affleck 00:39 Melbourne. Tom Poland 00:40 Everyone’s going to want to know the most important question in the whole interview is why did you go to Vancouver Island? Geoff Affleck 00:45 Skiing, and, of course, there was a girl. Tom Poland 00:49 Bet there was. Okay, so thank you for that. A little bit of background, folks. Other information you didn’t know about Geoff. He’s helped, literally, hundreds of authors to publish, launch and promote the part most people forget about. He’s the number one bestseller ranging from Kindle eBooks to New York Times bestsellers. And as we all know, books are one of the biggest credibility builders and door openers in the world of Marketing the Invisible, so I can’t wait. So, let’s get rock and roll! How to Increase Sales of Your Self Help or How-to Book on Amazon. Geoff, our time starts now. Sir, question number one, who is your ideal client? Geoff Affleck 01:33 So, my ideal client is someone who’s a thought leader, professional, basically an expert. They may have already published self-help, how-to business, health, relationships, and spirituality book, or planning to publish one in the next 12 months. And they understand that a successful book is a really important tool for positioning themselves as an expert in generating new leads and clients. Tom Poland 01:58 Perfect! And question number two, therefore, six and a half minutes left. Tell us about the problem you solve. I suspect it has something to do with getting the book sold. Geoff Affleck 02:07 Yeah. So, I would say there are two. There’s the problem of publishing the book. So how do I strategically publish it? How do I successfully publish a nonfiction book? And the other would be how to sell copies. And one of the things I find that I canceled for people is, how do you revive a book that is not selling? Tom Poland 02:25 Oh, interesting. I’ve got half a bookshelf for those. Because a lot of- folks, you know, I know when I did my first book. You know, you’re going to get into the book shops, and they’ll be there at the airport. And you know, people will be stopping me in the streets asking for autographs and so on. And it just doesn’t happen, then I picked up very quickly, is there a link between how and where you publish? And how easy it is to market the book later? Geoff Affleck 02:52 Not necessarily. I think, you know, most people are all in the same places except maybe you’re not in book shops if you haven’t gone through a traditional publisher. Most people are buying their books on Amazon. Tom Poland 03:05 Yeah. Okay. Thank you for that clarification. So, tell me, question number three is what are the symptoms that people are experiencing with this problem you help with? Tell us the symptoms. And I guess the simple symptom is the books aren’t selling, right? Geoff Affleck 03:16 That would be one of them. So, one of them is that their sales have stalled, maybe they never took off in the first place. And so, therefore, you know, the book is not doing what it was designed to do, which was to build its credibility, build its brand, bring in new leads, and clients. It might even be hurting their image if you go to Amazon and you see that the book only got three reviews and is right next to the 2 million on the best seller list. The other symptom would be is if they have not published. You know, they probably, these folks, you know, you know that you should publish a book to build your credibility. But perhaps the problem is that you feel overwhelmed and maybe confused about how you do it. And how do you produce it? How do you publish it? How do you launch, and promote it? And how do you leverage it? And so, you might be feeling a symptom like your business isn’t growing the way it might, and perhaps the book, not having a book to be the problem that we need to address. Tom Poland 04:10 So, there are two issues, really, that you’re addressing. One is that folks that have a look inside them, and then they don’t know, then they need to get out. But then- how to do that. But the other very interesting one, which I imagine, is a bit of a specialty is the book is already out there but is simply not selling. Very quickly, which is the easiest one for you to work with? I presume it’s the ones that are starting from scratch. Geoff Affleck 04:31 Yeah, well, the one starting from scratch, you know, we’ve got a process to go through, right? So, it’s a fairly manageable process because everything at this point is within our control, so we can plan accordingly. We can avoid the mistakes that a lot of self-published authors and traditionally published authors make and do things right in the first place. And then six months out or 12 months, we’ve got the book published and launched and set it up for success. To turn around a book that’s not selling depends on why it’s not selling. And there’s often some corrective action that we have to take in order to fix those issues. Tom Poland 05:07 They’re still manageable. So, you mentioned mistakes, three minutes left. Question four, what would you say are some of the common mistakes? And maybe, yeah, let’s- that people make. The book’s not selling, so they’re going to do stuff. What are some of the big mistakes that people make? Geoff Affleck 05:22 Well, the first thing is that they often have published the book themselves, which is highly recommended, but they didn’t know what they were doing. Why would they? It’s their first time publishing a book, how would you know? So, there are mistakes that are made, without even being aware of it. That’s something that I do specialize in. It’s a process called Amazon optimization, where we take your Amazon listing, and look at what’s going on. And we see, well, why aren’t people a.) discovering your book, b.) clicking and looking at it? And if they are clicking and looking at it, why aren’t they buying it? So, there’s, you know, there’s the see-click-buy, and we have to diagnose what’s the problem. So, it could be a mistake in the cover design. It could be a mistake in the title. Maybe there are no good keywords in the subtitle, so the search engine can’t pull it up because it doesn’t know it exists. So, we’ve got those issues to deal with. So that’s just, you know, inadvertent mistakes because they self-published. And then we have the problem- sorry, go ahead. One more quick thing. People, those folks who are thinking of publishing, often waste a lot of time trying to get a traditional publisher to take their book on. And what they should be doing is building their platform, rather than wasting time getting rejected by publishers who are looking to see if they’ve got a big email list, if they’ve got a platform. They’re not going to bite, they don’t care about your book, they just care where you’re going to sell them. Tom Poland 06:45 And very often, well, you’ve alluded to it already. But when you do, if you do get a publisher and they go, “Okay, then good. Thanks, Tom. How are you going to market it?” “Well, I thought you were going to publish it?” “No, we just send books out”. So, real quick, because we’ve got 60 seconds left. A couple of questions still to go. A top tip, please, real quick. 10 seconds. Geoff Affleck 07:05 A top tip? I would say what that would be is to make sure that inside your book, right after the copyright page, you have a separate page with a valuable free offer on that page. You know, a headline or a quick description, a picture of it, whatever it is, and then a link to your landing page right inside your book. And then you repeat that through the book. Tom Poland 07:30 Through the book, thank you, because that’s going to get traffic back to your website. It’s going to get you, email subscribers. You can then- a valuable free resource folk is geoffaffleck, that’s G-E-O-F-F, Affleck, as in Ben, .com/ebook. Go get it! Question seven, sir, is one question I should have asked you, but didn’t. We have 10 seconds left. Geoff Affleck 07:50 We’ve kind of alluded to it, but I want to be specific. If someone has a book that’s not selling, figure out why it’s not selling. And then fix it. Tom Poland 08:01 Thanks so much for your time. Geoff Affleck 08:02 Hey, welcome. This is fun. Thanks, Tom. Tom Poland 08:05 Hey, everyone, it’s Tom here again. Hey, just quickly, I kind of cut Geoff off a bit there. And it was my bad because I asked him a couple of extra questions. So, I just wanted to give him his offer a little plug. It’s geoffaffleck.com/ebook, and what you’re going to get there are five things every first-time author needs to know about how to publish a book and build your platform. It’s a great little eBook! You can download it for free. I just wanted to give a kind of another plug, as I said, because I ran him a bit short because I asked a couple of extra questions that I wasn’t meant to. So go get it! We’re not an affiliate for Geoff. We’re just recommending his product because we think it’s going to help you build your brand and generate more clients who are having a book that’s actually selling well. Cheers! Tom Poland 08:50 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Master Cold Outreach with Personal Video – In Just 7 Minutes with Dave Holloway | 05 Oct 2022 | 00:09:10 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you find your business in that volume-driven-automated leads approach that pushes people away rather than attracts your ideal market? Are you tired of spending your time, money, and efforts on things that aren’t getting you anywhere? Have you considered an approach your relevant prospects find hard to resist? Dave Holloway helps businesses to sell on value, not price. Hear him talk about the most important aspects of good business development and find the most relevant and right people to do business with among the millions out there. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “If you're looking to improve your outbound sales, you need to be concentrating on the smallest viable audience for your business.” -Dave HollowayClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible! I’ve just had a bowl with Dave Holloway. Dave, good day, Sir. Very well, where are you calling in from? Dave Holloway 00:20 Hello, Tom. I’m calling in from Leeds in the north of the UK this morning. Tom Poland 00:24 Right, and we’ve compared climates and fixed half the world’s political problems and religious… So, I think we’re ready for the interview. For those who don’t know, Dave, I actually, I stumbled across Dave, we had actually… I’d forgotten we were actually presented at a summit together. And I was on LinkedIn and something popped up, and there was Dave’s book, and I bought the book, and it arrived, and I devoured it. I thought it was an absolute cracker day; I really did. I thought it was so well thought out, pragmatic because so many books are a bit of a tease, you know, For a bit of a brochure, really! But yours was really solid. So, folks, I reached out to Dave and said, ‘Look, I’d love to have you on the show.’ And he’s graciously consented, with a small postponement due to the arrival of a new nephew for which we congratulate you today. In addition to writing a fabulous book, Dave is the owner of the shortest bio in the world, which consists of nine words. I asked him for his bio, and all I got was, ‘I help businesses to sell on value, not price.’, which is great. The subject of the interview is slightly different, How to Master Cold Outreach, which is tricky, but With Personal Video. Dave, our seven minutes starts now. Question one, who is your ideal client? Dave Holloway 01:36 So, my ideal client, Tom, is B2B businesses that want to sell on value to premium businesses that want to sell on value rather than price. Tom Poland 01:45 Perfect. Thank you. Question two, almost seven minutes left. What’s the problem you solve? Dave Holloway 01:50 So, I help people overcome their challenges with proactive business developments and new business developments? Tom Poland 01:59 Right. Okay. And so, how would…Question three, how would someone know that they need your services? What are the symptoms, what’s going on in their business where they think… Find out what Dave Holloway does. Six and a half. Dave Holloway 02:11 So, I know the symptoms really well, Tom, because I suffered from these exact problems myself running a business for more than 10 years, where outbound sales and new business development was my number one headache. And the problems, the common experience are: feeling like you’re wasting time, that money, and your energy on activities that really don’t feel like they’re getting you anywhere, they’re either getting you very, very little response, or they’re not getting any at all. So, it feels like you’re just stuck in a bit of a… in the mud, so to speak. And so, the problem is that when a business operates like that, it finds itself very much in a kind of a reactive sales mode, where they are dealing with inbound inquiries or waiting for the business to come to them, which is fine. You know, there’s certainly a place for inbound sales. But that means the buyer has all the power in the sales conversation. And so, you’re not leading on value. And it’s very easy for a business to find itself stagnating or vulnerable; if suppliers suddenly drop off or frameworks change, you lose a huge portion of your income, and you don’t have any means of being able to proactively replace it. So, those are the typical symptoms I’ve experienced. Tom Poland 03:34 A great, great picture you just painted. Thank you for that. Five minutes left. We’re talking about business owners that are growth orientated. They’re not going to sit on their date and do nothing. They’re going to make some mistakes, though. So, what are some of the mistakes that your new clients tell you they made before they started working with you? Dave Holloway 03:54 So, typically, the main thing that people fall into the trap of is turning to two things; they turn to volume as a solution. So, the first one is they think, right, I’ve got to just hit out as many people as possible in hopes that some of them are in the market for what we do at that exact time. And they’re really searching for the needles in a haystack. And that’s all they’re focused on. They’re just solely focused on those people with an immediate pressing need. And they often use the second problem, which is automation, to do that. So, they’ll rely heavily on automated funnels to sort of drive a prospect to action, when in reality that actually has the opposite effect. It ends up pushing people away. And those communications, that sort of volume-driven-automated approach, where it’s pushing for action actually push people in the opposite way. It burns a lot of bridges that you could build over time. Tom Poland 04:52 So, is it your observation that people going through those funnels feel like you know, one sheep and have very large flocks? Dave Holloway 05:01 So, the thing is, that is exactly it. And the problem is, is that you cannot tailor a conversation to someone and make it relevant when you’re dealing on scale. And so, new business development is effective when you are dealing with relevancy to an individual where you have value that you can offer them that they would benefit from. But it’s very difficult to do that if you’re operating at scale. Tom Poland 05:26 Powerful word relevancy. So, let’s, let’s flip it now. Let’s go, question five, three minutes left. What would you say was a valuable free action? What’s the big idea that someone could use to give away from being irrelevant…something that is actually going to work? Dave Holloway 05:44 So, I think the way to get around this is that people need to really change their mindset to something instead of looking for sort of something that you can scale as easily as possible, an outbound approach that you can scale. You need to be looking for ways that are as difficult as possible to scale. So, what is it like? Those are the things that get you noticed in this day and age. Now, at Wonder Leads, we champion the use of high-quality, individually personalized video, which is sent to relevant prospects. And the reason that that helps when you’re dealing… when you’re thinking, right, how can I do this level that’s just about sufficient for my business needs? Does it really make you focus on the people whom you can get the most value from in terms of they will see the most value in what your business does? And, really, it’s about trying to think of an approach that will be too good for your prospect to ignore. So, it’s a very different mindset where you’re just looking to try and plant lots of healthy seeds. Tom Poland 06:53 It has nice concepts, too, because, I mean, in going where, you know, and not traveling the road that is more traveled. You have less competitors, I guess. Well, let’s skip question six for the sake of time, sorry. Eighty seconds left, a valuable free resource, where can we send folks to so they’re going to find out more about your strategies and methods? Dave Holloway 07:15 Okay, so we have a free resource pack, a companion to my book, Wonder Leads, which can help give you some pointers and starters to help you get started on the world of personalized video if that is something that you want to explore. And if you go to wonderleads.com/freestuff, you’ll be able to download it free from there. Tom Poland 07:34 Perfect, folks. It’s www.wonderleads.com/freestuff. No commission changing hands here. We’re just promoting Dave because I reckon his stuff is darn good. So, go get it at wonderleads.com/freestuff. Last question, sir. Question seven. What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t, and the answer in 35 seconds? Dave Holloway 07:54 Well, what is the most important aspect of good business development? And for me, that answer is focus. And so, if you’re looking to like improve your outbound sales, you need to be concentrating on the smallest viable audience for your business. Because the one that makes it much easier to find the right people out of all the millions you have available, and when I contact them, they’re more likely to respond favorably because you’re a specialist in their world. Tom Poland 08:23 Perfect. Dave Holloway, thanks so much for your wisdom, insights, and your time. Dave Holloway 08:26 Thanks, Tom. Cheers! Tom Poland 08:29 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Quadruple Your Income Without Spending Money on Ads – In Just 7 Minutes with Lilach Bullock | 28 Sep 2022 | 00:06:58 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Are you always scared that your leads and sales might not be the same the next month or the next year? Do you want to charge what you’re worth, and maybe even more? Lilach Bullock has been listed in Forbes as one of the Top 20 Women Social Media Power Influencers. She has also been crowned the Social Influencer of Europe by Oracle. She is a recipient of a Global Women Champions Award for her outstanding contribution and leadership in business. Get an over-the-shoulder experience on how Lilach turns prospects into long-term clients and how you can get out of the financial plateau and get increasing leads monthly without the stress of ads! Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “The truth is every single lead generation tactic works, every single thing! The key is to do it consistently.” -Lilach BullockClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the sunny Sunshine Coast in Australia, joined today by Lilach Bullock. Lilach, good day. A very warm welcome from Down Under. Whereabouts are you calling in from? Lilach Bullock 00:24 Hi! Thank you so much, Tom. So, I’m actually in sunny Israel, but I’m from the UK originally. Tom Poland 00:32 Right and well, that’s quite interesting, what a cultural shift. And a little birdie told me you’ve been there for about four years now. so fully acclimatized, are we? Lilach Bullock 00:40 Oh my goodness, I still struggle with the language like you wouldn’t believe! It’s going really well. We’ve just finally bought a place here as well. So yeah, and my daughter’s just finishing graduating school. So, it’s gone really, really well. Tom Poland 00:55 Well, folks, if you haven’t heard Lilach, she’s actually been listed in Forbes as one of the top 20 Women Social Media Power Influencers, which is pretty freakin’ incredible! When you think of all the social influencers, and our guest today is one of the top 20. She was crowned the Social Influencer of Europe by Oracle, the software company, some pretty heavy hitters. She is a recipient of a Global Women Champions Award for her outstanding contribution and leadership in business. So, a real privilege to have you here today. Lilach, thank you for joining us. The title of our little interview today is, “How to- dramatic pause- Quadruple Your Sales Without Spending Any Money on Ads”. Cool. Let’s rock and roll! Our seven minutes start now. Who is your ideal client, Lilach? Lilach Bullock 01:48 For my ideal clients are B2B entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, B2B market coaches, consultants. People who are looking to grow and scale their businesses, basically. Tom Poland 02:02 Perfect! And question two, six and a half minutes left, how would you define the problem that you solve? Lilach Bullock 02:08 There’s lots of different problems that entrepreneurs face. Primarily, it’s how can they charge what they’re worth and more? How can they create consistent leads? How can they then convert and close them into sales? How can they, simple things, like knowing how much money they’re making next month? Being able to forecast, being able to juggle the entrepreneurial journey, the mindset challenges, being the most productive, efficient and effective with their time, and making the right decisions and prioritizing, being totally focused, taking massive action, consistent action and the right actions, which are going to help them move the goals closer, move the needle closer to the goals that they want to achieve. Tom Poland 02:53 There’s a few challenges in there. So, what would you say is, this is question three, what would you say are some of the typical symptoms that your ideal clients, once they become your client, they told you that they were suffering from before they were your clients? Five and a half minutes left. Lilach Bullock 03:08 So, it’s very- I love this question because, often, what people think is the problem. It isn’t a problem when you dig deeper into it. So, take, for example, people who are afraid to put their prices up, or just charge what they know their worth. And there’s two parts to this problem. One is they’re basing their pricing on what they see around them. And we all know that the stats are that 97% of entrepreneurs are not successful. So, they’re basing this pricing model, plucking things out in the air, basing it on 97% of other people who also have no idea what they’re doing, and probably not taking it very well. So that’s one part of the problem. The other part of the problem is total fear, because they don’t have enough leads coming to them. They have a lead generation problem. They think they have a pricing problem. They think that they’re not charging enough, but actually they have a lead generation problem. They’re simply not generating enough leads consistently so that they can say no to people, so that they can pick and choose who they want to work with. And so that they can forecast and see how much money they’re making next month, etc. So, they work from fear, panic, and just not enough knowledge. And we all know that knowledge is power. Tom Poland 04:21 So, thank you for that. Question four, just over four minutes left. We’re talking about growth orientated individuals here that don’t have enough clients coming in. They probably aren’t charging what they’re worth based out of fear, but they’re still going to try stuff. So, what would you say are some of the most common mistakes that these entrepreneurs are making before they find your solution? Lilach Bullock 04:42 I think the most common mistakes, and this is often perpetuated by the industry online, is how easy everything is. The reality is, is that we’re living in a very saturated competitive marketplace. And most people get bored too quickly. They just don’t realize the amount of huge action which is required, and the consistency involved in that. And they say, “Well, no one’s listening.” So, there’s just so many challenges. And I feel for entrepreneurs starting out today because, you know, I’ve been doing this for nearly 18 years. So, for me, I already have a margin. I already have a big idea. So, for me, if I post something out automatically, it’s going to generate reach. But when you’re starting out or your reach is small, or if you’ve had to pivot, which many of us have had to during Corona, then your message, you know, you could have the best message in the world, but it simply won’t be getting heard as much as somebody else who’s got a really large network. Tom Poland 05:44 Wow, thank you for that. So, question five, three minutes left, what would you say is one, a top tip, a valuable free action that someone could take that’s going to shift them closer towards being able to quadruple their income without spending money on advertisements? Lilach Bullock 05:59 So yeah, again, love these questions. I think, ultimately, is to do what everybody else isn’t doing. Because as I said earlier, the market is so saturated. It’s so competitive. Everyone’s saying the same stuff. Nobody’s being bold enough to have a unique and strong voice. Be controversial. Be raw. Be honest. Be transparent. The key here is to be memorable and visible. And when you get those two combinations combined with consistency, that’s a winning formula. Tom Poland 06:30 Perfect! Thank you for that. Two minutes left, question six, one valuable free resource. Where can we direct folks to that’s going to help them more with this problem? Lilach Bullock 06:40 Yeah, sure. So, I have an eBook. I say it’s an eBook. It’s really a very short, quick guide, because I know that people have a short attention span on how to overcome eight money blocks. And there’s the most eight common blocks there and you can download it, overcome your money blocks and charge what you’re worth and beyond. Tom Poland 07:00 So that’s at www., L-I-L-A-C-H, Bullock, B-U, double L, O-C-K.com/8, and that’s the number eight, -money-blocks. It’ll be under the video, if you’re watching the video. But if you haven’t, then go get it. L-I- L-A-C-H, bullock.com/8, that’s number eight, -money-blocks. Last question, what’s the one question I should have asked you, but didn’t? And we’ve got a full 60 seconds to answer. Lilach Bullock 07:30 So, I think we touched on it earlier about people not having the right expectations about business. And they think it’s so easy and then they get bored because it’s taking too long. Everyone asked me what is the top lead generation tactic you should be doing? And the truth is that every single lead generation tactic works– every single thing! Whether that’s sending messages, whether it’s doing cold email outreach, or LinkedIn outreach, or ads or whatever it is that you’re doing, networking, webinars. The key is to do it consistently. And to take massive, massive action. I really can’t emphasize this enough. When people say things aren’t working, reality is, is that they need to do it more and they need to do it better and stronger. Also, don’t be afraid to ask. People are so nervous to ask for a sale. It’s like we’re all here to sell. What’s the point in networking? Everyone’s here to sell. Just ask. Don’t be afraid. Tom Poland 08:29 Thanks so much for your time and your insights. Cheers! Tom Poland 07:29 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Craft Messaging that Moves People into Action – In Just 7 Minutes with Dawn Apuan | 21 Sep 2022 | 00:09:22 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you feel like your ads are getting you nowhere anymore? Feeling the stress of trying to get booked out and increasing your sales? Want to know how you can effortlessly achieve those? Your product isn’t the only one that matters in your business. Your marketing- specifically crafting your message- plays a crucial role in magnetizing your clients and keeping your business at a constant high in sales. Dawn Apuan is an expert copywriter and funnel strategist who helps coaches sell out even their most expensive offers. Sit back and listen in as Dawn shares how crafting your message and giving more attention to your copywriting increases your chances of getting booked out by thousands with little to no effort at all! Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “Get super clear on what I call your ‘one-liner,’ the ability to say what you do in 10 words or less. Once you get clear on that, it makes everything easier.” -Dawn ApuanClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone. A very warm welcome to, yet, another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the sunny Sunshine Coast in Australia, joined today by Dawn Apuan. Dawn, good day from Down Under. Where are you hanging out? Dawn Apuan 00:24 Hey, Tom! I live near Seattle, Washington. So West Coast of the US. Tom Poland 00:28 Seattle, so you’ve got what? Springs sprung, coming into summer. Dawn Apuan 00:33 Oh, we’re getting there. Not quite as sunny as your neck of the woods, but- Tom Poland 00:38 Seattle’s one of those places that has to be dragged out of winter, sort of kicking and screaming and- Dawn Apuan 00:42 Pretty much. We’ve had, I think, the wettest and coldest spring on record. So, we’re a little drenched up here. Tom Poland 00:51 We just had one of the hottest weather summers up here in the north of Australia. But let’s get off climate and onto you. For those of you who haven’t heard of Dawn, she’s an expert copywriter and funnel strategist, which is just a fabulous specialty, where you can craft the right marketing messages and have the people that are actually your ideal clients notice the marketing message and motivate them to take action. She helps coaches sell out even their most expensive offers. Dawn, you have a gift, a skill, a capability that the world desperately needs because so many people have 10 out of 10 coaching ability or consulting ability, but 2 out of 10 marketing messages. So, folks, we’re going to help you with that today with Dawn. I’m just going to sit back and ask the questions. The title is, “How to Craft Marketing Messages that Moves People to Action”. And, folks, this is just so critical because if you’re sick of being at networking meetings and people, you know, they ask you what you do, and you try out your elevator pitch, your USP, and you know, their eyes glaze over, then you need to talk with Dawn. So, let’s kick off, Dawn. Question number one, our time starts now, who’s your ideal client? Dawn Apuan 02:02 My ideal clients are online coaches who have digital courses and group programs like a mastermind. Tom Poland 02:09 Which is- Dawn Apuan 02:13 There is a lot in that space. And I have niched down mostly to the business and the spiritual space. But I’ve helped our clients with everything from wedding planners to horse trainers and everything in between. So, I love the variety that it brings! Tom Poland 02:28 Alright, that keeps you stimulated. So, let’s go to question number two, six and a half minutes left. What would you say is the problem that you solve for these folks? Dawn Apuan 02:36 Yeah, the biggest problem that I solve for people is not getting the right messaging, not knowing how to say what they do in a concise way that actually inspires people to take action. We call it conversion copy. So, your words actually convert into a sale. In a more concise way, I make my clients a whole lot more money. It’s what I love to do. I love getting messages from them that says, “Hey, I mean 9k overnight”, or “Hey, I made 22 overnight.” Those are super fun to get. And I know that they’re happy making more money, and they’re making a bigger impact on the world. Tom Poland 03:12 Yeah, and helping people while making money is twin objectives that seem to often go together. So, question three, five and a half minutes left, what would you say are the typical symptoms that someone who would be an ideal client for you is experiencing in their business right now? What’s going on where they might get the heads up, and go, “Yeah, I need to find out more about what Dawn’s teaching.” Dawn Apuan 03:34 Yeah, it’s business owners who often have launched a program a couple of times or their digital course, and they’re just not getting the sales that they want. You know, there’s this idea that funnels are like unicorns, and they’re just, you know, you build it, and they will come. And really, you need a good copy to sell things online. And so, a lot of my clients have their products, have their offers, they’ve sold them, but they want to sell more. And so that is where I come in, and they just are frustrated. They don’t have the time to put into it, and they don’t have the skill set, quite honestly, to have a trained copywriter. And that’s okay! I really believe that they should stay in their zone of genius and hire a copywriter to be in their zone of genius. Tom Poland 04:16 Right. And based on my experience, albeit if anyone had this experience, but it’s something that’s developed, of course, but it also is something that just comes more naturally to some people than others. And so, I guess what I’m saying, folks, is that if you really struggle with words, you should probably, as Dawn has put it so well and stay in your zone of genius and get someone else to help that. What would you say, question four, four minutes left, what would you say are some of the common mistakes that people make? They’re not getting noticed. Their funnels aren’t getting filled if you like, but they’re going to try stuff because they’re ambitious and goal orientated and they do want to help people, they do want to make more money. What would you say are some of the common mistakes people make? Dawn Apuan 04:54 Now the two biggest ones I see are either not hiring a copywriter or hiring a cheap and expensive one like at an agency. That’s the first big mistake. The second big mistake is Facebook ads. Investing in Facebook ads, before you’re actually ready. people think, “Oh, I’ll just throw money at ads, and then I’ll make more money.” And it’s not as magical as it seems. And a lot of money can get wasted. When you just, at the end of the day, you could make so much more money, if you just took what you were initially going to invest in ads, and invest in a copywriter. The thing is, you know, ads like all the cool kids are running ads, it’s the sexy things to do. It’s not awesome to hire a copywriter. But it’s really awesome when you start making way more money. So that’s the biggest mistake, I think. Tom Poland 05:43 Facebook advertising is like California and got rushed. You know, it’s the people making the money, not the people doing the digging. They’re not people that are building the funnels, they’re people supplying the tools and platforms. So, folks, take half of what you are going to invest in advertising and go find someone like Dawn to get the message right before you waste money on advertising. Let’s talk about moving forward. Question five, three minutes left, one valuable free action. Give us a top tip. People probably want to reach out to you and, folks, we don’t do any affiliate commissions here. So, this is just my recommendation. You do reach out to Dawn, tell you a bit in a moment. But in the meantime, Dawn, something that’ll take people a step in the right direction and give them a bit of a hand up? Dawn Apuan 06:22 Yeah, I would say get super clear on what I call your “one-liner”. So, the ability to say what you do in 10 words or less. Yes, I promise it’s possible. I’ll give you the simple formula right now. It is just “I help “person” be, do or have “XYZ result”.” So some examples of that would be like, “I help new moms fit their skinny jeans again”, “I help homeowners eliminate their electric bills”, “I help coaches get sales within 24 hours.” Those are a couple of examples. So, once you get clear on that, it makes everything easier. Tom Poland 06:58 Each of those three is pure genius! So, there’s the formula, folks. Dawn’s going to help you some more. Dawn, question six, 90 seconds left, is a valuable free resource. Where can people go to find out more about your work and get even more great ideas? Dawn Apuan 07:12 Yeah, at my website, which is www.dawnapuan.com/copykeys, you’ll find my high-ticket Copy Keys eBook, where you’ll get 15 proven keys to help you sell more. And when you opt into that you get a five-video training series that is going to help your copy so much. Tom Poland 07:32 Excellent! So that’s Dawn, as in the sun’s coming up, A for airport, P for pivot, U-A, N for Nigel, .com. Dawnapuan.com/copykeys as in, put it in the door and open the door. Fifty seconds left, Dawn. What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? Dawn Apuan 07:52 What am I most proud of in life and business? Tom Poland 07:55 And what is Dawn Apuan most proud of? Dawn Apuan 07:59 I’m most proud of being a mom, but that is closely integrated into my business because I started my business because of becoming a mom. I used to be a pastor with my husband. We also were executive directors of a non-profit. And we gave up the security of that job, a fully furnished home, cars provided for us, basically our whole entire life, we walked away for me to build my business so that I could raise my daughter. And I took my copywriting business from zero to six figures in 11 months and then doubled that in my second year, retired my husband, wrote an Amazon best-selling book telling the story so that I could inspire others. Tom Poland 08:40 Brilliant! Dawn, thanks so much for your time. Dawn Apuan 08:43 Absolutely. Thank you! Tom Poland 08:45 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Listen to Your Own Ideas and Make Waves and Get Noticed in Your Marketplace – In Just 7 Minutes with Hillary Weiss | 14 Sep 2022 | 00:07:42 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you struggle with finding out the root of what you’re good at and adding a bit of pizzazz to your brand? Have you been trying to channel your inner creativity to get out of that snooze-worthy branding and digital content? Are you ready to find out how to become the statement piece in your industry and be everyone’s go-to brand? Hillary Weiss is a creative director, messaging strategist, coach, and speaker. Every day, she helps hyper-competent business owners like you (and your teams) turn big, brazen ideas into clear concepts that captivate the planet. Find out how Hillary helps her clients (and you!) become the statement piece in your industry instead of being the world’s best-kept secret through diving into your creative space while making waves and profit. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “It's self-trust that's essential to take that big step, making that movement, taking that leap, and they actually need less information and more focus on action.” -Hillary WeissClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Welcome, everyone, to another fun edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from Sunshine Beach, meeting today with a fresh and frisky Hillary Weiss. Hillary, good day! A very warm welcome from down under, where are you hanging out? Hillary Weiss 00:23 I’m in beautiful Brooklyn, New York. It’s wonderful to be here! Thanks so much for having me, Tom. Tom Poland 00:26 How do you say coffee in Brooklyn? Do you say it like with an R? You say it like “Coffee”? Hillary Weiss 00:32 No, we actually just say coffee. So, I’m from South Florida, so I’m a transplant. But I think you’re thinking, sometimes “coffee”. There’s a W in the New York pronunciation of coffee, especially the Brooklyn front station coffee. So, it’s not coffee, it’s coffee. Tom Poland 00:47 Coffee. Okay. Hillary Weiss 00:49 There we go. Perfect! Tom Poland 00:49 -Is what I say, as long as it’s in my cup and I’m drinking it, I don’t mind what you call it. Folks, Hillary and I worked together before and she’s just flat-out fun and a breath of fresh air. She has this- so her unique thing is how to take you and shine the spotlight on you and your personality and your beliefs and what you stand for. Because a lot of us find when we articulate that or try to present that on our website, it kind of looks templated or muddy. Hillary knows how to get you shining brightly, and how to get noticed, but for you and not for some marketing formula thing. She’s a creative director. She’s a messaging strategist. My goodness! She has some cool stuff about how to articulate your brilliance. She’s a coach. She’s a speaker. Every day, she helps really competent business owners just like you and your team turn big, brazen ideas into clear concepts and captivate the planet. Ta-da! Thank you, Hillary. Thank you to Hillary’s mom who wrote that bio. I did add my own flavor at the start there, from what I know. I’ll give you, Hillary. Hillary Weiss 01:58 No worries. Tom Poland 01:58 Our title today is, which we co- we co-wrote this, didn’t we? Hillary Weiss 02:03 We did! Indeed. We’re a collaboration. Tom Poland 02:05 Collaborative effort! “How to Listen to Your Own Ideas and Make Waves and Get Noticed in Your Marketplace”. Now, our seven minutes start now. Hillary, question number one is who’s your ideal client? Hillary Weiss 02:17 So, I work with creative service providers, coaches, consultants, and strategists who are really, really fantastic at what they do but are right now still best-kept secrets in their corner of the industry. So, they’re phenomenal at what they do, no one knows about them yet. And they want to create really phenomenal, standout personal brands that don’t just represent who they are and what they do so phenomenally well, but also give them a platform to continue to grow– to grow their thought leadership platform, to speak, to teach, whatever it is that they want to do. The bulk of my work is- yes, creative direction and messaging strategy, but positioning coaching, as well, is a big core of what I do, because that’s the focus of positioning itself, I find. Tom Poland 02:54 Sweet spot. Thank you! Tell us about the problem you solve. Six and a half minutes left. Hillary Weiss 02:58 Oh, I just got into it. See, I’m a fast talker! I’m getting ahead of myself here. I’m killing it right now. Has everyone heard that? But no, the sort of problem that I solve is, again, for these best-kept secret business owners. A big problem with creatives is that so many of them are so intelligent, so hard-working, so, at such a high level, of output, and have such a high level of client work. They don’t have the ability to sort of see the forest or the trees of what they’re doing so well. So, nine times out of 10, a client will come to me and say like, “Hey, I want to do this. I need to figure out my most powerful position in the market. I want to be a strong personal brand. I want to speak. I want to teach, but I have no idea how I do what I do so well. Maybe this whole thing was actually a fluke. Clients keep coming. I have a strong referral network, but I want to be generating more leads. I want to be sharing content. I want to be putting myself out there, but I have no clue what makes me different, or what makes me stand out in the marketplace. Can you help me?” And luckily, I said, “And the answer is yeah.” Tom Poland 03:56 Right. So, question three is what are some of the typical symptoms? And we’ve already mentioned a few. I mean, they feel like they’re the world’s best-kept secret. You know, there’s like they’re under their hundred fluke. In other words, they’ve got 100 successful clients, and they still think, “Wow, I’m getting lucky here.” So, let’s talk about symptoms. And we’ve got five minutes left. Is one of the symptoms that they really are- they create some brilliant ideas and put them out in the marketplace and they hear crickets? Hillary Weiss 04:20 Yes, absolutely! Because so often, they don’t have a clear plan for how to roll it out. They haven’t really done content strategy before. A lot of them haven’t launched. Because a lot of the way people come up in the creative service provider world like coaches, copywriters, designers, strategists, all those guys, they are often really handed to mouth with their work. So, it’s like okay, “Project, let me deliver. All right.” So, there’s just not an opportunity for them to think through the strategy of rolling out, of what it takes to show up consistently, of what it takes to create an offer for a really specific target because, again, they’re just so close to their work every single day that they need somebody to help them pull back, figure out what the game plan is. And also make sure their offers are really powerfully positioned and targeted for the people they want to be working with. So that when they get that in front of their ideal client, it’s a no-brainer and an immediate “yes”. Tom Poland 05:09 Gets cut through and motivate people to want to know more. Thank you! Four minutes left. Let’s talk a bit more about some of the common mistakes because again, you’re ahead of your time. We’re talking about bright people. They’re typically smart people. They’re hard-working. They are not going to feel fulfilled. And that’s a real driver for them. Unless they’re getting noticed unless they’re helping people and getting a cut through. So, they’re trying stuff is what I’m saying, what would you say are some of the most common mistakes they make in trying to solve this problem? Three and a half minutes left. Hillary Weiss 05:37 Oh, you’re eating into my time? Oh, my God, no! The biggest mistake I find is that people tend to overload information. I have this email that goes out to my list that says, “Stop unhinging your jaw.” It talks about how Python eats a cow. And it’s just very slowly. And so that is the inclination of creatives to just take in more and more information, because surely, once they know everything, they’ll be ready to act. But actually, it’s self-trust that’s essential to take that big step, making that movement, taking that leap, and they actually need less information and more focus on action. Tom Poland 06:07 And that’s one of the things we talked about before we started recording. The best stuff, folks, happens before I press the record button. You know, you talked about people hearing their own ideas, and understanding that they’re often goals. Probably not one of the ideas, I used to drink a bottle of red wine and have ideas into lower ground. Well, breakers the next morning, I wake up and say “What?” Not those ones. Just a little bit. Now I’m going to stop the clock for this. Tell us a little bit more. Question six is a valuable free action. So, let’s take a little time to go. How do people listen to their own thoughts? And which ones are good? Which ones are rubbish? Tell us a little bit about that. Hillary Weiss 06:50 So, this, the which ones are great and which ones are rubbish, unfortunately, it comes with practice. And it’s really important to get into that zone of- I think it’s so tempting, especially, with the availability of social media, to treat your audience, even if it’s tiny, like a focus group, and just crowdsourcing every opinion, either from experts that you follow from your own audience being like, “What should I do?” to asking your mom. People tend to create via a committee in the creative space, which they really shouldn’t! Because all the best work comes from going within, thinking about “Okay, how do I do this? How do I see this? How would I solve this problem that I’m talking about in a way that is backed up by my own experience? What’s the answer here? And what’s my answer?” And I think sort of taking the time and the discipline to reflect on that before in or, better yet, without crowdsourcing outside opinions is how your best work gets done. And I actually have a freebie called the Statement Piece Framework and which is all about creating standout content by learning to listen to your own ideas. And we kind of have three categories of places where your best ideas come from, and they’re often conversations. When you’re going back and forth with somebody when you are and the three kinds of buckets. Am I getting ahead of myself? Should I wait for the timer? Tom Poland 08:04 Because no, this is perfect. Question six is where can they go to get more information and you’ve got this very, very valuable resource. This framework is at one Hillary Weiss, so Hillary has two L’s, folks. She’s overachieving everywhere. Weiss is W-E-I, double S, .com/statementpieceframework. The link is below the video if you’re watching the video. If you’re not, if you’re listening to this, it’s hillaryweiss.com/statementpieceframework. Go get it! Hillary Weiss 08:33 It’s good fun. Tom Poland 08:34 Forty seconds left. Last question, what’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? Hillary Weiss 08:38 Oh, well. First of all, you should have asked me what are the buckets in the three statement piece categories which are conversations with your clients, your colleagues, and conversations with yourself. But the last question you should have asked me is, you didn’t ask me where I got my headphones, Tom? Tom Poland 08:51 Hillary Weiss, queen of bling, where did you get the frickin’ headphones? Twenty seconds. Hillary Weiss 08:56 I got them from a very cute little frickin’ brand called Skinny Dip London which I believe has various shops in Australia as well. Highly recommended! Fabulous fun stuff. Tom Poland 09:06 Skinny Dip. For those of you who don’t know what Skinny Dip is, just Google it, alright, because this is a family show. Hillary Weiss, thank you so much for your time. Hillary Weiss 09:14 Oh, Tom, thank you so much. We did it! Tom Poland 09:17 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Generate Referrals Without Asking – In Just 7 Minutes with Stacey Brown Randall | 07 Sep 2022 | 00:09:00 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you struggle with generating constant and stable referrals for your business? Do you want to find out how to generate referrals without the ick of asking? An important factor in achieving an effective and continuous business growth are referrals. It’s the winning combination in growing your business while establishing a promising relationship with your consumers and prospective clients. Stacey Brown Randall teaches business owners how to generate referrals naturally– without manipulation, incentivizing, or even asking. She’s the award-winning author of Generating Business Referrals Without Asking and the host of the Roadmap to Grow Your Business Podcast. Get a glimpse of how Stacey changes the gameplay for business growth through generating constant and promising referrals without the ick of asking and the old-school referral trends! Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “There's a science behind how we make referrals happen. But at the heart of it, it's relationships.” -Stacey Brown RandallClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the very, very sunny Sunshine Coast here in Australia, joined today by Stacey Brown Randall. Stacey, a very warm good day from Down Under. Where are you hanging out? Stacey Brown Randall 00:25 I’m in Charlotte, North Carolina in the States. So, thanks for having me today. Tom Poland 00:29 You’re in Charlotte, North Carolina, and here I am in Charlotte Drive, Queensland, Australia. How about that, huh? Stacey Brown Randall 00:37 It was meant to be! Tom Poland 00:39 Is it as pretty over there as it is here? Stacey Brown Randall 00:42 It’s very hot over here. Is it- 90 degrees? Yes. We were not prepared. Tom Poland 00:48 Wow, that’s amazing! And you’re kind of only just at the cusp of summer. So, a hot summer to come, maybe. Folks, we’ll get off the climate and geography and on to marketing. Stacey teaches business owners how to generate referrals, but not sort of in that stressful, “Ooh, I don’t ask for referrals” way. She teaches you how to generate them naturally without any manipulation, incentivizing, and get this- drumroll- without even asking. She’s the award-winning author of Generating Business Referrals Without Asking and host of the Roadmap to Grow Your Business Podcast. The title today, another drumroll, please, is, “How to Generate Referrals Without Even Asking”. Stacey, our seven minutes is going to start now. Question number one, who is your ideal client? Stacey Brown Randall 01:38 Yeah, so, typically, they are small business owners in the professional services field. I talked about them being experts, right? They typically have a lot of acronyms or alphabet soup after their names. So, think attorneys, CPAs, accountants, also real estate agents, and interior designers, but they are experts in their field. And they also have to learn how to bring in clients. Tom Poland 01:58 Perfect! Thank you for that. And six and a half minutes left. Question two, how would you define the problem that you solve for these experts? Stacey Brown Randall 02:05 Well, you kind of already said it in the intro, but it really is teaching people that there is a different way, a better way, to generate referrals. And it can be done naturally which is without that manipulation, without feeling like you have to incentivize, and, definitely, without ever having to ask for those referrals, that there is a better way, you just have to learn it. Tom Poland 02:27 And when you’re talking about asking for referrals, I mean, we kind of already all know we should be asking for them, but a lot of us feel awkward and uncomfortable. This is partly the answer to question number three, which is what are some of the typical symptoms that people are experiencing when they’re facing this problem of asking for referrals? Would you add any other symptoms too that other than feeling it’s a bit kind of icky? Six minutes left. Stacey Brown Randall 02:52 Yeah, you know, it’s at the end of the day, it’s like we’ve been beaten over the head, not just for decades, but for generations, that there are only a few ways to generate referrals. And you have to do it this way. And if you don’t do it this way, then you just don’t get any referrals. And those, we call them old school referral triggers. There- you’ve got to ask, right? You’ve got to pay. You’ve got to be overly promotional and gimmicky, like put in your email signature or the greatest compliment you can give me as a referral, or you have to network to know a ton of people. And the reality of it is those are tactics that work for some people, they’re not the ones that work for the majority. And I always teach people that you don’t have to do it those ways. But you do have to recognize that there’s work involved with generating referrals in a different way. And I think that’s the piece that people miss. It’s like, they hate asking, so they do nothing. And that’s the biggest mistake I see them making. Tom Poland 03:40 And that is question four, some of the common mistakes that people make. So, they hate asking, so they do nothing and a big common mistake. Are there any other mistakes that you- we’ve talked a bit about “There are only a few ways to do this? You have to do it this way, but I’m uncomfortable with that’s why I won’t do it.” Any other mistakes that you see people making, other than the ones we’ve just mentioned? Stacey Brown Randall 04:01 Yeah, if they don’t know that there’s a better way to generate referrals, they kind of take that ick advice, like the asking and being promotional, and networking, didn’t know a ton of people, and they just modify it, right? So, they’re like, “Oh, I’ll just send out a monthly e-newsletter. And that’ll keep me in touch with my people who want to refer to me” and that’s not what triggers a referral at all. And so, they miss kind of the basics of psychology behind why referrals happen to begin with, when they try to take that other old school advice and water it down just enough to work for them. They’re really not doing anything that’s going to generate their referrals, so they just hope they happen. And that’s the worst thing, of course, that we can do is just hope that someone will refer you. And it’s true because they’re lost, really, because they’re like, “I don’t want to do it this ick way, this uncomfortable, uneasy way. But I don’t know if there’s anything else so I’m stuck.” Tom Poland 04:52 Alright, so let’s pray marketing. Let’s just put it out to the universe. So, let’s flip this now. Question five, we have three and a half minutes left, one valuable free action that someone could take. Tell us more about how someone will get started with. Because you mentioned the word psychology, with the right psychology and figuring out what the right method is for them. Give us a top tip. It may not solve the whole problem, but it might take them a step in the right direction. Three minutes left. Now I won’t talk so much. Stacey Brown Randall 05:20 Absolutely! So, here’s the thing to keep in mind. At the end of the day, when you’re thinking about referrals, there is a brain science piece to it– Psychology, Sociology, and even Behavioral Economics. There’s a science behind how we make referrals happen. But at the heart of it, like science is great, and it’s right, but at the heart of all that says it’s relationships. So, the number one thing you can do, and I call it your low-hanging fruit strategy, the number one thing you can do is identify your current referral sources. If you’re receiving referrals now, you need to identify your referral sources because once you identify who they are, you can start paying attention to how to go about generating referrals from them in a natural way. But you got to know who they are. So, I tell folks, get a list of your clients. And then maybe over the last couple of years, pull out a list of your clients and then determine how that client learned about you. Did they come through a Facebook ad? Did they meet you at a networking event? Were they referred to you by someone else? And look for those clients that were referred and then capture the referral source’s name. And that will give you your list of referral sources. And that’s an empowering step. Because when you know who, then you can start figuring out what you want to do. Tom Poland 06:25 Perfect! Thank you. Great top tip! Two minutes left. Question five is can we direct people to a valuable free resource that’s going to help them more with this referral thing? Stacey Brown Randall 06:36 The best place people can go is actually to take a nine-question quiz. We call it the referral ninja quiz, you go to referralquiz.com. And it’s nine questions that are going to help you figure out exactly what you are doing in terms of your level of ability to generate referrals without asking for them and to generate referrals naturally. And then based on where you land, and I guess you’re going to land at the referral ninja beginner level, it’ll also give you a roadmap of what you need to do to get to the master level, which is ultimately where I want everyone to be. Tom Poland 07:05 Oh, very cool. Very cool! So, folks, that’s, if you’re looking at the video, it’s underneath this video, the link. Referral, it’s R-E-F-E, double R, A-L, quiz, hope you know how to spell that, .com. And question seven, we got 65 seconds left. Stacey, what’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? Stacey Brown Randall 07:25 You know, I think the big thing is when people are first hearing about, “Wait, I can get referrals totally differently than I’ve ever thought? This is amazing!” The question that really needs to be asked is, “Well, what are the results? What’s actually happening and how long does this take to work? And what does it look like?” And I always tell folks, when you’re working with me, we’re going to establish a goal of how many referrals you want to receive in a year based on where you are. And typically, you can expect to double or triple your referrals from what you’re averaging now in your first year. And in reality, multiple years, though, I expect you to quadruple that number. So, I have an attorney who started with 12 referrals a year before they started working with me. We got him to 40 referrals in their first year, then 60, and then 70. And then last year, she got 82 referrals and it’s a sustainable piece of how she runs her business. She does it every year. it’s a process and she just executes it every year. Tom Poland 08:15 I love that! It’s sustainable. Wonderful. Stacey, thank you so much for your time. We’re out of it, but I appreciate your insights. Cheers! Stacey Brown Randall 08:23 Thank you for having me. Tom Poland 08:25 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Sell Your Value in a Competitive Market – In Just 7 Minutes with Gail Doby | 31 Aug 2022 | 00:08:03 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you find yourself often relying on these typical marketing tactics– word of mouth, tons of ads, or crazy expensive websites? Do these guarantee you promising results or do you end up underselling yourself again? Are you wanting to sell yourself like crazy, stress-free, and hassle-free at a low price, in a competitive market? Gail Doby is the author of Creative Value Blueprint to Get Paid What You’re Worth. She also helps designers, architects, and other creatives increase their profitability to 5x. Get a taste of what Gail has to offer on how you can sell yourself like crazy in the competitive market without having the need to undersell your worth! Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “Market when you're the busiest.” -Gail DobyClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the Sunshine Coast of Australia, joined today by Gail Doby. Gail, a very warm welcome from Down Under. Where are you hanging out? Gail Doby 00:23 In Denver, Colorado. Tom Poland 00:25 Ooh, sounds nice! Starting to warm up now? Gail Doby 00:27 We’re actually- we’re past this now. So, we’re very happy! It’s all rain. Tom Poland 00:33 For a while. So, folks, in addition to living in Denver, Colorado, Gail is the author of the book, Your Creative Value Blueprint to Get Paid What You’re Worth. She helps designers, architects and other creators increase profitability by multiples up to five times even more. One such person said 512%, which is pretty freakin’ amazing! So, the title today is, “How to Sell Your Value in a Competitive Market”. Gail, our seven minutes start now. Question number one, who is your ideal client? Gail Doby 01:10 Well, I think you said it. And its creative entrepreneurs, typically interior designers, lighting designers, and architects. And the key is they’re wanting to grow their businesses scale them and also achieve more profit, more wealth, more time off, and, hopefully, a well-oiled business on top of that. Tom Poland 01:28 Perfect! Thank you for that. So, question two, we’ve got six and a half minutes left. How would you define the problem that you solve for these folks? Gail Doby 01:35 I think the root cause of most of the problems we deal with, with our clients is a lack of clarity. And they don’t know what they want to achieve. And they don’t have a plan that is attached to that particular idea of clarity. So, we help them achieve a certain plan, a system, a process, build a team, set financial goals, and also build a business model that will help them achieve their goals. Tom Poland 02:02 Something that’s systemized and scalable and brings in predictable, high-quality results. Because I imagine a lot of your folks would be just relying on word of mouth and, you know, sort of missing that predictability or certainty around their results. Gail Doby 02:16 Exactly! Tom Poland 02:17 Would that be right? Gail Doby 02:18 It would be absolutely correct. Yes. Tom Poland 02:21 So, let’s move on then, question three is- and we’ve got just five and a half minutes left, plenty of time. In addition to just sort of relying on word of mouth and wishing and hoping and praying, what would you say are some of the typical symptoms that your ideal clients are experiencing before finding a solution? Gail Doby 02:38 I love that question! Actually, most of them that come to us say they’re stuck, or they’re overwhelmed, or they’re not achieving the goals that they were looking for. And I think there are a few others as well. They tend to be on a roller coaster of client leads, and you know all about that with your business. And with that, they get a roller coaster of financial results. A lot of fear, and chaos. They’re busy. They’re not productive. They have a lot of anxiety. They’re overworked. And I think grumpy would be a good word for it at the end. Tom Poland 03:10 Yeah, absolutely! Okay, thank you for that. I remember those days! It’s not a fun place to be. So, folks, if that sounds like you, keep listening out because we’re coming up with a solution and two questions time. But before we get there, Gail, question four, and four and a half minutes left, what are some of the common mistakes that your clients tell you that they made prior to finding you? Gail Doby 03:31 Well, I think one thing is they think if they work more, they’re going to solve their problem. And that is never the right solution. So, if they think that that’s going to do it, it won’t do it. And I think that if you look at the root cause, again, is that reactive vs. proactive, and they get into the mode of looking at their cell phone in the morning, and that determines their plan for the day, which means that they’re not really very productive. So those are a couple of the issues that I see happening with a lot of our clients Tom Poland 04:00 Proactive vs. reactive, that sums it up really well. So, you also find that some of them make the mistake of thinking that they just have to cut their prices? Gail Doby 04:10 Well, you know, they might, but that’s not a good answer. That’s, in fact, a poor answer. Most of the time, we want them to raise their rates because that helps them attract the right people to their business. And so, we tell them to do, probably, the opposite of whatever they’re thinking they should do. Tom Poland 04:27 Well, that actually kind of makes sense. I mean, yeah and what they’ve done has gotten to where they are, and they don’t like where they are, so they really should probably do something different. That’s very interesting. Very interesting! So, what you’re saying is that you know, in some cases, you’ll be attracting fewer clients with cheaper prices than you will with higher prices. So, let’s go to question five, just over three minutes left. What’s one valuable free action that someone could take that’s not going to solve the whole solution, they might need to work with you for that, but, at least, it might start them in the right direction? Gail Doby 04:56 I think there are two things I’d like to share. The first one is to take only ideal clients. And if you don’t know who those people are, we have a free resource that we’ll share at the end. And also, the second thing is to market when you’re the busiest. And I tell my clients that they need to have at least 10 hours of marketing a week. And if you’re not doing that, either you or someone on your team or you’re outsourcing, then you are going to have a rollercoaster ride. It will not be a lot of fun; it’ll be very stressful. Tom Poland 05:26 Yeah. It can be a lot of fun at the top, but when you’re streaming down, revenue-wise, not so much. Bad anxiety. So, let’s go on to question six, which is the valuable free resource. Where can people go to find out more about what you’ve just been talking about now? What’s the URL you can give us? Gail Doby 05:43 Well, it’s really simple. It’s gaildoby.com/poland, like your name, and it’s a great toolkit. It has four different tools in it, one of which is the ideal client profile. It doesn’t matter what kind of business you’re in, you should have this for your business and have it well identified. It will make sure you get the right kind of people attracted to you. Tom Poland 06:05 There’s actually a lot on that page, folks. It’s gaildoby, D-O-B-Y, .com/poland, with one L, same as the country next to Russia, actually, next to Ukraine, I should say. But let’s not go there, at the moment. Determine your pricing precisely and confidently, select from multiple profit options, eliminate guesswork, and calculate your design fee. Yes, your design fee is great, but there’s an awful lot there. Gaildoby.com/poland. 90 seconds left, Gail. What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? Gail Doby 06:37 I think this is a great question that I would love to have you ask, but I’ll ask it for you. What’s the reason most people don’t reach their financial goals? Tom Poland 06:47 And what is the reason why most people don’t reach their financial goals? Gail Doby 06:50 I would tell you that, hands-down, 100%, it is mindset and fear. And the reason that a lot of people never get past where they are at this very moment and don’t get the results that they want is that they’re afraid of spending money on themselves because they look at that as an expense instead of something that will return money to them many times over. Tom Poland 07:13 Fantastic! Gail Doby, I really appreciate your wisdom and your insights, and your generous share. Folks, get your butts over, digital bucks over to gaildoby.com/poland. Gail, thanks again. Gail Doby 07:26 Thank you so much, Tom. Tom Poland 07:29 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Double Your Sales Conversions with No Extra Spend on Marketing - In Just 7 Minutes with Mike Irving | 01 Aug 2024 | 00:11:01 | |
Why you've got to check out today's episode:
Resources/Links:
Summary: Have you ever felt the frustration of potential clients slipping through your fingers despite your best efforts? This struggle of converting leads into sales can be a major hurdle for many businesses. But you can always have the chance to double your sales conversions without additional marketing costs. Mike Irving is the Founder of Advanced Business Abilities and passionate about helping you remove the resistance that restricts you in life and business. In this episode, Mike shares his unique "Resistance Removal Sales System," which helps double sales conversions by identifying and eliminating internal and external resistance in sales conversations. He emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and personal growth, using techniques like centered breathing to manage stress and improve focus. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: "The number one and most valuable performance tool that is available to every single person is what I call centered breathing." - Mike Irving | |||
| How to Avoid the Top 3 Sales Phrases That Make You Sound Outdated and Old School – In Just 7 Minutes with Liz Wendling | 24 Aug 2022 | 00:06:47 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Have you ever wondered if some of your sales techniques might be a bit old-school or outdated? Many professionals continue to use sales techniques that are over 25-30 years behind the times! These methods are becoming less and less effective with each passing year. If you have not updated, you’re likely outdated. Think you know everything about know sales? Think again. It is time to make way for some game-changing, money-making, client-attracting concepts that will transform your sales success right now. This week, we have another business coach/sales coach Liz Wendling. She transforms ‘old school’ professionals into wildly successful sales rock stars in front of today’s modern consumer. Get a taste of what Liz has to offer and find out how your language plays a big role in how your prospects will respond to you. She also shares some of the phrases of the sale that will keep you updated and wanted. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “If you don't change your language, it's going to be hard to change your results.” -Liz WendlingClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you here on the Sunshine Coast in Australia, joined today by Liz Wendling. From Jersey, but now living in? Liz Wendling 00:22 Denver, Colorado! Tom Poland 00:24 And I just got to, for the record, I just got to ask Liz to say the word “coffee” but in Jersey style. Liz Wendling 00:30 Coffee. Tom Poland 00:31 Coffee, I love the way you put an R in there, as well when you do that. Liz Wendling 00:37 It does. Tom Poland 00:37 Aside from being a Jersey girl, Liz is a nationally acclaimed and applauded speaker. She’s the author of, not just one, but six books! Her two most recent, and I love this, Liz, The Heart of Authentic Selling and, Sell Without Selling Your Soul. She’s driven by that mantra, “It’s not WHAT you sell, it’s HOW you sell it that matters.” And I can imagine that in there, Liz, is this heavy dose of the authenticity of wanting to help people not just flog another product, so I can’t wait. The title is, “How to Avoid the Top Three Phrases That Make You Sound Outdated and Old School in Your Selling”. Liz, our time starts now, I should say. Question number one, seven minutes to go, who is your ideal client? Liz Wendling 01:28 My ideal clients are professionals who sell services but they have a really bad problem that I call “a love-hate relationship with sales”. They love what they do, but they absolutely hate to sell. And they’ve convinced themselves that if they do enough marketing, they never have to sell. And I tell people if you are talking to other human beings, and you’re trying to get that human being to hire you, and then pay you for that service, you are in a sales conversation. You can’t avoid sales. So, the professionals I work with are financial planners, accountants, attorneys, coaches, and consultants. And I teach them how to have a better mindset around sales and get some good skills so they can close more business. Tom Poland 02:11 Perfect! Thank you for that. So, let’s go to question number two, can you tell us a bit more about the problem you solve? Six minutes left. Liz Wendling 02:18 Okay, I like to teach them how to get out of their heads, and that negative belief around selling, that selling is bad and you have to be pushy, and you have to be aggressive. So old school! So outdated! So, they hang on to this outdated mindset around selling so that they can protect themselves. They say, “I don’t want to be one of those salespeople, so I just won’t do it at all!” And what they wind up doing is leaving a heck of a lot of money on the table because they’re not willing to step into the only thing, the only activity, that keeps them in business, and that’s sales activities. You can do everything else beautifully. You can have a perfect website and great social media, but if you don’t know how people buy and can’t inspire someone to buy from you, good luck! Tom Poland 03:04 And not only are they leaving a lot of money on the table, but they’re probably failing to help a lot of people that need help. Liz Wendling 03:10 Correct! And they’re ruining their reputation too. Tom Poland 03:13 Yeah, sabotaging belief about not selling. So, let’s go to question number three, what of them would you say is the typical symptom? Someone listening to this would go, “This is what’s going on in my world, in my sales world, in my non-sales world.” How do people know that they should be reaching out and finding out more about what you do? Liz Wendling 03:32 If they’re rattling off the mantras of, “I don’t want to be sales-y. I don’t want to be pushy. I hate being aggressive. I don’t want to be one of those people.” And on top of that, they keep hearing, “I need to think about it. I have no money. Call me in a few weeks”, and they’re getting ghosted. So, they have a mindset that they hate selling, and then nobody gets back to them, so they’re stuck. They are literally stuck in the same spot. And they keep moving around that same spot, but nothing is happening in their business. So, I would say they would reach out to me if they want to pull themselves out of that and start moving their business in a different direction. Tom Poland 04:10 Perfect! Thank you for that. We’ve got just over four minutes left, common mistakes that people make when they’re trying to solve this problem. Now, you mentioned several phrases that people are using that make them sound outdated or old school, tell us about that. Liz Wendling 04:23 Sure! I talk a lot about the word, “follow up”. The F-word, the L-word, love, and then some minimizer words. And I bet to everyone out there if you checked your last 21 emails that you sent out, you probably said “I would love to get together with you. I’d love to connect with you. I’d love to get something on the calendar. I would love to work with you”, and you drop an L bomb. And what they don’t realize is that when you say the phrase “I would love”, it’s a self-serving phrase. It’s not collaborative. It doesn’t invite me into the conversation. It only tells me what you would love to do to me. It doesn’t work anymore! We’ve got to lose that phrase. The next one is “follow up”, which also comes with touching base, reaching out, and checking in. And those phrases now, everyone’s using them! So, they don’t really inspire anyone to follow up with you, which makes you have to follow up again and again and again. And you say things like, “I don’t know if you got my last 19 emails. I’m not sure if you saw the last 27 messages I left you”, and they don’t take a look at why, what are they doing that’s causing that problem? And then the last one, I would say, is all those minimizer phrases. “I know you’re busy, so I don’t want to take up too much of your time. I hope you’re having a good weekend. I hope you had a great day”, or “How are you?” and all those minimizer phrases that we throw out there because we think that we’ve got to soften the blow of our message. And all those do is make you show up outdated, passive, wishy-washy, and weak. So, if you don’t change your language, it’s going to be hard to change your results. Tom Poland 05:59 Stop dropping the love bomb. Stop with the- Liz Wendling 06:02 And the F bomb. Tom Poland 06:03 And stop minimizing. Perfect! The three big mistakes. So, let’s flip it now. Let’s talk about what people can do. Question five, I’m after one top tip, something that’s going to help people. It’s not going to solve the whole problem, they probably need you for that, but give us a top tip. Two minutes left. Liz Wendling 06:17 So, I would say to truly stop using the language that really doesn’t move the sales process forward. So, if you are going to drop an F-bomb, which I highly recommend you stop, instead of saying, “I’m just following up”, why don’t you say, “Hey, Bob, in our last conversation…” or “When I saw you at the networking event last week, you and I talked about…” I call it getting “right to the meat of the message”. Leave out “I’m just following up” because that’s what you’re doing anyway – you are following up! Tom Poland 06:45 Spoken like a true Jersey girl. Let’s get to the bottom line, and cut to the chase. Let’s give people some more, a valuable free resource we could direct people to. So, a landing page where people can find out more about your work. Liz Wendling 07:00 They can go to my website and there’s a free gift on there that goes much deeper into some of the languages we talked about today. And that’s lizwendling.com/free-gift. Tom Poland 07:13 Perfect! And I’m on the page right now. It looks like it’s got a real depth of value there. So, folks, go to lizwendling, W-E-N-D-L-I-N-G, .com/free-gift. Go get it! 55 seconds left, Liz. What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t and the answer, please? Liz Wendling 07:32 Okay. I would say, what advice would you give to a salesperson or a professional who is complaining about and struggling with not getting people to return their calls their emails, or texts? And I would say turn the table on yourself and ask yourself, “Would I respond to my own email? Do I sound like everyone else in the inbox?” And here’s the hard one, “Where do I blow people off? Where do I not get back to people?” Is it just karma coming back to you? Or does your message really suck? Tom Poland 08:07 Perfect1 Liz Wendling, thanks so much for your time and your insights and it’s a pleasure to be listening to the voice of experience. Cheers! Liz Wendling 08:13 Thank you, Tom! Tom Poland 08:15 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Generate Predictable Profits for Your Business – In Just 7 Minutes with Charles Gaudet | 17 Aug 2022 | 00:08:29 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you feel like your profit is just one roller coaster ride– you never know when it’s going to get high or if it’s going to get low? Are you itching to find out how to generate predictable profits that will assure and guarantee you stable and even better profit all the time? Charles Gaudet is the CEO of Predictable Profits. International Business Times regards him as the Go-To Business Coach for 7- and 8-figure businesses. Disrupt Magazine ranked him as one of the Top 15 Business Coaches in the World. Sit back and tune in to find out how Charles has helped thousands of people, and maybe even you soon, achieve sustainable business growth and generate predictable profits through a promising system. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “You have to build that scalable process of sustainability, predictability, and robustness into an organization if you want to continue growing for years and years and years to come.” -Charles GaudetClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the sunny Sunshine Coast in Australia, joined today by Charles Gaudet. Charles, good day! Welcome from Down Under. Where are you hanging out? Charles Gaudet 00:24 Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Tom Poland 00:25 New Hampshire, sounds like a lovely laid-back, sort of, little nook out there on the East Coast. Folks, Charles is a pretty awesome dude in all sorts of manners, not least of which he trains in Brazilian jujitsu and has won two gold medals, three times wrestling state champion. Yeah, if you get into an altercation outside a restaurant, Charles is the guy. He’s also the CEO of Predictable Profits. International Business Times regards him as the “The Go-To Coach” for seven and eight-figure businesses who are wanting more predictable profits and more growth. Disrupt Magazine named him one of the World’s Top 15 Business Coaches. So, Charles, absolute pleasure and privilege to have you on the show. Let’s get going. Our title today is, “How to Generate Predictable Profits for Your Business” in just seven minutes. Charles, our seven minutes start now. Sir, question number one, who is your ideal client? Charles Gaudet 01:21 Seven and eight-figure CEO founders. Tom Poland 01:25 Perfect! Question two, what’s the problem you solve? Charles Gaudet 01:28 We help business owners who are asking themselves one to three questions, “How do I grow my company faster?” Or some months are feasts, some months are famine, “How do we generate more predictability in our revenue?” Or the third one is, “The company’s too dependent on me, how can I scale this thing?” Tom Poland 01:42 So faster growth, more predictable revenue, and scalability? Charles Gaudet 01:46 You got it. Tom Poland 01:47 Okay! So, let’s talk about the symptoms. Question three, six and a half minutes left, we’re firing through them. What would you say would be the typical symptoms of the- we talked about your ideal client, before they meet you, they’re in the business, what’s going on in the business that gives them the heads up that they should really be reaching out and finding out more about what you do? Charles Gaudet 02:07 Most business owners are able to take their company to a certain level based on hard work, word of mouth, and referrals. They genuinely only have one or two areas that are generating leads and sales. And that’s where they tend to plateau a little bit and they realize that they need additional, more scalable strategies in order to get to the next level. That’s typically where we come in. The company is too dependent on them. Oftentimes, you also see the founder who’s doing most of the sales. They’re stuck working in the business instead of on the business. Those are pretty difficult symptoms. Tom Poland 02:41 Gotcha! So, there’s pretty heavy dependency on new revenue flows on the founder. So, what would you say- question four, five and a half minutes left. These are pretty growth-oriented people, I mean, they’re doing seven or eight figures already, so they’re assertive. They’re proactive. They’re going to be trying stuff. What would you say are some of the common mistakes you see that they make before they find your solution? Charles Gaudet 03:04 Well, the most common mistake actually is tied in with one of the symptoms, which is there’s an overreliance on word of mouth and referrals instead of building a more robust strategy of creating at least one new profit center per quarter. So, you have a whole bunch of different ways that are generating new leads, and sales. And the way that I look at it, I just got back from an F1 race. And the way that the pistons work in an engine is they go up, and they go down, and they go up, and they go down. Rarely do you say, all the pistons go up at the same time, or you would never say all the businesses go up at the same time, and all the pistons go down? The same exact thing ends up happening in leads and sales– when one thing’s working, another thing usually comes down and vice versa. So, you want to build robustness into the organization by having multiple different pillars. Tom Poland 03:55 And that’s a terrific analogy, isn’t it? You know, the pistons– one’s going up, one’s going down. And I imagine that diversification builds not only more secure, predictable profitability but it gives the founder the ability to sleep well at night. Their example is on one basket, so to speak. Let’s flip it. Four minutes left, question five is one valuable free action, like a top tip, not going to solve the whole problem, but it might take folks a step in the right direction. What do you get? Charles Gaudet 04:23 Well, you know, along the lines of everything that we talked about scalability. When people look at the results that we’ve been able to bring other companies and they say, “You know, we just took a company from 1 million to 40 million, over 40 million, within five years”, and they want to know, “How the heck do you do that? You must have some sort of like, magic strategy and blah, blah.” None of that is actually true, except for how fast we’re able to grow the company. It just follows a three-step process. It’s called OSI. The first one is optimization. So, you figure out where we’re currently generating momentum in the business and how do we do more of what’s working and less of what’s not. Once you optimize those processes and you turn them into a well-fine oiled machine, then you want to systematize it. That’s the “S” part– systematize that process. So that now things can begin to happen, less dependent on you, where you can have people or automation take over. And then the last part is innovation. And that’s when you create something new. And then you repeat that cycle. Once you create that, then let’s optimize it. Let’s systematize it. And let’s go back and let’s innovate and do that again. And the optimization process alone is what took us from, you know, a million too, I think, it was $11.2 million, or something like that, within three years or so. So, you know, there are a lot of really wonderful benefits for building that scalability following OSI. Tom Poland 05:44 Right, and that sounds like that’s not a destination, it’s a continuous journey. And that just makes them upset. You see, suddenly businesses stagnate through lack of innovation. You see, so many businesses never even get the scale through a lack of systemization. Great model! Thank you for that. Two minutes left, sir. We want a valuable free resource. A bunch of people is going to want to know more about your work, where can they go to, kind of, you know, dip their toe in the water in the world of Charles Gaudet? Charles Gaudet 06:10 Well, I mean, we do have a business assessment, which, I don’t know, you may or may not be able to provide a link within the video resource. Tom Poland 06:16 We will! Yep. Charles Gaudet 06:17 Awesome! They can also go to predictableprofits.com. And there are going to be additional resources at predictableprofits.com. Tom Poland 06:23 Okay, so, folks, have a look, if you’re listening to this on the audio. If the video, there’s a link below the video. But get.predictableprofits.com/business-assessment. Go there and do the assessment and find out where your growth opportunities are. Charles, we’ve got 70 seconds left. What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? Charles Gaudet 06:44 It would be about growth. Why do growing companies fail? Tom Poland 06:48 Why do growing companies fail, Charles? Charles Gaudet 06:51 Well, great question. Glad you asked! The thing is, you know, a lot of people will ask the question, “What do I need to grow my company faster?” and they think “Grow at all costs”. What a lot of people don’t realize is that according to a study performed by the Kauffman Foundation on the companies that made it on the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies list, is that within five to eight years of first getting listed, 66% of those companies will be disadvantaged sold, go out of business, or shrink in size. And that happens because they’re only focused on, you know, growth. They’re not thinking about predictability. They’re not thinking about sustainability. They’re not thinking about robustness. You have to build that scalable process of sustainability, predictability, and robustness into an organization if you want to continue growing for years and years and years to come. Tom Poland 07:37 These are words of wisdom and the result of decades of experience, I imagine. Charles, it’s been an absolute privilege to have you on our show. Thank you for sharing your insights and your experience and your wisdom. Charles Gaudet 07:49 Thank you very much. It’s been an honor. Tom Poland 07:51 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Generate High Quality Leads with Video – In Just 7 Minutes with Mike Moll | 10 Aug 2022 | 00:07:15 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you feel like you’re constantly revolving inside your business and not having enough time for things outside of it? Looking for the right marketing strategy isn’t supposed to be hard, time-consuming, and costly. Videos are efficient, and simple, and can help you generate better and high-quality leads. Mike Moll is a marketing coach who helps marketers charge what they are worth, then, remove themselves from daily operations. He hopes to help other marketers who want to create an amazing business while having time for hobbies, travel, and enjoying life. Get a truckload of tips and tricks on how Mike generates high-quality leads at a low and time-sufficient cost through the power of videos– even if they’re unedited! Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “When it comes to leads, the idea that you have to become this advertising master and run Facebook ads and Google ads is a complete farce.” -Mike MollClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland beaming out to you from the very sunny Sunshine Coast in Australia, joined today by Mike Moll. Mike, a very warm good day from Down Under. Where are you based? Mike Moll 00:24 Currently in Kedah Teto. But I’ve been flipping through Sayulita, Mexico, Portugal, and California for the last few years. Tom Poland 00:30 Oh, that sounds wonderful. What a lifestyle! Folks, in addition to being a marketing coach and a global, Globetrotter, I should say, Mike helps people like you and me with marketing, charge what you’re actually worth. And then once the leads are flying in, and the cash flow is boosted, he helps to remove you from daily operations. So, there are two wings of the same bird here, so to speak. Because one is the lead generation in the marketing and the other is the systemization. Today, we’re going to be talking about how to generate high-quality leads with video. He helps a lot of other marketers. Mike’s kind of- Mike’s the marketer’s marketer. And it’s all about boosting lead flow, and client conversion, but also having, kind of Mike walking the talk, having enough time through systemization for hobbies, travel, and generally enjoying life. Can’t wait to get started, Mike. Thanks for being a guest on our show. Question number one, sir, is who’s your ideal client? Mike Moll 01:37 Awesome! Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. My ideal customer is a marketer. I have, you know, built my company up over the previous nine years. I feel like I’ve made a lot of mistakes that the people that are trying to build their current company are going to go through, and I’ve kind of packed that knowledge into how to kind of get them there. So, I generally work with people that are between 10 and 30,000 in revenue. I do best when the person’s already got some momentum, and they’ve already got some customers and just need help to make the business stronger, more profitable, and then, obviously, the system so that they can move out of the way. Tom Poland 02:12 Perfect! Presumably, you just tend to 30,000 a month. Does that sound about right? Mike Moll 02:16 Correct. Yeah. Tom Poland 02:17 Thank you. And so, tell us, question number two, six and a half minutes left. What’s the problem you solve? How do you define that? Mike Moll 02:23 I think it’s four parts because no one shot can fix an entire business. So often, we go back and start with what is the product? What is the offering? Who are you offering it to? And how are you talking about it? Once you solve that, and you can speak from a place of value and an outcome, what we typically do from there is start to raise the price. Now. a lot of people use that language, “scale the price”, but you know, for me, you have to be mentally comfortable with the price to sell it at that price. So, it’s a combination of product and pricing. Once we’re good on that front, we move into the sales marketing side. So how do we get this in front of the right people– part of the subject matter we’re going to speak about today. You know, how do you go through a sales call successfully talking about it in a new price and a new way, and get people to say yes? And then finally, what are the systems that you can put in place to put the people in place to execute the things that you don’t want to if you want to be fully out and just manage it or you want to manage is the part that you love to manage? How do you delegate the rest? Tom Poland 03:23 Got it! Perfect. So, let’s have a look at the symptoms. Someone listening to this, how would they know that they need more information about what you do? What’s going on in their business or their life where they go, “Yeah, that sounds like me”? Mike Moll 03:36 Yeah, absolutely. So typically, they are winning to an extent. So, they’ve got their business at $10-, $15-, $20,000 a month, but every time they scale up past that, what typically happens is there’s an overwhelm of work. Things start to fall apart. They lose track of things, and customers leave. And then they say, “Okay, I think I figured it out.” They get that momentum rolling again, get it back up, the revenue up, and then things start to fall apart because they can’t manage all the projects. They can’t manage all the people. And so, they’re in this cycle, not being able to break free and really grow their business and sustain it. My thing is all about sustainability. Tom Poland 04:12 Sustainable growth. That is a great way to summon up– sustainable growth. So, it’s less like a roller coaster, and more like an upward stock market curve. So, we’re talking about people who have the degree of success here. $10 to $30,000 revenue a month is not to be sneezed at. They’re going to be trying stuff and you’ve already mentioned a couple of things, but what would you say are some of the common mistakes that these folks are likely to have made before they find your solution? Four minutes left. Mike Moll 04:42 Absolutely. So, the first thing is they price as if they are a solopreneur, which typically they are. They’re an individual running this business and they are pricing according to their time and energy. As soon as you do that you eliminate the margins and the budget for you to bring on people to execute the work for you. So that is typically the strongest symptom. Often what happens is when we’re nervous about revenue and the workflow, we just try and get any customer we can. We try and, you know, bring on any project that we can. We maybe extend ourselves and, say, we’ll do stuff that we’re not comfortable with, “Oh, I’ll just find someone to help me with that job.” And we don’t really go all-in on the thing that we’re amazing at. And when you do that, when you position it right, and it’s priced right, and it’s the thing that you’re the best at, that’s when the solution starts to build off the back end. Tom Poland 05:29 So true. And that’s also when people really start to enjoy what they do when they’re doing what they were born to do. Thank you for that. Question five, three minutes left, one valuable free action, like a top tip. It’s not going to solve that problem, but it could be taking people in the right direction. Mike Moll 05:45 Yeah. So, when it comes to leads, the idea that you have to become this advertising master and run Facebook ads, and Google ads is a complete farce. If you’re selling a service, if you’re a service-based entrepreneur, whether it’s marketing or creative or administrative work, the best way to reach out to people is one-on-one, human-to-human to make that sale. So how do I do that? I send personalized videos. The videos are 40 seconds to a minute and 20 seconds long. They say hi. They introduce who you are and what you do. They explain that you probably understand where they’re at, but you’re not telling them that this is where they’re at. You’re saying, “Other people just like you, the people that I work with, are in this position. They’re stuck here. They can’t get here. They can’t get past here. But what they found is my service will help them do that. And so, if it sounds interesting to you, I would love to explain that more.” So that is actually a video that you send to somebody either through social media, or you can record it and send it through email. But if you can get them on LinkedIn, and send the video directly on LinkedIn, that is going to give you the strongest chance of success with this. One other final piece I’ll just say about that is the reason you’re saying “Other people experienced this. And if you’re interested, I’d like to talk to you” people hate being told what they feel and people hate being told what to do. So, giving them the autonomy, and putting it in their hands to self-identify with these issues is the strongest way to have them not reject you from the beginning. Tom Poland 07:07 Alright. And, folks, if you have any doubt about that, just go and try and tell your husband, your wife, your partner, how they’re feeling and what they’re doing, and you’ll find out that’s not a good idea, right? The same is true with prospects. Thank you, sir. Question six, one minute left, valuable free resource. People are going to want to know more about this. So where can they go to find out more? Mike Moll 07:26 So go.mikemoll.co/leads. I have a 27-minute mini-course. It’s literally as concise and as direct as humanly possible to show you exactly how you can do this for your own business. Tom Poland 07:38 I’m on the page now, and it looks absolutely amazing! Folks, it’s www.go.mikemoll, M-O-L-L, .co/leads. Go get it! 35 seconds left, sir. What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t and the answer, please? Mike Moll 07:55 Where do people get the most stuck trying to execute this video strategy? And the answer to that is they feel like the video needs to be perfect. And they rehearse and they sit there recording it over and over again, and they go nuts. I completely stumble over my own words often. In fact, I’ll sometimes be in the middle of a video saying, “Wait, what was I saying? Oh! This is the reason that you want to talk to me.” And I will literally send that video out without edits. People don’t care. They don’t care about perfection. They care about the effort that you make to send it to them. Tom Poland 08:02 Perfect! Mike Moll, thank you so much for your time. Very precise. Mike Moll 08:28 Thank you. Tom Poland 08:28 Cheers. | |||
| How to Find and Work with Influencers Who Can Generate Sales for Your Brand – In Just 7 Minutes with John Crestani | 03 Aug 2022 | 00:07:08 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Have you always known the power working with influencers have on sending your business to a higher level but you just haven’t found the right influencers to work with? Sending 200 DMs can be so exhausting that it could even lead to fatigue. Tune in to this episode and skip the rough road as you learn how to make influencer marketing easy. John Crestani is a lifelong marketer, adventure-preneur, and father living in Malibu, California. He’s the #1 influencer in referral marketing on YouTube, with over 500k subscribers, and has earned over $20m selling information products. In this episode, John explains how you can find and work with influencers who can generate sales for your brand as he shares tips to help you get started. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “Find other influencers who have promoted products in your specific category and you'll be far ahead of the pack.” -John CrestaniClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing The Invisible. Beaming out to you from two bird lovers here, the feathered variety, I’m talking about, I’m sure the others as well. But John Crestani, a very warm welcome from Down Under, sir. Where are you based? Tell us where you live in there, because it’s pretty special. John Crestani 00:26 I’m based out here in Malibu, California, so I’m up in the mountains, not on the beach. It’s beautiful. Lots of birds around here. Tom Poland 00:34 Show us your birdfeeder. John, can you move your webcam and show us your special birdfeeder there? John and I just went through about, I don’t know, a dozen birds that he has the pleasure of viewing outside the most spectacular house. We’ve been talking about native birds here in Australia and the Californian birds over there. We better get on with the interview then. For those of you who don’t know John, he’s created something that’s quite remarkable. He’s a lifelong marketer. He’s an adventure-preneur. He’s a father. How many kids, John? John Crestani 01:07 Two. Tom Poland 01:08 Two. John Crestani 01:09 I’m a girl dad; three and a five year old. Tom Poland 01:12 And he’s got a whole playpen there full of toys and bits and pieces I had a peek at. He’s also – perhaps not quite as important as him being a father of two – is the #1 influencer in referral marketing on YouTube, underline the number one, over 500,000 subscribers. He’s earned over $20 million selling information products. He’s pretty frickin’ impressive. So, this is a subject matter which you guys really need to tune up for because it’s How to Find and Work with Influencers Who Can Generate Sales for Your Brand. So cool. Can’t wait, John. Let’s get the ball rolling. Our 7 minutes starts now, sir. Question number one is who’s your ideal client? John Crestani 01:58 Yeah. Our ideal client is a Shopify store owner or an agency or a brand kind of like consultant that helps those Shopify store owners get in touch with the influencers that help them sell more products. Tom Poland 02:16 Perfect. Six and a half minutes left. Tell us about the problem you solve. John Crestani 02:20 The problem we’re solving in my company, Advance Pay, is we’re helping inform brands, just helping them make better decisions about what influencers to hire, what sort of sales projections those influencers will get for their specific company. And we’re doing so by showing what brands are working with what influencers and vice versa. So, if I’m selling like whatever coffee mugs, I want to know what other influencers sold coffee mugs in the past and how many sales they got for those coffee mug companies. And we help people do that so they can just input a budget. They say, “I want to work with five influencers. I have a $20,000 budget. Who’s going to get me my best ROI?” Tom Poland 03:04 Perfect. Thank you, sir. Question number three is what are some of the typical symptoms that people are going to be experiencing without https://advancepay.io? John Crestani 03:16 Typical symptom is you’re going to have tons of sales calls with different influencer marketing network software, and you’re going to experience problems because you sign up for one influencer network and they want you to work with their little network of influencers but that might not represent the entirety of the 75 million creators in the world. It might just represent a couple of hundred people that are in their little network. So, you’re going to suffer from ROI problems as well, given that you’re just not getting a full look at all of the creators that are out there. Tom Poland 03:56 Right. So, profits’ going to be suffering, going to be working hard, going to be working long, and really not tapping into anywhere near the total potential of the pool. Thanks for that, sir. Question number four. Let’s look at some of the problems that people make when they’re trying to generate sales from influencers. Four and a half minutes left. John Crestani 04:13 Well, even beyond, I’d say even looking at the macro problem. One of the macro problems here is Facebook ad costs, and ad costs in general are just going sky high. A lot of people are being priced out. Furthermore, you’re dealing with these cookie decay issues. Cookies are not as good at tracking things as they used to be, and so you’re looking at attribution problems overall. Just figuring out what money is going where and what’s effective. Apple’s not tracking as many things anymore. So, it’s just harder to judge ROI in general nowadays. But going into specifically working with influencers, I mean, a lot of the folks I speak to, they have to message 200 people. They have to send 200 DMs on Instagram in order to get one influencer to actually accept a free product. I mean, it’s just there’s so much spam and there’s so much broad messaging and it’s such a dance. It’s hard to even work with specific people you want to work with because creators are creating; they’re not looking at their email inbox or DMs. So, you really need to have a kind of targeted message and say, “Hey man, I’m willing to give you 5000 bucks.” Influencers respond if you know what you’re willing to pay for somebody. So, you’re working with response fatigue or message fatigue. To send 200 DMs to micro-influencers, you’re also going to end up getting accounts banned because you can’t send that many messages to people you don’t know. So, there’s so many problems in this market. It’s unbelievable. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Tom Poland 06:00 Okay. Let’s flip it now. Question five. Two and a half minutes left. One valuable free action that someone could take that is not solve the whole problem in terms of generating sales from influencers, but it might just take them a step in the right direction. John Crestani 06:13 I mean, a perfect thing you can do to put yourself in the right direction is get some of your competitors’ URLs and literally type those in. Go to YouTube.com and put your competitors’ URL in the search bar. So, let’s say you’re selling mugs. Search YETI.com and you’ll see what other influencers on YouTube have actually posted a link to YETI.com, and you can see what other influencers your competitors are working with. And you just see who’s getting the most engagement, views, comments, etc. And you reach out to those people. You send them a DM. You send them an email. Reach out to just those people rather than saying, “Oh, you know, moms like my stuff.” Find other influencers who have promoted products in your specific category and you’ll be far ahead of the pack. Tom Poland 07:10 Alright. Thank you for that. There’s a couple of real good top tips there, folks. One is how to find the influencers through your competitors’ links, but the second one that John mentioned earlier is getting to those influencers with a value proposition that’s going to get cut-through, and dollars certainly talk. 70 seconds left. Two more questions. One valuable free resource. Where can people go to find out more about your work? John Crestani 07:33 We are a free resource. Go to https://advancepay.io, and people can actually see this data for free on our site. Tom Poland 07:43 Oh. Good price. So that’s https://advancepay.io. Folks, open disclosure: I’m not an affiliate for John or https://advancepay.io. We’re just doing this because we think, first of all, it should frickin rock your world if you need influencers to boost your sales, and secondly, it’s just a great insight into this whole world of influencers for you, hopefully. 25 seconds left. Shut up, Tom. Last question. What’s the one question I should have asked you, but didn’t, John? And the answer within 20 seconds, please. John Crestani 08:10 Oh, man. One question you should have asked me but didn’t. Shoot, man. I don’t know. What’s my favorite place in the world? Tom Poland 08:20 What’s your favorite bird that comes to your birdfeeder? Five seconds left. John Crestani 08:24 It’s those parrots; the black-headed parrots. Tom Poland 08:26 Beautiful. Alright. Interesting. Thanks so much for sharing your time with us. John Crestani 08:30 Thank you, sir. Tom Poland 09:06 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Build a Personal Brand Without Spending a Cent on Ads – In Just 7 Minutes with Kate Toon | 27 Jul 2022 | 00:06:28 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Have you been investing in ads but just can’t seem to make the most out of it? Are you trying to build your personal brand but end up struggling with what social media channel to use? Do you want to learn how to make your personal brand less of the mainstream and more authentically you at the cost of less? Kate Toon is an award-winning misfit entrepreneur who works with small businesses and big brands to transform their online presence through SEO, captivating content, and all the right digital marketing moves. In this episode, Kate shares her insights on making complex digital marketing into something simple, affordable, and profitable just by being authentically you. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “SEO gets people to the door, and email marketing gets them coming back again and again.” -Kate ToonClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Hello, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the Sunshine Coast in Australia, joined today by someone else in Australia, Kate Toon! Good day. Where are you hanging out, Kate? Kate Toon 00:20 I’m on the Central Coast in New South Wales. Tom Poland 00:24 Central Coast New South Wales, tucked away from the mad-rushing crowds of Sydney near the beach. And where did you hail from originally? I, as you know, I’m from New Zealand. Where are you from the big UK, somewhere is it? Kate Toon 00:37 I am. I’m originally born in Manchester, the UK but I grew up down south near Henley. So, my accent changes depending on who I’m talking to. I’ve been here about 25 years. I’ve been here now. Tom Poland 00:49 Oh, yeah. Yep, just about a local. Alright. Kate Toon 00:52 Not quite. Tom Poland 00:54 Okay, enough with history. Let’s go to the present day. Kate is- I like this, Kate. She’s an award-winning misfit entrepreneur. And if you go to her website, the first thing you’re going to hit with is the transparency and the freshness, and the authenticity. And if you can see her right now, tweaking her hair. If you listen to the audio, you can’t, but what you see is what you get with Kate. What I love about having Kate on the show is this dollop of reality that comes along with it. So, you’re not going to get some bee-stung lips, teeth-enhanced, boob-job-wearing marketing, you’re going to get someone who’s real and authentic and has been in the trenches. Someone who’s not trying to hype things up and be less you. She does, however, in addition to her wonderful personality, have a lot of expertise in Search Engine Optimization, content marketing, and captivating content, and really can show us how to make all the right digital marketing moves. So, a pleasure to have you on the show, Kate. Our subject today is, “How to Build a Personal Brand Without Spending One Cent on Advertisements”. Our time starts now. Question number one, who is your ideal client? Kate Toon 02:10 Savvy business and e-commerce store owners who see the value in improving their digital marketing and are willing to invest time, money, and hard work. Tom Poland 02:19 Perfect! Thank you. Question number two, six and a half minutes left, what’s the problem you solve for them? Kate Toon 02:24 I think I helped make complex digital marketing issues simple. So quick systems, processes, and just easy ways to make things doable when you have a busy business life. Tom Poland 02:34 A big part of what I hear from your brand is, Let’s not make a fuss out of this. Let’s just put some things in place and get it done and make sure it works.” It’s that sort of laid-back but focused approach which I appreciate. Kate Toon 02:47 Yeah, it’s hard work. It’s less sort of artsy-fartsy, strategic la-la-loo-loo, and more. Let’s just roll our sleeves up and give it a crack because we don’t know until we know. Tom Poland 02:57 Right. And question three, which is all around the typical symptoms that people experience who you can help. Did we define the problem? I don’t think we did. How do you define the problem? Kate Toon 03:07 The problem is that we don’t have enough time to do our digital marketing properly. So, we never see the results that we think we should be getting. Tom Poland 03:13 Right. And I’d imagine- let’s go to question three now. Six minutes left. One of the big issues is that people don’t know where to start. They feel like they’re paralyzed like a deer in the headlights going. Everyone’s telling you to do different things. In addition to that, question three is what would you say are some of the typical symptoms that people are experiencing who need to know more about what you do? Kate Toon 03:33 I think lack of time is the biggest one. Most of us are spending our time just dancing to our clients or our customers. Because we’re talking about personal branding today, fear about showing up on social media. No one wants to look a fool. People are worried about, “Do I have to dance on Instagram? Is that how I have a personal brand?” No! And then really spending a lot of time on the wrong things. You know, investing five or six hours a week in their marketing, but not investing it in the right way on the right things and therefore not getting the results that they need. Very quickly, is people spend hours on Instagram because it’s easy, and it’s fun, and it’s pretty, but avoiding SEO. Whereas, and we know that 70% of all conversions start with a Google search. So, you’re investing time in the wrong things. Tom Poland 04:19 Right. Very interesting. So that’s one mistake that people make is having fun, but not necessarily with a medium or a tactic that’s going to be effective. Question four is what would you say are some of the most common mistakes that people make trying to get into building their brand online? Four and a half minutes left. Kate Toon 04:39 I think trying to be all things to all people. So having quite a vanilla brand that’s inoffensive, but also unmemorable and trying to be on every single channel. So, you know, trying to be on LinkedIn and Pinterest and Instagram and Twitter and doing a bad job of all and then think there might be a quick solution. Like,” Oh, I’m just going to buy this course, and do this thing. And that’s going to solve my problem.” But it’s a bit like buying a running machine and expecting to get fit just because you own a running machine. Unfortunately, you have to get on the running machine and run on it. So yeah, I think that’s it– trying to be all things, trying to be on all channels, and investing in “get rich quick” schemes. Tom Poland 05:16 Great summary! Thank you for that. So, question five, let’s flip it, one step in the right direction, if you like. It’s not going to solve the whole problem for people, but it might take them a step in the right direction. What’s your top tip? Kate Toon 05:16 I think it’s really understanding who the hell you are, and how you want to present yourself. Try and think of four business values that you’d like to stand by– maybe you want to be honest, maybe you want to be whatever it is. And then four personality traits that you want to be known for. So maybe you’re funny, maybe you’re detail-oriented, maybe you’re really professional, maybe you’re super knowledgeable. But just have four values, things that you stand for, and things that you won’t stand for, and four personality traits. And then every time you put a piece of marketing out there, check it back against those lists. Tom Poland 06:00 And one of yours would be being a misfit, I presume? Kate Toon 06:04 Yeah, doing things a little bit oddly, and taking the mick out of the standard way of doing things. I like to have- in my business, you know. Tom Poland 06:14 Because it’s authentic, but it’s also- if it’s not unique, then it’s pretty close to it. So you stand out. So, four characteristics or values that you stand for, you don’t stand for. Make sure that’s permeating your content and marketing. Two and a half minutes left. Let’s go to question number six, one valuable free resource. Where can we direct people to so they can find out more about your work, something free that you can help people with? Kate Toon 06:37 Yeah, so less about me and more about you. There is a personal branding workbook that I’ve given you a link to which actually helps you work out those four values, those four personality traits, and then how those translate into copy and images and photography online. It’s an 18-page workbook that will help you do all of that. Tom Poland 06:55 There’s actually a heck of a lot you’ve got on this! Folks, let me give you the URL, and you can go and explore. It’s Katetoon. So, K-A-T-E-T, double O, N .com/start-here. You’re going to find a wealth of support and help there. There’s a free productivity cheat sheet. There’s a free Q&A you can join. There’s the free personal branding workbook that Kate just mentioned. Go get it! It’s www.katetoon.com/start-here. Last question, 90 seconds left, what’s the one question I should have asked you, but didn’t? And the answer, please. Kate Toon 07:34 What’s the most valuable digital marketing channel for your business? And my answer would be SEO, so Google and being found there, followed swiftly by email marketing. SEO gets people to the door and email marketing gets them coming back again and again. Tom Poland 07:50 Perfect. Kate Toon, thank you so much for your wisdom and insight and for sharing so generously. Kate Toon 07:56 Thanks, Tom. Tom Poland 07:58 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Explode Your Business with Webinars – In Just 7 Minutes with Stefan Ciancio | 20 Jul 2022 | 00:06:51 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you find it difficult to build webinars for your business? Are you looking for a way to make webinars less stressful and more fulfilling at a lesser cost? Do you want to learn how to make your business explode in growth and sales with webinars? Stefan Ciancio went from struggling to sell courses, coaching, agency services, and software to selling 7 figures worth thanks to the power of webinars. He cofounded WebinarKit with a friend who had the same vision to create an all-in-one tool that lets others transform their businesses through webinars. In this episode, Stefan shares how you can start selling out your products and services with less stress and less expense through the promising power of webinars. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “Webinars make you a lot more money than without them. Even a bad webinar is better than no webinar.” -Stefan CiancioClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and another very warm welcome to Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the Sunshine Coast in Australia, joined today by Stefan Ciancio. Stefan, a very warm good day from Down Under. Where are you hanging out? Stefan Ciancio 00:23 Yeah, hey! I’m in New York City, so another side of the world here. Tom Poland 00:27 The Big Apple! I’m really looking forward to this interview, Stefan because we have the same target market. We probably have a very similar range of ideal clients. So, a lot of folks that are going to be listening to this are going to have a vital interest in the subject matter, which is all about, how to explode your business with webinars. Folks, if you haven’t heard of Stefan before, he’s got something that is really exceptional and quite unique. But to give you the backstory, he went from struggling to try to sell courses, selling coaching services, trying to sell agency services, but struggling to do that, and tried all sorts of things. And this might ring a bell with many of you who’ve tried to sell software, which I’ve done as well. So, we’ve got a parallel journey, I suspect. Then went to selling seven figures every year, thanks to the power of- drumroll- webinars. music to my ears! Similar journey. He cofounded WebinarKit, that’s Webinar K-I-T with a friend who had the same vision to create an all-in-one tool that lets others easily and simply, and relatively quickly transform their business and their revenue through webinars. So, the title is, as I said, “How to Explode Your Business with Webinars”. Stefan, I better get my timer. Our time starts now, sir. Question number one is who is your ideal client? Stefan Ciancio 01:45 Yeah, so my ideal client is basically anyone who has something that could be sold, either a product or service, generally high ticket. So, coaches, consultants, agencies, and software founders. Real estate agents are another one. But basically, anyone who has a high-ticket product or service can really benefit from webinars. Another interesting group is even professionals like chiropractors could do webinars. So, it’s really anyone who has a service or product that can benefit from educating their audience and building a relationship with their audience before selling them something at the end of the webinar. Tom Poland 02:20 Right. Perfect! Thank you. So, question two, how would you define the problem that you solve? Six minutes left. Stefan Ciancio 02:26 I would say that the main problem we solve is providing affordable, powerful software that helps people run webinars in their business. So, you know, a lot of the solutions out there are pretty expensive, not necessarily super intuitive to use. And what we want to do is create something simple that anyone without any tech experience could go in, start creating automated and live webinars, because we have functionality for both our webinar kit. so that you could go in there and create that solution very quickly and very affordably. So, I would say that’s the main problem we solve. Tom Poland 02:56 Because they can be, yeah, so thanks for that complexity, and making it a bit simpler and easier is definitely an unmet need in the market which you’re fulfilling. Tell us about- question three is what would you say are some of the symptoms that people who- they’re probably trying to do webinars elsewhere, but they’re struggling a bit. So, what would you say are the symptoms? What’s going on that someone listening to this, they’re saying, “Yep. That’s what’s happening with me as well.” What would you say are some of the symptoms? Five minutes left. Stefan Ciancio 03:21 Well, one of the symptoms I would say is a lot of people might not know, you know, how to scale with webinars if you have to go live all the time. So, it’s like, “I don’t want to give a live webinar every day or every week. It’s a lot of work.” So, one of the problems we solve is the automated solution. Another problem people have, I think, is with the price. So, you know, do you really want to pay $197 a month? You know, for a lot of people that’s hard to stomach, especially if you’re not making a ton of money in your business yet. So, to shell out $197 a month for a tool that you’re not even sure what kind of great results you’re going to get yet, I think it’s very hard for people. So, I think that’s another one of the things that people experience, besides just the, you know, there’s the automation aspect, and then there are the pricing aspects. So, I think those are two big things people experience. Tom Poland 04:04 And just not to steal your thunder, but, folks, WebinarKit is under $100 so that’s a one-off fee. So, you can trust that too, say, the $200 a month. And, Stefan, let everyone know, am I an affiliate of yours? Or am I just promoting you because I think you’re good? Stefan Ciancio 04:05 I don’t believe you’re an affiliate. No, I think- Tom Poland 04:19 No, we’re not affiliates. You’re on the show because you’ve got something that’s pretty special I think folks need to hear about. So, folks, I’m not getting any commissions out of this. I just think you need to know about this because I think it really is an exceptional opportunity to get into the webinar game at a very cost affordable price. So, let’s carry on. We’ve got people wanting to do their marketing out there. They’re growth-orientated. They’re struggling to get sales. You’ve been there. I’ve been there. Question four is what do you think are some of the common mistakes that folks make when they’re trying to generate new client inquiries? Stefan Ciancio 04:50 I think one of the mistakes people make is not sorting their funnel, to begin with. I think that it’s very important to have a filtering mechanism so that you speak to qualified leads at the end of the day. I think, you know, a lot of people get on the phone with just about anyone. Whether you’re getting on the phone or not, you know, like. So, I’ll give two examples. If you’re getting on the phone, a lot of times people are getting on with completely unqualified leads. They don’t even know why they’re turning up to the phone call three-quarters of the time. It’s a waste of time. And you know, the other one is if you’re selling directly online. If you’re selling a high ticket, or even a mid-ticket, or even a low ticket via a sales page, sales pages, especially as you get to higher prices, are much higher to convert directly from a sales page. So having a high-quality webinar is something that I think people need, and a lot of people are not leading with that. Whether that webinar is to sell directly online or even to book a call, you should be filtering everything through a webinar. Tom Poland 05:37 So yeah. So, folks, this is music to my ears. It comes from the real world. It comes from experience. The webinar’s going to educate, motivate, qualify the sales page, pre-consult, so someone’s been to your webinar, books the time to talk with you, but then sees your sales page, then the consult. You’re talking with people who are highly qualified and highly educated, it’s a much better conversation to have. And WebinarKit can help you with that. So, let’s go to question number five, what’s one valuable free action that you think folks can take that will take them a step in the right direction? I’ve got an idea, but let’s see over here. It may not solve the whole problem, but just something to get them started on this? Stefan Ciancio 06:16 Start with your hero story. I think it’s very important- well, actually, no, let me track that. Your offer is very important. So, before you even make the webinar, you need to have the right offer stack. So what problem are you solving? Are you really, really nailing down who that offer’s for? What is the problem you’re solving? You know, what customer avatar are you going after? And that ties into really structuring that offer. Are you providing as much value as you can in that offer that it becomes a no-brainer? So that offer is very, very important. Tom Poland 06:41 Yeah. Okay. Thank you for that. So almost working back from the end, right? And making sure the offer is something that’s meeting an unmet need in the marketplace, or in a manner that is, at least, very differentiated. So, let’s go to question six, we’ve got 75 seconds left, one valuable free resource. Now, folks, this is not quite free, but it’s almost as good as. And I’ll answer this for you, if I may, Stefan, just for the sake of time, it’s www.getwebinarkit.com. Getwebinarkit.com. What are they going to find there, Stefan, when they get there? Stefan Ciancio 07:12 You’ll find the three solutions that we have. The most popular at the moment is our Automated Webinar Solution. You can run hundreds or even 1000s of automated webinars a month without having to go live a single time and the big sell right now is for a limited time. It’s under $100, like you said, for one-time pricing. Tom Poland 07:29 Yeah, that’s pretty exceptional, fully branded, live chat questions, box conversion, boosting offers, analytics, automated email reminders, and advanced remarketing segmentation. This thing can be as simple or as deep as you want it to be, folks. It’s https://getwebinarkit.com/. I’m promoting it because I think Stefan’s got something which is just special. 20 seconds left, sir, what’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t and the answer? Stefan Ciancio 07:53 Why are webinars so great? The story covered it. Webinars make you a lot more money than without them. Even a bad webinar is better than no webinar. Tom Poland 08:05 Perfect! Stefan, thanks so much for your time. Stefan Ciancio 08:08 Thanks for having me. Tom Poland 08:10 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Become a USA Today and WSJ Best-Selling Author – In Just 7 Minutes with Alinka Rutkowska | 13 Jul 2022 | 00:08:39 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Are you an entrepreneur who wants to turn your book ideas into legacy pieces and best-sellers? Do you want to grow your business through a lead generation book? To build authority and credibility, you cannot just do it by yourself. If you really want those extra clients, it makes a lot of sense to hire an expert to get that result for you. Alinka Rutkowska is the CEO of Leaders Press, who got 172 authors on the USA Today and Wall Street Journal best-seller lists. In this episode, Alinka shares insights on how you can become a USA Today and Wall Street Journal best-seller author. If you want to achieve this but you don’t know Alinka, then it’s a must that you dive right in and get to know her now. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “The world needs your perspective. Some people will only be able to resonate with yours.” -Alinka RutkowskaClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing The Invisible. I’m Tom Poland, beaming out to you from Sunshine Coast in Australia, joined today by Alinka Rutkowska. Alinka, good day to you. A very warm welcome from Down Under. Where are you based? Alinka Rutkowska 00:24 Thank you so much, Tom. I’m in Italy, so I think we can compete here by the sea. Tom Poland 00:29 Alright. Folks, this is the second time now for this interview. Alinka and I tried to do this on February 8, which was some four or five months ago now, and I had a glimpse outside of your window on your apartment. My God, you live in paradise there. I’m very, very jealous. Let’s get on with the interview, though. We’ll stop the sightseeing tour. Folks, if you don’t know Alinka and you want to become a USA Today or Wall Street Journal best-selling author, then you need to know her. She is the CEO of Leaders Press. She’s got 172 authors on the USA Today and Wall Street Journal best-seller lists, which is frickin’ phenomenal. So that, Alinka, is the title of our little interview today. “How To Become a USA Today and Wall Street Journal Best-selling Author”. Our seven minute starts now. Question number one is who’s your ideal client? Alinka Rutkowska 01:21 Our ideal client is somebody who either wants to grow their business and they’re looking to have a lead generation book, because Amazon is the search engine so when anybody’s looking for an answer and you can provide that with a book, then that’s the book that you want to do, or somebody who’s looking to leave a legacy piece, such as, for example, the founder of DHL International wanted to tell his story of how he built his billion-dollar empire, and we did that for him. So those are the two types. Tom Poland 01:51 Could be incredibly satisfying for folks. So, question two is what’s the problem you solve? How would you sum that up? Six and a half minutes left. Alinka Rutkowska 01:58 The problem we solve is we help entrepreneurs turn their book ideas into best-sellers. And why would they want that? That’s for several reasons: to build their authority, build their credibility, have the big business cards, because nobody is going to throw out a book that you give them; they will throw out a business card, though. And a little book or even a full-size book that you can get on the USA Today or Wall Street Journal best-seller list and into bookstores does that perfectly. Tom Poland 02:28 Brilliant credibility builders folks, but they are also great door openers. My first book ended up being a very good doorstop. But once you get a best seller with Alinka, then they become a door opener. Question three; five and a half minutes left. We’ve got these authors or budding authors, and how would they know they need to work with you? What’s going on? What are the symptoms that would give them heads up and go “I need to reach out to Alinka and find out more about how she does this”? Alinka Rutkowska 02:57 You would reach a spot in your business or a time in your business where you say, “Okay, we’ve done so many things. We’ve done ads. We’ve done this type of ads. We’ve done this type of PR. We don’t have anything tangible. When people talk to me, they talk to five, 10 others like me. So how am I going to stand out?” When you’re an author, you stand out. When you’re a best-selling author, you stand out. When you’re a USA Today or Wall Street Journal best-selling author, you stand up. And now, you potentially want to do it all by yourself, or you probably don’t want to learn creative writing right now in the whole publishing industry and how to create a marketing campaign to hit the list and fell out of it ten times and then succeed maybe the 11th time. But you probably have a business to run. So, if you want that authority, you want those extra clients that will find you through searches, you want to be the authority in your field, and you don’t want to have a second job or project manage the whole thing, like you value the work of professionals and the whole idea of outsourcing and knowing that you should be in your genius zone, running your business, then it makes a lot of sense to hire somebody like me at Leaders Press to get that result for you. Tom Poland 04:07 Yes. I mean, this is a specialty and most of us don’t have that specialty. We have something else which we make our money with. And I think a lot of people fail to realize that it’s not just about writing the book. It’s actually marketing the thing, getting out of the best-seller books. Otherwise, it just becomes like, I don’t know. A lot of people say their website is like a billboard in the middle of the Sahara Desert. No one notices that you can write a book. I had the same experience. So that’s your expertise. You already mentioned one of the mistakes, I think, in a roundabout way, which is doing it yourself, saying, “Well, I can just write a book and I’ll do all the marketing.” Question four is what are some of the common mistakes people make when they want to write a book or they want to market it? What else would you add to that list? Three and a half minutes left. Alinka Rutkowska 04:53 Very often, people just write whatever is on their minds. So, they want to get it out. They feel like they have a story to share. They don’t really think about whether the reader wants to read it. So, the first thing you should do is do the bookshelf exercise, I call it. It really is market research. So you go to a bookstore, you find a shelf, and you say, “Okay, my book belongs to this shelf.” So, let’s say that’s leadership. You found it in the bookstore. Great. And then you’d want to think about your unique selling proposition. How does your book stand out from the other books on that shelf? And once you have the answer to this question, then you want to get started on your outline, and really cleverly come up with potential calls to action. Where are you going to send people in which place in the book? How are you going to weave it in seamlessly so that it doesn’t look like one big commercial? And once you have that, then you write. And if you’re going to do it yourself, you’d want to be really disciplined and say, “Okay, I’m going to write this book in a month or two months. And in order to do that, this is the number of words I need to write every day. This is how much time it takes me.” Stick to it. We’ve had people who’ve been writing their book for ten years and never actually finished; worked with coaches, spent tens of thousands of dollars on coaches, who happily took their money. Tom Poland 06:08 Yeah. Alinka Rutkowska 06:08 The best clients are the committed slow learners, right? And then finally, they came to us and we got it out in less than a year. Tom Poland 06:18 I have not heard that before. The best clients are committed slow learners. Disguised me pretty well. You just laid out a great roadmap to move forward, and there’s a series of steps there, folks. You’d want to press rewind and play that again several times and take copious notes. Let’s go to question six, because you covered the last two questions very well. Thanks. But then you’ve got 90 seconds left. Where do people go to find out more about what you do? A landing page where they can get some more good information or even make contact with you. Alinka Rutkowska 06:53 The best place is http://www.leaderspress.com/discover where you’ll be able to go through a one-minute quiz that will tell you which type of book is the best for you – if it’s the lead generator, the legacy piece, or maybe a chapter in an anthology that will hit the USA Today list. And also, since they’re your listener, you’re going to get an audiobook of Outsource Your Book, which will help you discover the 17 steps to get your book done. Tom Poland 07:23 Fantastic. Folks, getting your book out there is one of the most worthwhile marketing pieces of assets you can develop. It’s not going to change the world for you, but it’s going to make a really big dent in your marketing efforts. It’s worthwhile. So, it’s http://www.leaderspress.com/discover. Alinka, we’ve got 20 seconds left. What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? Alinka Rutkowska 07:44 Is the world not already full with enough books? Tom Poland 07:50 And ten seconds for the answer. Alinka Rutkowska 07:51 And the answer is no. Tom Poland 07:52 Right. Alinka Rutkowska 07:53 The answer is no. The world needs your perspective. Some people will only be able to resonate with yours. Plus, there are all the benefits you’ll get. Tom Poland 08:01 Alinka, thanks so much for your time. Tom Poland 08:03 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Scale Your Company – In Just 7 Minutes with Allison Maslan | 06 Jul 2022 | 00:06:48 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you always end up spending more time with your business and lesser time doing what you love doing? Have you felt like you’ve lost yourself in the process of handling and building your business? Are you ready to find out the promising tips and tricks on how to scale up your business and be everyone’s go-to entrepreneur? Allison Maslan is the Wall Street Journal Best-Selling Author of “Scale or Fail”. She has built 10 companies since age 19 and she is the founder of Pinnacle Global Network, where she and her team of mentors guide CEOs to scale their companies and create a more meaningful life. Dive in into this episode with Allison and get a grip on how to avoid being the “forgotten entrepreneur” and grow your business beyond you and into so much more! Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “Get the support so that you can scale the business and have a life. You absolutely deserve it!” -Allison MaslanClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Welcome, everyone, to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the Sunshine Coast in Australia, joined today by Allison Maslan. Allison, good day from down under. A very warm welcome! Where are you hanging out? Allison Maslan 00:22 I am in San Diego and the sun is shining, as you can see, coming through the windows here. Tom Poland 00:28 Love San Diego! I love that whole coastline there. It’s just magical, driving down there. Allison from San Diego is also a Wall Street Journal Best-Selling Author of the book, “Scale or Fail.” She has built 10 companies since the age of 19. I’m not going to say something corny, like “Was that all 10 years ago? Oops, too late!” And she is the founder of Pinnacle Global Network, where she and her team of mentors guide CEOs and create a more meaningful life in addition to uncapping the bottleneck for folks. So, the title today is very relevant, not surprisingly for Allison’s bio, which is, “How to Scale Your Company”. Allison, I’m going to stop talking. I’m going to ask you to start talking. Our seven minutes start now. Question number one, who is your ideal client? Allison Maslan 01:20 Well, there’s a lot of support out there for the start-up business owner. But once you’ve been in business for a good period of time, I say you’re the “Forgotten Entrepreneur”. You’re sort of out there lost in Nowhere Land, and you hit the ceiling. And you want to know how to really scale beyond that. You’ve hit that, maybe you’re stuck at seven figures or stuck at eight-figures. And you’ve run out of bandwidth. And you really need to scale up. That’s really who we support with our “Scale Up” method. Tom Poland 01:49 Seven’s wanting to get eight. Eight’s just wanted to get to nine. So, tell us more about, question two, and we’ve got six and a half minutes left. Tell us more about the problem you solve? Allison Maslan 01:59 Yeah. And so, what happens when you get that, you hit the ceiling, and you think that just working harder and focusing more is the answer, and maybe you’ll get incremental growth. But to really take the big leaps, you have to shift into a more scalable model. And you have to build a team-managed company, so the business can grow beyond you. Otherwise, you’re going to be stuck in the weeds working 60-80 hours a week, forever, not taking vacations and the business running you instead of you running it. Tom Poland 02:32 Does not sound like a whole lot of fun! Question three, and thank you for that. Just under six minutes left. What would you say are some of, maybe, the three or so top symptoms? Someone’s listening to this, they’re stuck at seven figures, what else are they noticing is going on in their business or their life where they think, “Yeah, I need to talk with Allison’s people”? Allison Maslan 02:52 Yeah, so at that level, and we call this “phase three” in the Scale-Up method, we call it the “ringleader”. You’re the ringleader. You have a circus going on. And you are micromanaging everyone. And there’s no way you can get your arms around it all. It is overwhelming. It can affect your health. It can affect your marriage, relationships, whatever. And you just don’t see your way out of it. And so, this is really what we help the business owners solve. We help them shift into the visionary working on the business, not in the business. Tom Poland 03:28 Got it! Thank you. Four and a half minutes left, what would you say are some of the common mistakes that when you’re working with high achievers, they’re already doing well. They’re aggressive, growth-orientated people, and they’re going to be trying stuff, but it’s not going to work. So, some of the mistakes, you mentioned one, was just working longer, working harder. Can you think of anything else that might be a mistake we could help people avoid? Allison Maslan 03:47 Yeah. I mean, they really are control freaks at this point– very, very hard to let go. It’s just the hardest thing. And you know that saying “What got you here, won’t get you there”, you cannot do the same strategies and same practices you did at the beginning, and just try stretching it. Also helping, building that leadership team so that you’re able to truly free yourself and be that leader in your business, and the visionary so that you can truly scale it up. Tom Poland 04:16 That’s massive building, that leadership team, and the lingo. It’s so true. So, question five, three and a half minutes left. Let’s flip this now. We have identified ideal clients, talked about the symptoms, the mistakes, and so on. What’s one, kind of, like a top tip that might take people listening to this a step in the right direction? They’re probably going to need you and your team for the whole solution, but it might get them started? Allison Maslan 04:41 Yeah, I mean, the first thing I would do is pull out your calendar and really look at it and ask yourself, “Do I really need to be in all of these meetings or places and doing all these tasks?” I think if I sat down with you or my team sat down with you, we would be able to cut at least half, probably 30 hours in a week off of your plate. If it’s not going to the dentist or getting your hair done it doesn’t have to be you. You think it needs to be you, but it doesn’t need to be. So, it’s really taking an honest look at that and starting to extricate yourself from those things that are pulling your time. Tom Poland 05:19 Alright, that’s a great tip, because that one thing could be incredibly liberating. Allison Maslan 05:23 Yeah, and multiply it over a year. Yeah. Tom Poland 05:26 Yes, indeed, and make a habit of it. So, let’s- two and a half minutes left. That’s going to get them started. And I’m pretty sure you’ve got something else that they can get their teeth into. A free resource that we could direct people to, please. Where would people go to learn more about your work? Allison Maslan 05:42 Yeah, so you can- for the free resource, I would go to scalemasterclass.com. I do a regular live stream. It is a live where I take you through a 90-minute training on step-by-step how to build your scale plan, how to build a team-manage company, and shift into a scale model. So, you can sign up for that. And then the next one will be, you know, within the next few days. Tom Poland 06:08 Perfect! Thank you for that. Great resource. Scalemasterclass.com, a live session! Question seven, Allison. We’ve got 90 seconds left. What’s the one question I should have asked you, but didn’t? Allison Maslan 06:22 How do you actually have a meaningful life and create a life of purpose while you’re growing and scaling your business? That’s the question I would say. Tom Poland 06:35 That is a great question! And the answer? Allison Maslan 06:38 The answer is that you have probably forgotten these things. You might have had it at the beginning of your business, but you lost yourself in the business. So, I think it’s really getting- taking that time journaling and saying “what does fill me up? What do I love to do?” And if you don’t know, get the support. You know, get the support so that you can scale the business and have a life. You absolutely deserve it! That’s what we do in Pinnacle Global Network all day long. Tom Poland 07:07 It’s so true that people start out with the idea of fulfilment and a meaningful purpose-driven business or highly profitable middle lifestyle and then, you know, five or six years later, completely lost sight of those. Those things are just buried in the mire. Allison Maslan, thanks so much for your time and your wisdom, and your insights. Allison Maslan 07:24 Thank you for having me. Tom Poland 07:26 Pleasure. Tom Poland 07:27 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| Scrappy B2B Marketing 101: How to Capture More Market Share for Less Money – In Just 7 Minutes with Colton Briner | 29 Jun 2022 | 00:07:20 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Have you been trying to compete for your place in the market but end up being pushed down by those big companies? What should you really work out on– is it increasing your ads, trying out new strategies or, something just as simple as, igniting your creativity? Are you ready to learn how you capture more market shares without the stress, struggle and worry? Colton Briner has spent his entire career where the rubber meets the road between product development and branding on the one side and marketing and sales on the other side. This experience has enabled him to combine strong strategies with creative execution to help companies grow fast while spending less. In this episode, Colton talks about the hidden gems when competing with the top companies in your market– from analyzing these companies at a micro perspective to what should you be focusing instead to outshine them and resonate with your clients. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “A thimble of creativity is basically all it takes to just blow away the competition in a B2B market.” -Colton BrinerClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Welcome, everyone, to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the Sunshine Coast in Australia, joined today by Colton Briner. Colton, good day from Down Under. Sir, a very warm welcome. Where are you hanging out? Colton Briner 00:21 Oh, good day to you as well. I’m in Northern California, wine country. Tom Poland 00:26 Oh, a little birdie told me you’re off to wine country in the south of Australia, and Adelaide, later in the year. Colton Briner 00:34 Yeah, that’s right! Heading there in September. Looking forward to it! Tom Poland 00:36 Bring lots of those nice fat US dollars, please. Because we can use a boost our wine economy here in Australia! Colton Briner 00:44 Happy to do it. Yes. Tom Poland 00:46 Check in extra baggage on the way back because you’ll be taking back some beautiful bottles of Australian red wine. I’m sure. Colton Briner 00:52 I look forward to it! Tom Poland 00:54 So, in addition to being the son of a vineyard owner, Colton is- he spent his entire career in between the sampling wine, really, where the rubber? This is not on his bio, by the way. But where the rubber meets the road between product development and branding on the one side and marketing and sales on the other side. Now, folks, if you don’t know, there’s normally a solid brick wall between the two. You got the folks doing product development, maybe branding, etc. Then you got the people to try to sell the stuff and they’re often going, “It’s your fault. We’re not selling!” No, no, it’s your fault. So that combination of experience is, if it’s not unique, it’s certainly very rare. And it’s really enabled him to combine strong strategies, which is missing in so many different businesses trying to grow their business– strong strategies with creative execution, which is what gets you the cuts through. So, one without the other is almost impotent. But Colton has this ability to match the two together. So, this is, as we say in Australia, fair dinkum, and it’s effective. So, you can use that when you come down here, Colton, fair dinkum Colton Briner 02:07 You’ve already given me a totally revised version of my bio, Tom. Thank you! Tom Poland 02:12 You’re very welcome! Royalties checks will be in the mail, I’m sure. So, our title here is, “How to Capture More Market Share for Less Money”. And don’t we all want that? So, Colton, our seven minutes is going to start now. Sir, question number one, who is your ideal client? Colton Briner 02:30 I work generally with early-to-mid stage B2B companies in complex enterprise selling contexts, right, that typically have high ticket items. Their solutions, cost, or average contract value is five figures and above. They have long sales cycles that they’re dealing with. And they really aim for engagement-based, like, relationship selling is where they’re at. Tom Poland 02:53 And this is a complex sales or marketing challenge, isn’t it? Where you’ve got low leads, high costs, and potentially multiple decision-makers. Colton Briner 03:00 And the client journey is substantial. Tom Poland 03:03 The client journey is substantial. Thank you for that! Six and a half minutes left. Question number two, tell us more about the problem you solve? Colton Briner 03:10 Well, this is really common, right? Small players struggle to capture market share from the deep-pocketed industry incumbents, right? Those guys have big budgets because those companies have a lot of revenues. And larger competitors are basically just using the brute force of dollars to create their own brand visibility. And they’re out there buying perceived trust, right? So that’s really the challenge that young companies are dealing with– how do you penetrate that kind of brute force? Tom Poland 03:39 Absolutely. How do you? It’s not just an incumbent, it’s a Goliath of an incumbent. So, question three, five and a half minutes left. How would you describe the typical symptoms that someone listening to this, if they were potentially an ideal client of yours, what’s happening in their business right now? What’s going on where they go, “That’s a heads up that I need to find out more about what Colton does”? Colton Briner 04:02 Well, you’re certainly getting like the “Who are you? Who are you guys? We’ve never heard of you.” You don’t find that people are immediately resonating. They’re not connecting with you on an emotional basis. They’re not connecting with you on a trust basis. You’re not standing out. If you market at conferences, you just are off in the corner so people don’t notice you. If you’re in the major advertising channels, again, you’re just being totally crushed and dominated. You know, if that’s your sense of how your marketing is going, then those symptoms are signs that that’s exactly the problem I can solve for you. Tom Poland 04:31 I guess they’re going to feel some frustration with being confident. They’ve probably got a product or service which is going to knock the socks off their competitor. They’re the world’s best-kept secret. Question number four, we’ve got four and a half minutes left, so a bucketload of time. What are some of the common mistakes you hear about that your ideal clients made before they find your solution? Colton Briner 04:56 Sure. Well, number one, and first and foremost, right, they are playing the same game as the big competitors are. They have let the big competitors basically set the rules. They’re not creating their own path, right? So, I would say you really want to figure out, rather than, “How do I do the low budget version of the same game that everyone else is playing? How do I use strategy and creativity to do something different in a more meaningful way than what everybody else is doing?” Because if you let the big boys set the rules of the game, you’re going to lose until you bootstrap your way to the same kind of budgets that they have, which is, you know, it’s a huge problem. So, I mean, let’s pay attention to what channels they’re not in, and what ways they’re not leveraging personality. And again, you know, the big companies have a challenge in expressing meaningfully significant personality, even controversial views, because they’re very risk-averse. And that creates- it actually gives the little guys who can take advantage of that opportunity, a clear path to outflanking, out navigating, and out marketing those same competitors with much less money. Tom Poland 06:02 Right! Then, so instead of just spending a bucketload of money, which is easy to do, if you’ve got it- Colton Briner 06:08 Yep! Tom Poland 06:09 A creative idea could actually circumnavigate the opposition. Thank you for that. There’s a heck of a lot of wisdom in that, folks! To unpack that would possibly take a one-week seminar. But, you know, I would really encourage you to rewind and listen to that because that’s a strategic insight into how the big competitors, not at their own game, but by playing the game the way they can’t play it. Colton Briner 06:36 That’s right! Tom Poland 06:37 So, let’s go, two and a half minutes left, number five, a top tip, please. A valuable free action someone listening to this could take. Not going to solve the whole problem, but it might take them a step in the right direction? Colton Briner 06:47 Well, I think you actually set it in summary for the last answer, which is creativity is going to win, right? No B2B sector on the planet is 1/10 as creatively competitive as any B2C sector that exists on the planet, right? A thimble of creativity is basically all it takes to just blow away the competition in a B2B market. So, I’m going to do suggest building the creative capacities of your teams. There are tons of books out there, if you want to bring in somebody who can do like a creativity-building seminar, I know a guy. Or there are two books that I highly recommend. This one is called, A Technique for Producing Ideas. It’s a 70-year-old book that you can read, not even on a flight, you can read this while taxiing for a flight. And then another book from Stanford’s D School. This one is called, Creative Acts for Curious People. If you want to build the creative capacities of your teams, including your marketing team, check out those two resources. Tom Poland 07:42 Thanks for that! I’ll add a third one, Thinking for a Living. If you can get it, it’s by Joey Reiman. Thinking for a Living is one of my all-time favorite books. Thanks for that, sir! And question number six, we’ve got 75 seconds left, one valuable free resource, where can people go to find out more about your work? Colton Briner 08:02 Well, I have many and you can find them all in the same place. Scrappyafsolutions.com/resources. Scrappyafsolutions.com. And the Resources page, I think, only one or two of them actually require you know, any kind of email entry. The rest of them are there for you to download and use as you like. Tom Poland 08:19 Thank you, sir! Dare I ask what AF stands for? Colton Briner 08:23 I don’t know. Well, if this is a family show, maybe we can’t explain that. But it is, as you may suspect. Tom Poland 08:29 Scrappy as? All right. Thank you! 30 seconds left. What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? Colton Briner 08:36 Maybe what does it look like to look different and be creative? Like if you’re going to, for example, a conference and everybody else is in business suits? Well dress your team up as the Game of Thrones characters, right? Everybody’s- Yeah, everybody’s throwing big expensive parties. Take your clients to a wagyu steak tasting. I mean, these are the things that really create a different experience that helps you to capture market share from incumbents. Tom Poland 09:01 Colton, thanks so much for your time. Colton Briner 09:04 A delight! Thank you. Tom Poland 09:06 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Get Clients by Sending This Email Every Day – In Just 7 Minutes with Luke Charlton | 22 Jun 2022 | 00:06:18 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Have you been trying all the marketing tactics out there but still end up with little-to-no progress at all? Do you think you should continue these marketing strategies, like ads, or should you just stop it? So, how do you magnetize clients and increase your sales without the stress and with only as simple as your email? Luke Charlton helps coaches get high-paying clients by sending one email per day. No complex funnels. No confusing tech. In this episode, Luke shares how to send an email every day without all the complex guru, as well as, some additional tips and tricks that you can craft a very profitable and powerful offer. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “If you want a campaign that responds in terms of people opting in to your list or jumping on your emails, it all starts with your market.” -Luke CharltonClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Welcome, everyone, to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the Sunshine Coast in Australia, joined today by Luke Charlton. Luke, good day from one Aussie to another! Welcome, sir. Where are you hanging out? Luke Charlton 00:23 Where I’m in Mullumbimby. So, a little bit south of you, northern New South Wales, close to the Queensland border. Tom Poland 00:29 And in a fabulous little town. Mullumbimby, don’t try to spell it! But if you’re down into Byron Bay’s neck of the woods, make sure you check it out. Some of the best cafes and eateries in the entire region. After the gastronomical theme on to the marketing theme. Luke helps coaches get high-paying clients sending one email per day. No complicated funnels. No confusing tech. No, having to set up registration pages, landing pages, free offers, etc. This brings us nicely to the title, which is, “How to Get Clients by Sending this Email Every day”. Luke, our seven minutes starts now. Sir, question number one, who’s your ideal client? Luke Charlton 01:11 Coaches earning under six fingers are who I work with. Tom Poland 01:15 Easy peasy! Thank you. Number two, what’s the problem you solve for them? Luke Charlton 01:19 You said it a second ago. It’s helping them get clients basically. Helping my clients specifically send an email every day without any complex kind of convoluted guru funnels. Tom Poland 01:27 Perfect! Thank you, sir. Question three, six and a half minutes left. We’re going through these at a great rate of knots. What would you say would be the symptoms that people who need your service are experiencing in their business? It kind of gives them a heads up that they need to find out more about what you do. Luke Charlton 01:41 Yeah, that’s a great question. So, they’ve spent a lot of time doing organic strategies like Facebook, going in Facebook groups, begging for referrals, going in LinkedIn groups, writing a lot of blogs and a lot of content type-driven strategies that don’t really pay off, spending a lot on ads but no payoff, expensive click costs, expensive lead costs, expensive appointment costs, as related to the ad campaigns, a lack of campaign response, so putting offers out in your emails and people not booking appointments. Inconsistency is really a big thing, like inconsistent- people opting into the list, inconsistent appointments, like living that kind of up and down roller coaster, right? Where one month ago, you got clients in and everything’s great in the next month. It’s like that feast famine cycle, and I’ve been there and it is not a good place to be as a coach or service professional living that up and down roller coaster. So, it’s really not consistent- yeah. Inconsistency, basically, with leads and clients. Low closing rates, again, on the phone and not being able to close the clients that they’re speaking to. Getting a lot of “I can’t afford it” excuses, or “Now’s not the right time” excuses, or a lot of other objections on the calls and low prices, basically. So yeah, so a symptom is- it’s really just kind of related to the next question as well, but- Tom Poland 01:41 Okay, well, let’s move on to question four. Thanks for that! Five minutes left still. Question four is about the common mistakes people with those symptoms make and trying to alleviate themselves from those symptoms. So, what else are people doing that is actually a mistake? Luke Charlton 03:15 Yes. So, they tried to go broad with their market. they think that having a broader marketing message, it’ll attract more clients. But the broad marketing message just makes your message really muddy and undefined. And I don’t really attract- you attract a lot of low-quality leads if you do attract anyone. But most people with a broad message just don’t attract anyone. And that’s the responsiveness that I spoke about a few minutes ago, having a low response, inconsistent response type campaigns. If they’re running ads, they stop running ads. They think, “Oh, it doesn’t work for me.” So that’s a common mistake. You know, focusing on giving the ad campaign running is the better option there, instead of just stopping altogether. They lower their prices as a mistake, right? To try and get more clients, they lower their prices. And that’s the only way they can really seem to sign people up. It’s a big mistake. And it is hard to make a business model work when you’ve got low prices, especially if you’re paying for ads. They try a low-ticket business model, like a low-ticket membership site or selling a low-ticket book or a low-ticket tripwire funnel. They’re transitioning to that because they think that selling a low ticket. It will make it easier. But again, it’s generally their marketing message that’s the problem and their sales process. They give away free coaching or, free sessions of their service in order to try and convince people to sign up. So, they devalue their service. They chase kind of bright shiny guru funnels, you know, tripwire funnels are- Tom Poland 04:38 Oh, you kind of blame that nothing’s working, right? Luke Charlton 04:41 Yeah, exactly right. Ang again, everything that I’m saying here, I made all these mistakes. So, ignoring, like, the big mistake is they ignore the fundamentals and similar to the chasing the bright, shiny funnels. They think that the reason they’re not getting clients is because they don’t have the right upsell or the right order bump or this new sexy thing when they haven’t been looked at the fundamentals because- the fundamentals aren’t really sexy, right? They’re not exciting. Tom Poland 05:06 They can hurt the brain too. So, thank you for that. Two and a half minutes left. Question five, let’s give folks a top tip. It’s some of them are a bit of a mess, by the sound of it, all those symptoms, those mistakes that we’ve all made. What’s the top tip you could give people that’s going to take them a step in the right direction? Luke Charlton 05:23 Yes, so everything starts with your market, right? If you want a campaign that responds in terms of people opting in to your list or jumping on your emails, it all starts with your market. They’re the people that are paying you. They’re the people that are opting into your list. So, you must get very clear on your market, very specific in terms of their demographics and their psychographics. Build a very clear picture, then you build the campaign around that. Another big tip is to have a strategy that you can implement consistently. So, I help coaches and what they lack is just a simple strategy. So, I always say, like, “Build your list with quality leads, and then email that list consistently with one email per day.” That’s all you need to do. And if you can’t get that running, then complicated guru funnels- you’re not going to be able to get that right. Tom Poland 06:05 All right, thank you. So, start with a market, what their needs are, and develop a simple system that you can kind of rinse and repeat. So, it gives you a predictable result. Thank you for that! 90 seconds left, two questions to go. Question six is a valuable free resource. I think we’ve got a landing page we could suggest people go to that’s going to help them even more. Luke Charlton 06:24 Yeah, just go to nine, so the number nine, so 9emailoffers.com. Go there. It’s just a guide that will show you nine email offers that you can send out to your email list to help you get more appointments and get more clients. And then if you also opt-in, I’ll give you another gift called “The One Sentence Offer”. So, showing you how to craft a very powerful, profitable offer. I’ll give you that but just mention Tom’s name, when you opt to just email me, and say, “Hey, I heard you on Tom’s podcast” and I’ll give you that free training. I’ll give that training for free as well. Tom Poland 06:56 Very valuable! Thank you for that. So, folks, it’s the number nine, 9emailoffers.com. Go get it. Luke, we’ve got 35 seconds left. What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? Luke Charlton 07:06 I don’t have time. But the one question is do you have an example of how your advice helped clients? I don’t think we have time for that in 30 seconds. But you know, people opt into that free gift. I get a lot of examples in my email, so yeah. Tom Poland 07:20 That’ll do the job well! Luke Charlton, thanks so much for your time. Luke Charlton 07:24 No worries. Tom Poland 07:26 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Cement Yourself as the Obvious Choice for Your Ideal Clients – In Just 7 Minutes with Steven Lewis | 18 Jul 2024 | 00:09:54 | |
Why you've got to check out today's episode:
Resources/Links:
Summary: Struggling to make your business stand out in a crowded market? Many skilled professionals find themselves frustrated as their expertise goes unnoticed and potential clients slip away. Without a clear and compelling message, even the most talented individuals can remain invisible to their ideal clients. Steven Lewis is a copywriter who works with established business owners to position them as the obvious choice for their ideal clients. He's well known for his no-bullshit approach. In this episode, Steven shares his no-nonsense approach to positioning yourself as the obvious choice for your clients. He emphasizes the importance of focusing on the transformation you provide rather than just your credentials and offers actionable tips to articulate your value effectively. Check out these episode highlights: 02:06 - Steven's ideal clients: Coaches or consultants, sometimes maybe they own a small agency, often they're a digital marketer. 02:56 - The problem Steven helps to solve: They don't talk about what you get. 04:09 - Symptom of the problem he helps solve: People who should convert don't convert. 05:18 - Mistakes his clients commit before meeting him: They talk about their credentials, how long they've been doing it, and those don't mean anything to their client. 06:29 - Steven's Valuable Free Action [VFA]: Picture what your client woke up in the morning wanting. 08:03 - His Valuable Free Resource [VFR]: Get 39 ways to talk about yourself that prove you're good at what you do without saying that you are leading or innovative. Click here: https://taleist.agency/proof/ 08:51 - Q: How do I know how to make you the obvious choice for your ideal client? A: I talk to you because you wouldn't believe how many people tell me something and I'm saying to them, why the hell isn't that on your website? And they're like, oh, I didn't know that was important. And the other thing is I talk to your clients because your clients will always talk about what they get and not what you do. Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: "They don't buy what you do, they buy the transformation that they're going to get." - Steven Lewis | |||
| How to Grow Your Brand by Telling Your Story – In Just 7 Minutes with Celinne Da Costa | 15 Jun 2022 | 00:07:09 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you feel like it’s time to grow your brand but just end up struggling with how to do it? What do you think are you doing wrong– is it the ads, your branding, or your message? So, how do you grow your brand without the expense and with only the power of your story? Celinne Da Costa is a Brand Story expert and Deep Transformation coach who works with high-achieving, purpose-driven experts and executives to help them become confident, fully expressed leaders with transformational stories, an influential brand, and a tribe of raving fans. In this episode, Celinne shares how you can grow your brand by reconnecting back with your true purpose, and aligning who you are with what you can contribute to the world through the power of storytelling. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “When you watch other people step into their power, what happens, you are inspired to step into your power as well.” -Celine Da CostaClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the Sunshine Coast here in Australia, joined today by Celinne Da Costa. Celinne, a very warm welcome. Whereabouts are you hanging out? It looks very tropical from where you are! Celinne Da Costa 00:26 I’m quite close to you. I’m in Bali, Indonesia. Tom Poland 00:29 Bali! North, south, whereabouts? Celinne Da Costa 00:32 In Uluwatu, so beach town. Tom Poland 00:35 Beautiful! Fabulous part of the world. Folks, for those of you who don’t know Celinne, she’s a brand story expert. She’s also a deep transformation coach, which is fascinating work. She works with high-achieving, real purpose-driven experts, people who want to make a difference in the world, including executives, and helps them to become more confident, fully expressed leaders, with, empowered, if you like, or equip, with really transformational stories. Stories that they can tell that will transform people’s lives and business and confidence. She’s got a tribe of raving fans. That’s what she helps her clients to create as well. Her work has been featured in top media, including Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Business Insider. She’s, in her own right, a best-selling author, a very popular speaker. She’s delivered TEDx speeches on the power of human connection. Can’t wait for me to shut up, and for you to open up! Celinne, the subject today is, “How to Grow Your Brand by Telling Your Story”. Our seven minutes is going to start now. Question number one, who is your ideal client? Celinne Da Costa 01:41 So, my ideal client is a visionary, a leader, and somebody who’s really passionate about making a big change in people’s lives. And they want to put themselves out there and essentially create a program or service that will really elevate the quality of others’ life. And the way that they’re going to do that is by sharing their message and building a premium legacy brand that will last for years to come. Tom Poland 02:04 Beautiful! Thank you. Question two, six and a half minutes left, what’s the problem you solve for your ideal clients? Celinne Da Costa 02:12 I help them reconnect back to their true purpose and actually share a message of change, transformation, and growth from an aligned place. So, what I mean by that is that I’m really helping them understand this is who I am, this is a change that I have to make in the world, this is how I talk about it, and this is how it comes through my brand and messaging. And by doing that they can put themselves out there in a bigger way. And they can help more people as well as do that from a place of being centered and fulfilled within themselves. Tom Poland 02:40 Right, and not having to feel like they have to bend their personality or ethics out of shape just to fit into someone else’s template. Celinne Da Costa 02:46 Exactly, authentically 100% themselves. Tom Poland 02:50 Which in itself is going to be transformational. Let alone the ripple impact it would have on the lives of others. Let’s go to question three, five and a half minutes left. What would you say are the typical symptoms that your ideal client is experiencing before they start this transformational work with you? Celinne Da Costa 03:06 Well, the first is impostor syndrome no matter what level they’re at. I’ve worked with people in the 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10-figure categories. And I can tell you that consistently, no matter how successful they are, how much money they’ve made, how many people they’ve helped, there is this deeply rooted dissatisfaction of “I’m not enough. I don’t know how to get myself out there. People don’t care about what I have to say.” And it’s a huge issue that these people in leadership positions who have so much power to really change the world are not recognizing their own sense of self-worth. And they’re not actually connected to the power of their story and their experiences and what they can create in the world. And so, I help people really wake up to that and be able to articulate that to the rest of the world. Because when you watch other people step into their power, what happens, you are inspired to step into your power as well. And that’s what they can do for their audience. Tom Poland 03:55 Spine-tingling stuff! And I imagine a lot of these people have this nagging idea in the back of their mind that there’s more, that they can be more. Not quite sure how to get there, perhaps. So that brings us nicely the question four, four and a half minutes left, what would you say are some of the common mistakes that- because these are aspirational people. They’re often inspirational people. They’re often very successful. They’re going to be trying stuff. What would you say are some of the common mistakes they make before they find your solution? Celinne Da Costa 04:23 The biggest one is too much doing and not enough being and most people who are in that high achieving, high performing space just by through sheer past conditioning, and the way that society has programmed us, we have not learned how it is to actually become the version of ourselves that we want to do. So, a lot of mistakes that I see them doing is that they’re doubling down on a bunch of strategies, or, you know, like, “I need to do this framework and apply this other framework” and they’re doing so much from their mind, from their head and they’re so stuck in their head that then they lose access to their heart. And their heart and their emotional intelligence is actually how they’re going to create that deeper connection and really connect what it is that they want to say. And that powerful brand story that is irresistible and really draws people in like bees to honey, is going to be a story that comes from your heart. It is going to be a story that has an emotional narrative to it. So, if you are in your head, you’re cutting yourself off from actually becoming that premium brand instead of just talking about it, which is actually not going to advance you after a certain point. Tom Poland 05:24 Yeah, for a lot of us, the longest journey we ever made was from the head to the heart. Question number five, thank you for that! Very well articulated and also incredibly succinct, which is just as well, given we’ve got three minutes left. Question five is what I want from you now is a top tip, a valuable free action, someone could take. It’s not going to take them down the whole journey or lead them to the end destination, but it might take them a step in the right direction. What’s the top tip you can give people? Celinne Da Costa 05:52 I’m going to give you a journaling prompt, which is to really sit down in a meditative space and ask yourself, “What is the message that I want to share with the world? And what specifically is keeping me from sharing it? What are the fears, or the limiting beliefs that I am having that is keeping me from showing up fully, and sharing what I want to share with my audience, with the world?” Whether it is a story, whether it is a program, or a service, what is it that needs to come out of you? And why is it not coming out? Journal on that. You’re going to get a lot of clarity. Tom Poland 06:26 So, what is it that I want to share with the world? What might be holding me back? And what form might that thing take once I launch it? Celinne Da Costa 06:33 Exactly. Tom Poland 06:34 Terrific questions! And potentially, folks, transformational life, transformational questions. So many changes start with profound questions like this. Question six, one minute and 45 left. Want to direct people to a free resource where they can find out more about your work. Give us a landing page somewhere. Where should folks go? Celinne Da Costa 06:55 Absolutely. As you know, we have only seven minutes. So, I would really love to walk you through the A to Z of how is it that you can use the power of your story and the art of storytelling to magnetize your ideal clients and stand out in an overcrowded space. So, I have created a free masterclass that you can go and watch. It’s less than an hour. It’s going to give you all the secrets on how you can start and go execute this on your own. And so, the URL is www.celinnedacosta.com/freemasterclass. And my name is spelled C-E-L-I-N-N-E D-A C-O-S-T-A. Tom Poland 07:30 Perfect! Save me saying it. Thank you so much, Celinne. We got a minute left. Question seven, what’s the one question I should have asked you, but didn’t, and maybe the answer as well? Celinne Da Costa 07:40 What kind of results can you really get when you unleash the power of your story? And when clients did the work that we’ve talked about in the past six minutes, what they’ve been able to create is- I had a client, for example, who went from not being able to do an Instagram story on his phone to speak on a Tony Robbins stage in front of 10,000 people. I had another client who was sitting on a launch idea for 18 months, when she was able to tell her story, she launched a $100,000 launch. And she went on to have three more of those. I had another client who went off and told her story through a book, published it– best-selling book. So, the point is that when you actually go out there and tell your story and you’re in full alignment with the authenticity of who you are, you can create massive results in your life, in your business and you can grow your brand exponentially! Tom Poland 08:26 Beautiful! Can’t wait to get this interview out there. Celinne, thanks so much for your time. Celinne Da Costa 08:29 My pleasure. Tom Poland 08:31 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Attract and Enroll the Clients You Love to Serve – In Just 7 Minutes with David Fagan | 08 Jun 2022 | 00:06:59 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you know that you have great service to give but just end up feeling like you’re the world’s best-kept secret? Have you been trying to pitch yourself to prospects but end up not being wanted? Are you ready to find out how you can gain more exposure and credibility and become one of the most influential in your field? David T. Fagan is the former CEO of Guerrilla Marketing, which sold over 23 million books in 62 languages. He is also the former owner of LCO Communications, a PR firm that has represented 58 Academy Award Winners, 34 Grammy Winners, and 43 New York Times Best Sellers. In this episode, David talks about how you can attract your ideal clients through the right words, the best strategy, and the perfect pitch! He also shares why you need to have proof of concept first before investing in different marketing strategies such as ads. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “We want you to be the pursuee, not the pursuer.” -David FaganClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the Sunshine Coast here in Australia, joined today by David Fagan. David, a very warm good day from Down Under. Whereabouts are you hanging out? David Fagan 00:24 I’m in that Arizona, United States! Tom Poland 00:27 Arizona! I bet you got sunshine right now. David Fagan 00:30 It was actually raining today, but we do have sun now. Tom Poland 00:33 OMG, it was raining in Arizona! All right. David Fagan 00:37 A rare day! It was a rare day. Made the news. Tom Poland 00:39 Amazing weather there. Okay, folks, David is a pretty amazing guy. He was the former CEO of Guerrilla Marketing. And I don’t know if you’ve heard of that book, Guerrilla Marketing, but if you haven’t, you should get it. It sold 23 million copies. It was in 62 different languages. He’s also the former owner of LCO Communications, which was a PR firm that represented 58 Academy Award Winners, 34 Grammy Winners, and 43 New York Times Best Time Sellers. So, David knows a thing or two about marketing, about client attraction, which is really great because our title today, David, is, “How to Attract and Enroll the Clients that You Love to Serve”. The big difference between working with people that you think are dipsticks and people that, you know, you’d have for Sunday barbecue. So, let’s get into it, David! Our seven minutes start now, sir. Question number one, who is your ideal client? David Fagan 01:36 People in the advice business, you know. People that make money off the advice they give. You know, speakers, authors, coaches, trainers, but also real estate agents and attorneys and plastic surgeons and dentists. And, you know, all of these people are paid experts in the advice business, and that’s our ideal person. Tom Poland 01:56 Perfect! Similar wheelhouse to our listeners which is great. So, listen up, folks. There’s going to be some gold in here. David, what’s the problem you solve? That’s question two, six and a half minutes left. David Fagan 02:07 There are a lot of people out there that are really the world’s best-kept secret. And so, the challenge is for them to become more influential, to become more credible, and to get more exposure. And that’s an “ice” acronym that we use that’s really been changing people’s lives and making them a lot of money. Tom Poland 02:25 Perfect! Thank you. Question three, I’m sure a lot of people relate to, you know, the world’s best-kept secret. They’ve got like a 10 out of 10 in service, but they feel like they’ve got 2 out of 10 in marketing. Six minutes left. What would you say are the typical symptoms that people listening to this are going to be experiencing in their business? It kind of gives them a heads up that they need to find out more about what you do? David Fagan 02:47 Sure. Yeah, these are the people that are realizing that they’re not standing out, you know. They’re not attention-getting. They’re not creating what we call “want”. You know, when they talk, people don’t “want”. If you’re going to attract and enroll, you need to create that “want”. And so, you know, they find themselves with not a lot of opportunities to shine, not a lot of opportunities to talk to the right people. And when they do talk to people, it’s usually the wrong people. And they’re negotiating and, you know, they’re people who maybe can’t afford what they’re really worth. And so, it all kind of goes downhill from there. Tom Poland 03:24 Right. So, question four, you know, people that you’ve mentioned, the coaches or consultants or realtors, and so on, they’re growth orientated, and they want to grow, and they want client demand. But they’re probably going to try some stuff that doesn’t work before they find your solution. So, what would you say are some of the most common mistakes that people are making before they find your solution? Four and a half minutes left. David Fagan 03:49 They’ll spend a lot of money on advertising, maybe Facebook ads, maybe SEO without really having their business model created, without really having proof of concept. And you know, the other thing that they’ll do too is they’ll start to brag about themselves knowing that they need to stand out. And that’s just not the key thing to do. I mean, I’ll get into that more later on. But the bragging and talking about themselves a lot, if they do it wrong, it’s just going to really turn a lot of people off. Tom Poland 04:24 And when you say the proof of concept, your business model hasn’t yet been proven. And they’ve started doing a lot of marketing. Can you give us an example of what you mean by proof of concept? David Fagan 04:32 Yeah, if I have a very specific definition. It’s three things. One, you have a product or service to sell. Two, you’re selling that product or service at a profit. And three, people are so happy with that product or service that you’re getting referrals and testimonials. If you have all three of those, you got to work on the business model. Tom Poland 04:50 A proof of concept and a business model. Thank you for that! So, question five, three and a half minutes left, what’s one valuable free action that someone listening to this feels like they’re the World’s Best Kept Secret.? What’s one thing they can do that’ll make them a step in the right direction, a top tip if you like? David Fagan 05:05 Every week, every Wednesday, we do what we call a Top Talent JV Mastermind. And for the first 30 to 60 minutes, I help people learn how to talk about themselves. How do you talk about yourself? What’s your elevator pitch? How do you quantify what you do? And so, if you go to toptalentjv.com, you could come to one of these weekly Wednesday workshops. They go for about four or five hours, and you can introduce yourself and talk about yourself, and be put in breakout groups. Tom Poland 05:33 And they’re going to learn how to articulate their marketing message in such a way that people are going to get it. David Fagan 05:40 We have scripts that we use. We have different formulas that we use. And you get not just to learn those things, but practice those things– talking to other people. And we do it every week. Tom Poland 05:50 So, folks, the URL there and this was the answer to question number six, but because David’s amount ahead of his time, we’ve already answered it. It’s www.toptalentjv.com. Go to one of his meetings and learn how to craft marketing that’s going to get cut through. It’s going to motivate your ideal clients to want to know more. The other place you should go because we’ve got a little bit of time left, is davidtfagan.com, F-A-G-A-N, and T for Thomas, Terry, and Terrific. Davidtfagan.com. Because at the bottom, there’s an opt-in there for a fabulous little book, which is all about the words that you can put into email subject lines, is good at conversations, is the word “genius”. Thank you, there it is, David T. Fagan. Get a copy of that as well. So, there are two resources for you. Toptalentjv.com and Davidtfagan.com. David Fagan 06:41 In both of those places, you can download this book for free. Tom Poland 06:46 Both of those places? David Fagan 06:47 Both of those places. Yeah. Tom Poland 06:47 So go to toptalentjv.com. And we are not an affiliate, not associated in a profit way directly with David. We just do this because we think he’s got great stuff. Go get it! Question number seven, sir, 90 seconds left. What’s the one question I should have asked you, but didn’t? David Fagan 07:02 Probably what’s the big difference maker behind us and everybody else that kind of acts like us? And the answer to that really is we’re really in the talent management business. You know, we manage talent. You know, we represent talent. We manage talent. And we do that in three ways publishing, publicity, and show production. So, if you’re in the advice business. You’re a speaker, author, and expert. If you want more influence, credibility, or exposure, you might start looking at yourself as, “Hey, look, I’m a talent. I’m a starter. I need a finisher. I need someone who’s going to finish what I’m starting. I need someone that’s going to publicize me and promote me and publish me and market me.” And you know, that’s really what we do. And it’s actually a unique language or unique explanation that you’re just not going to hear very much. And what we want to do is we want to get people chasing you instead of you chasing them. And so, there’s this conversation shift. And we help create your message and your brand and the things that you’re putting out so that people are going to be coming after you. We want you to be the pursuee, not the pursuer. Tom Poland 08:17 Thanks, David. Terrific! Tom Poland 08:20 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Get Better Clients with the Proposal Oreo Strategy – In Just 7 Minutes with Ilise Benun | 01 Jun 2022 | 00:06:58 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you feel like you’re underselling yourself; are you always being ghosted by your prospects? Have you been struggling with looking for the right money-making marketing strategy? How can you make an effective proposal that will turn your prospects into clients? Ilise Benun is a business coach for creative professionals, a national speaker, the author of 7 books, and the founder of Marketing-Mentor.com. In this episode, Ilise talks about how you can form better relationships with your prospects and turn them into high-paying clients through the proposal Oreo strategy. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “You have to focus. You have to figure out where are your ideal clients.” -Ilise BenunClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the little sunshine coast in Queensland, Australia, joined today by Ilise Benin. Ilise, good day from down under. A very warm welcome. Where are you based? Ilise Benun 00:24 Thank you so much, Tom. I’m happy to be here! And I am based in Savannah, Georgia in the US on the Southern Eastern coast. Tom Poland 00:32 How’s the weather right now? Ilise Benun 00:34 It’s lovely! Nice and warm for February, much warmer than usual but just how I like it. Tom Poland 00:40 Just slipping into spring. Sounds nice! For those of you who don’t know Ilise, she’s a business coach for creative professionals. She is also a national speaker. She’s the author of, not one book, but seven books, and she’s the founder of Marketing-Mentor.com. Our subject today is, “How to Get Better Clients with the Proposal Oreo Strategy”. Now, for those of you who are not in the US, and Oreo is a, what is it, Ilise? Ilise Benun 01:14 It’s a sandwich cookie. Tom Poland 01:16 It’s a sandwich cookie and very yummy, I believe. Ilise Benun 01:19 Yes, especially frozen. Tom Poland 01:21 Oh, there’s a twist! Did not know that. “How to Get Better Clients with the Frozen Proposal Oreo Strategy”. Let’s rock and roll. Our seven minutes start now, Ilise. Question number one, who is your ideal client? Ilise Benun 01:34 My ideal client is creative professionals. So, designers of all types, copywriters, who want, I like to say, better clients with bigger budgets or bigger clients with better budgets. Tom Poland 01:48 Or c) both of the above? Question two, thank you for that. Very succinct, very precise. Question two, six and a half minutes left, what’s the problem you solve for them? Ilise Benun 01:58 So, for the most part, my clients are not marketing themselves because they don’t like marketing. And they just think word-of-mouth is the best marketing tool and they end up just taking whatever comes along. And they get to a certain point where it’s not good enough. They know they can do better. And so, I basically help them identify who their ideal clients are, develop relationships with them, and then be there when their prospects are in their moment of need, so they can make the connection and do the project. Tom Poland 02:27 Makes a lot of sense! So, question three, six minutes left, what are some of the typical symptoms that these creative professionals are going to be experiencing that would give them a heads up that they need to find out more about what you do? Ilise Benun 02:39 I mean, they’re taking whatever comes along, and probably not being paid what they think they’re worth for their work. Often their clients or their prospects are ghosting them and not responding to their outreach or to their follow-up. Or even, sometimes, in the middle of a project, the client disappears because they’re not high-quality clients. And I think the worst thing is they feel like they’re not in control of their business because they’re not. Tom Poland 03:10 Yeah, it sounds like they’re fighting a losing battle. They’re scratching their head, figuring out, “Well, why don’t I get better quality clients? And I’m doing such great work, why aren’t people more responsive, and so on?” So, we’re talking about professionals, they’re going to be making an effort. They’re going to be trying stuff. So, question four, what I’m interested in here is, what are some of the common mistakes that your clients, when they’re new to you, tell you that they made before they find your solution? We’ve got five minutes left. Ilise Benun 03:38 Well, I mean, often, the thing is that there are too many marketing tools to be using and too many ways to find prospects. And so often people are just doing a little bit of everything, and that’s not what works. You have to focus. You have to figure out where are your ideal clients. How are you going to introduce yourself to them? And then how do you stay in touch with them over time. So, people are generally wasting time in a very haphazard, scattered way with their marketing tools, and then wasting time also on proposals that go nowhere. Tom Poland 04:13 It’s so true. We see, you know, the latest flash thing and there are some amazing testimonials and people just go and take another squirrel. And they quite catch that one and go and chase another one. And yeah, it’s easy to be seduced into that. So, let’s flip it now. Let’s talk about some positive things that folks can do to move to solve the problem. We’ve got four minutes left, one valuable free action, like a top tip, that’s not going to solve the whole problem, but it might take folks a step in the right direction? Ilise Benun 04:41 Well, this is where I want to describe the proposal Oreo strategy because it’s something anyone can do. And it’s like a sandwich cookie. So instead of when a prospect says just send me a proposal and then you spend a lot of time, invest a lot of time on a proposal and you don’t know if it’s a good thing to do. Instead, you use the proposal Oreo strategy. Cookie number one is the qualifying conversation where you gather the information to make sure that this is a good fit for you. And if it’s not, you decline and you don’t write the proposal. The cream in the middle is the proposal, the actual document that you write based on the information that you’ve gathered in cookie number one, the qualifying conversation. And the key to it is cookie number two, which is when you present in real-time, your proposal and you walk your prospect through it so that you can gauge their interest and respond to any objections and answer any questions, and therefore avoid being ghosted. And more and more this is what’s working because people just don’t read anymore. And they don’t have time to respond. But if you got them on a call, then you can build the relationship and figure out where is this going? So that’s the proposal Oreo strategy! Tom Poland 06:04 And would there be some value in presenting the proposal as a draft, so the prospect feels they have some input on it? Ilise Benun 06:12 Absolutely. I love that idea! And actually, you could even present it without pricing. And say, “I just want to make sure I’ve got everything we discussed in here before I put some prices to this.” And part of the qualifying conversation should be where you find out what they can afford, and what are they thinking number-wise, that again, you don’t waste your time on a project on a prospect that can’t afford you in the first place. Tom Poland 06:41 There’s some gold in there. Thank you for that! There are some great top tips, more than one. Question six, and we’ve got 90 seconds left. What’s a valuable free resource? Where can we direct folks to? A website where they can find out more about what you do and perhaps get some more ideas? Ilise Benun 06:56 Yeah, marketing-mentor.com. There are lots of free resources. My “quick tips” is the thing I suggest people sign up for. And that’s my email newsletter where I share content on a regular basis. Tom Poland 07:09 Perfect! Marketing-mentor.com. Go get it, folks! Last question, 70 seconds left, what’s the one question I should have asked you, but didn’t? Ilise Benun 07:19 Well, it’s kind of a big question, but I’ll distill it into what are the marketing tools that work? And they are strategic networking, targeted outreach, and content marketing, all focused on a particular niche or vertical market so that they see you over time, and then, again, are reminded that you’re there, and don’t forget about you when they have a need. Tom Poland 07:45 Give me those three again, will you because we’ve got 30 seconds left? Ilise Benun 07:48 Strategic networking. So, networking in a very strategic way, right, not just anywhere? right? Targeted outreach, which is hyper-customized, super-personalized outreach to the people who are the ideal clients that you want to work with. And then content marketing that speaks to their pain points. And that’s in the form of blogs, articles, or LinkedIn posts– all of the things that show that you know what you’re talking about. Tom Poland 08:16 Ilise Benun, thank you so much for your time and your insights and for sharing so generously. Ilise Benun 08:20 My pleasure, Tom. Thank you. Tom Poland 08:22 Cheers. Tom Poland 08:24 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| Closing the Sale – In Just 7 Minutes with Nikki Rausch | 18 May 2022 | 00:06:10 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you not have the confidence to show up and fumble words in your sales conversation? Do you have that negative internal dialogue that prevents you from creating genuine rapport with a prospective client? Have you thought of leading the sales conversation with curiosity, so you take everything further and earn somebody’s business to work with them? CEO of Sales Maven, Nikki Rausch, has the unique ability to transform the misunderstood process of selling. With 25+ years of selling experience, entrepreneurs and small business owners now hire Nikki to show them how to sell successfully and authentically. Nikki has written 3 books, all available on Amazon. And she has a podcast called Sales Maven, which you can find on your favorite podcast platform. In this episode, Nikki shares how to sell and close sales authentically and approach it by leading with curiosity, treating clients with kindness and not with manipulation and trickery. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “You have to have a rapport with somebody to earn their business. And I always say, sales is something that you learn to do with somebody, not to somebody.” -Nikki RauschClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland beaming out to you from the Sunshine Coast in Australia, joined today by Nikki Rausch. Nikki, a very good day from Down Under. Whereabouts are you hanging out? Nikki Rausch 0:25 I am hanging out in the US. I’m in Idaho. I’m actually in Boise, Idaho. Tom Poland 0:31 Boise, Idaho. Yeah, I haven’t been there. But yeah, I heard only good things about Boise. It is. I’ve heard that. Folks, now you know where Nikki lives; you need to know what she does. She’s the CEO of Sales Maven. She has an absolutely unique ability to transform what is really a very misunderstood process of selling. Going to hear more about that in a moment. She’s got more than 25 years of experience selling, and working with entrepreneurs and small business owners. A lot of folks like that hire Nikki to show them how to sell successfully. And here’s the kicker, but authentically. And a lot of people get themselves all messed up in their brain thinking they have to have some sort of slick, bend themselves out of shape sales process. But Nikki is going to share with you how to do it, so you feel like it’s really authentic. She’s written three books, all of them are available on Amazon, worth checking out; the title today is Closing the Sale. Nikki, our seven minute start now. Question number one, who is your ideal client? Nikki Rausch 1:39 My ideal client, traditionally, is a woman business owner making between five and seven figures in their business, and they still don’t feel totally comfortable with the sales conversation. They struggle with what to say and how to say it. That’s my ideal client. I can help them. Perfect. Tom Poland 1:53 Perfect. So, question two, what’s the problem you solve for them? Nikki Rausch 1:57 A lot of times, it’s around confidence. They’re not sure, like, what’s okay to say? How do you say it in a way that lands really softly that lets the other person at ease and moves the process forward? So, it’s all about being strategic in your conversation and being kind and putting the relationship first. So, teaching them those skills boosts their confidence, and suddenly they go, ‘Gosh, what I thought was hard about sales, now is easy.’ Tom Poland 2:24 Yeah, I’ve been in sales marketing for more than 40 years. I’ve never ever heard anyone use the word kind in that context. That, I think, is remarkable in itself. Let’s talk about…question number three is the symptoms. And we’ve got more than five and a half minutes left, plenty of time. What’s going on in the mind, or the sales meetings of your ideal clients before they find your solution? What’s happening with someone who goes, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s me. That’s what’s happening with me.’ Nikki Rausch 2:52 I think a lot of it has to do with that judgment piece, like, ‘Oh, this person’s judging me.’ ‘What if they think, Oh, I’m too aggressive?” Or What if they think I’m just going to be a pushover?’ ‘What if they want to take advantage of me?’ So, a lot of it has to do with judgment; people are so worried, like, ‘What are they going to think about me?’ ‘Am I going to ruin the relationship?’ So, that is what we got to get rid of, all of that negative internal dialogue. And when you can show up, you put the relationship first; you put the person first. I teach everything based on the foundation of rapport first. You have to have a rapport with somebody to earn their business. And I always say sales is something that you learn to do with somebody, not to somebody, and when you start to make that shift in your mind, like, ‘Oh, sales is something I’m doing with somebody, now it feels good.’ Tom Poland 3:41 So, does that make it feel more like a collaboration than a confrontation? Nikki Rausch 3:46 Yeah. If you think, you know, sales is about manipulating people. Well, yeah, of course, you’re not going to want to do that. That feels gross, right? And when you start going, ‘Hey, this is a conversation, and I’m just here to show up to be of service, find out does the person has a problem, a want, or a need? And do I have a solution for it? If so, great. And if not, I’m just going to bless and release the person and wish them well. Tom Poland 4:10 Listen, release. Good phrase, guys. Okay, thank you for that. Question four, and we got four minutes left; we’re on track. What would you say are some of the common mistakes that your ideal clients have made before they find your solution? Nikki Rausch 4:22 I think some of the mistakes that they make is they think that selling has to be aggressive. And we’ve all been on, you know, the receiving end of somebody who’s been really pushy and aggressive. And because that’s so uncomfortable, they shy away from it. They don’t do any business development. They have all these people around them that they think, ‘Gosh, I could really help this person, but I don’t even know how to broach the conversation.’ ‘I don’t know how even to open it.’ I teach a five-step process for selling; it’s called the selling staircase. And that’s the conversation piece. Step two is about creating curiosity. Most business owners that I know never even think, ‘Do I know how to create curiosity that draws people to me and opens the conversation up?’ So, once you get comfortable with creating curiosity, you get to talk to more of your ideal clients. Tom Poland 5:09 Right. From a psychological point of view, That’s so clever to invoke curiosity; as we all have understood, we want to know a bit more about that. And it just sounds to me like a very gentle method for moving people forward. I did a shout-out and kept asking you questions because you’re the star of the show. Three minutes left; let’s talk about one valuable free action that someone could take. Someone’s listening to this, it’s not going to solve the whole solution, but it could take a step in the right direction. Nikki Rausch 5:35 Well, okay, so, one valuable step that I’m going to say because I just commented on curiosity. So, I talked about curiosity, a lot of it has to do with the way you answer questions. Here’s a really simple example. If somebody says to you, ‘Hey, have you been?’ And you go, I’ve been fine. Well, that doesn’t create any curiosity. But if you can say something that opens the door for them to want to know more, instead of like, ‘Oh, I’ve been fine.’ What if you said, ‘Oh my gosh, you’ve been great. The podcast is growing every single week. It’s been really exciting.’ That allows the other person to go, ‘Oh, you have a podcast?’ ‘What’s it about?’ Now, I get to talk about my podcast. So, do something in the way you answer your questions that leads the person to have another question for you. Tom Poland 6:15 Curiosity, thank you for that. We’ve got two minutes left. Two questions left. Question number six is, do you have a valuable free resource we could direct people to that will help them more with their problems? Nikki Rausch 6:26 I absolutely do. I have an eBook that’s called Closing the Sale, which is the title of our podcast episode, as well. And this is going to walk you through some of those steps of the selling staircase, give you some language suggestions. You can get that by going to yoursalesmaven, and Maven is M A VE N dot com forward slash invisible; that’s for your listeners. Tom Poland 6:45 Perfect. Thank you for that. Folks, it’s www.yoursalesmaven, M A V E N forward slash invisible, especially for you as a listener of the MTI podcast. Nikki, that’s wonderful. Thank you. Question number seven, the last question. We got 70 seconds left. What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? Nikki Rausch 7:03 Well, the one question that I’m going to offer to the audience something else that would be really valuable is that most people don’t think that your job is to earn somebody’s business and how you earn their business is by asking for it. Most people won’t decide to hire you unless you give a really specific asset. So, never be afraid to say to somebody: What would it take to earn your business? Tom Poland 7:23 Oh, great question. All right, Nikki Rausch is just full of gold, full of nuggets. Folks, this is an interview you should go back and listen to and take notes time and again. Nikki, thanks so much for your time and insights, and wisdom. Nikki Rausch 7:35 Thank you for having me. Tom Poland 07:36 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Leverage Technology to Grow Your Business – In Just 7 Minutes with Alina Trigubenko | 11 May 2022 | 00:05:21 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Are you a professional service provider who wants to optimize your online service delivery? Have you thought of having one portal where all your systems and processes are seamlessly laid out for you and your clients? Do you want to look and feel professional in how your services are delivered to your clients? Alina Trigubenko is the founder and CEO of Profi.io, an all-in-one platform for professional service providers. In this episode, Alina shares how you can optimize everything in your service business and combine all of the tools needed to run the service for you and your client, all in one go. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “Profis don't actually realize how much time and money they spend on their existing not integrated tech tank, as well as the cost of lost conversions, confused clients, and not properly activated clients.” -Alina TrigubenkoClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland, joined today by Alina Trigubenko. Alina, a very warm good day from Down Under. Where are you hanging out? Alina Trigubenko 0:21 As you can see in the jungle, inside and out; I am in Costa Rica right now. Normally I’m based out of Los Angeles. Tom Poland 0:31 Wow! Costa Rica is very exotic. Well, very warm welcome. Thanks for turning up and being on the show. Alina is the founder and CEO of Profi.io. You’re going to hear a bit more about the moment. It’s an all-in-one platform for professional service providers and folks that really, if you’re a professional service provider, you feel like things are all over the place and it is like, whack a mole when it comes to your systems and processes. And Alina’s got the solution. The title today is How to Leverage Technology to Grow Your Business. So, Alina, our time is starting now. Question number one, who’s your ideal client? Alina Trigubenko 1:06 Thank you. At Profi, we service different kinds of professional service providers. Actually, profi means a professional service provider in German and Russian. That’s kind of what pro is in the English-speaking world. That’s the same as profit. We service different kinds of verticals; we service executive coaches and other types of coaches. We service consultants, trainers, and health and wellness service providers, such as therapists, health and wellness coaches, and along those lines. And we are servicing different types of business development stages. Solopreneurs, teams of profis, as well as corporate accounts and networks. Tom Poland 1:52 The common denominators are they offer advice and services. Alina Trigubenko 1:58 Yeah, they’re selling their expertise in line. And we’re solely focused on the service delivery aspect. So, we’re only one platform and operating platform that optimizes the entire service delivery aspect for such professionals, so they don’t have to piecemeal solutions to gather anymore. So, they don’t have to think about their refined experience; we have hired the best talent in the market to figure out those decisions for them. Tom Poland 2:27 Perfect. Thank you. I need it. So, question number two, you’ve already told us a little bit about this. But can you describe a bit more about the problems you solve? Five and a half minutes left. Alina Trigubenko 2:35 Yeah, so the problems, there are two sides of the market, right? You, as a provider profi, you need to make sure that your service delivery is optimized, and you’re providing an outstanding service. You need to make sure that your data is sourced correctly, you know, you’re not missing anything, you’re not confusing your client, as well as you’re providing a very secure and modern experience of interacting, based on your service to your clients. Tom Poland 3:04 Right. So, thank you for that. Question three, five minutes left, what are the symptoms that one of these professionals is going to be experiencing in your business that tells them they should really be looking at your platform? Alina Trigubenko 3:15 Of course, if you’re looking to scale your business, let’s say you’re servicing more than three people and you are experiencing, let’s say, slowdowns or clients are getting confused, or clients are missing their appointments sessions, they’re losing the data. And overall, if you’re charging and looking to look and feel professional, that’s when you need our system because we optimize everything and combine all of the tools needed to run the service for you and your client. They also need that one portal, only one portal to log in and quickly access contracts. All the communications in a secure place, as well as manage all of their billing, automate billing, scheduling, calendar, integration, everything, and content management, Tom Poland 4:01 So, we make sure that all the value delivery is running smoothly. And all the backroom stuff is running smoothly. It’s all seamless, and it’s all in one place. Does that sound about right? Alina Trigubenko 4:09 That sounds right. Yes. And that actually has a very impressive impact on revenue. Because what we see a lot on the market is, profis, they don’t actually realize how much time and money they spend on their existing not integrated tech tank, as well as the cost of lost conversions, confused clients, and not properly activated clients. That is actually a very significant cost, that there are a few profis who have a complete, cohesive understanding of. Tom Poland 4:41 Very, very few. In fact, even some of the biggest companies don’t, and often as easy as a client to look at the mistake that professionals made and think, well, that looks like it’s a pretty elementary mistake, when in fact delivering all this and supporting this is actually quite a complicated process. So, unless you’ve got systems to support it and make it look seamless and smooth and reliable from the client’s point of view, that can be expensive. Alina Trigubenko 5:04 And professional, as well. Tom Poland 5:06 Yeah, yeah, it looks like the professional is unprofessional, right? So, not even mentioned are the sleepless nights that people have when they don’t have all the ducks in a row like this. Two and a half minutes left. Let’s skip four to question five, one valuable, like a top tip, what would you… professionals looking to get better at the value of delivering all the backroom stuff, what’s one step they could take, that’s going to send them off in the right direction, so to speak? Alina Trigubenko 5:30 Well, there is a big transformation happening in the services space, and they’re privileged to be at the forefront because of the design of our system; I call it productization of services. So, because consumers adopted everything tech, very fast, very rapidly, because of, you know, COVID, and other factors are now consumers of your services. As professionals, they expect a high level of service, and they expect everything they interact with to be digitally optimized. So, I would take action and look into what software companies are doing, let’s say, the subscription economy. It’s a great example. This is where the professional services industry is going. We see a lot of our clients, right, creating subscription-based access to different kinds of service offerings, and it’s a great win-win for both markets for both parties. Tom Poland 6:29 Would be a good step to consider that. So, we’ve got two questions left, 50 seconds, one valuable free resource, and I’m going to give the answer for the second time. It’s www.profi.io. What are people going to find there? Real quick, Alina? Alina Trigubenko 6:43 You will find a lot of very useful materials in a sense. Just case studies, we also interview accountants and the best practices. So, we create this whole intelligence for you as a professional, so you don’t have to think about re-add these layers to the product. But also, we’re creating as much content as possible to answer questions that you might have. How to scale your business, grow your business and team, have a lot of clients, and so on. Tom Poland 7:13 It is super interesting, profi.io. Alina, thanks so much for your time. Alina Trigubenko 7:18 Thank you so much. Tom Poland 07:19 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Get Rid of Your Head Trash About Money – In Just 7 Minutes with Noah St. John | 04 May 2022 | 00:06:13 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary You know you can do more, but what’s keeping you stuck and plateaued? Have you been making yourself right by making excuses for not doing what you’re capable of getting done? Do you have coaches, but nothing’s happening, and you feel as stuck as ever? Dr. Noah St. John is known as The Father of AFFORMATIONS and The Mental Health Coach to The Stars. Working with Hollywood celebrities, 8-figure company CEOs, professional athletes, top executives, and entrepreneurs, Noah’s coaching clients have added more than $2.7 Billion in sales since 1997 by following his methods. In this episode, Noah shares how hard it is even for smart people to get unstuck and get to their goals faster. Even with them having coaches, it seems like nothing is making traction, and here he is highlighting what must be one doe to get away from all that’s getting in the way of not moving forward and making things happen. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “Write down your number one goal for the next 12 months and list what it will cost you to get that thing. And that's one clue of why you might hold yourself back.” -Noah St. JohnClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Hello everyone, a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland beaming out to you from the Sunshine Coast in Australia, joined today by Dr. Noah St. John. A very warm good day from Down Under. Where are you hanging out? Noah St. John 0:23 I’m in Northeast Ohio, 10 minutes from the Professional Football Hall of Fame here in Canton. And so down there in Aussie, you have footy, which I love. I love… Australian rules football. But here in America, it’s the NFL, and that’s where I live. And so, one year, one week out of the year, I live in the coolest city in America. Because all the Hall of Famers come here, and I get to see them, and it’s pretty cool. Tom Poland 0:49 A fun week of the year. I’m sure it’s not too shabby either. But so, in addition to living in paradise for one week of the year, at the very least, for those of you who don’t know Dr. Noah St. John is, he’s known as the father of pause, dramatic pause, the father of afformations, not affirmations, but afformations. We’re going to find out a bit more about that in a moment. He’s also the mental health coach to the stars. He’s worked with Hollywood celebrities, eight-figure companies, CEOs, global executives, professional athletes, and top entrepreneurs. His coaching clients have added more than $2.7 billion in sales since 1997 by following his methods. Now, it brings us nicely to the title of this interview, which is How to Get Rid of Your Head Trash About Money. Folks, you’re in for a great ride. Hold on to your hats. Now, our seven minutes starts. So, question number one, who is your ideal client? Noah St. John 1:46 My clients are 1% of the 1%. Remember what Steve Jobs said, the rebels, the crazy ones, the misfits, the square pegs and round holes. That’s who I love to work with. My clients are the people who are doing well. In fact, other people look up to them and think they’re doing amazing and want to be them. But they know that there’s so much more that they could do. And so, they’ve maybe reached a plateau; they’re doing well. But they really know that they could go a lot bigger and just being more here in the world. And so, that’s who I love to work with: the rebels, misfits, people who just know that there’s so much more that they could be doing. And I really help them to do that. Noah St. John 1:47 Perfect. Thank you, sir. Six and a half minutes left. Question number two, what is the problem you solve? Noah St. John 2:26 I saw several problems. But the main one is what you just mentioned; it’s what I call taking out your head trash about money. Now, what is head trash? Head trash is the voice in your head that says, well, I can’t do it because dot dot dot, and then you just fill in the blank, right? So, people say, you know, I want to make more money, I want to grow my lifestyle, I want to find true love, I want to be happy, fulfilled, whatever it might be. And they say I want those things now, but I can’t do it because just fill in the blank, you know, my spouse won’t let me do it. Or I don’t have the time right now. I just don’t have the team in place. I don’t have the right resources, or what if I become this big person and act the way that I really want to? How’s it going to affect everyone else? Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So that’s what I call your head trash. And the funny thing about head trash is you always make yourself right. So, if you say, I can’t do that, because you make yourself right. And of course, then that causes the fact that you can’t do it. So, what I do is I help people take out that head trash. And then, as you mentioned, you know, they start to get really incredible results. 6,7, 8-figure advances just by following my methods. Tom Poland 3:29 Very interesting. So, let’s get to question three, five minutes left. What would you say are some of the typical symptoms that your clients do before they work with you? Let me know, this is going on in their head or their life or their business. Noah St. John 3:41 Right? Absolutely. Let me give you a great example from one of my clients. I spoke at an event in Los Angeles, and this person came up to me, and he said, ‘Noah, you’re the coach I’ve been looking for. I heard you speak about head trash and afformations. And you’re the mental health coach to the stars.’ Everything he just said, he hired me on the spot. But what was so funny is, he was making 4 million, you know, in his business. His business was at 4 million in revenues. And yet he felt stuck. And it was crazy. Because you know, of course, everybody loves to be making that much. But he knew he was capable of a lot more. And the funny thing is, he tried all these other coaches, he’d hired all these marketing gurus, all this stuff, but he really couldn’t get over that plateau. I helped him get rid of his head trash, and all the other things that I do, in just less than 18 months. His company went from 4 million to over 20 million in sales. So, the funny thing about that, for everyone watching and listening to this program, is that I’ve had people say, ‘Noah, I know I’m capable of more doing, you know, 50,000 a year. I’m capable of doing more; I’m doing 500,000; I’m doing 5 million. Whatever it might be, it doesn’t matter the number; it’s just that, you know, you’re capable of doing more. Tom Poland 4:41 So that’s the big symptom that, you know, there’s more upside there… Noah St. John 4:44 Right. And you’ve tried lots of other things to crack into it. Tom Poland 4:47 Right. So, let’s talk about those other things. Question four is, what are some of the common mistakes your successful clients tell you that they made before engaging with you. What are they trying to lay out that didn’t work and should be avoided? Noah St. John 5:00 Well, I mean, big, big part of that is marketing gurus. Let’s just say, I mean, there are so many marketing gurus out there; you and I are talking about this off-camera. And you know, they’re basically selling a bunch of nothing. And so, you know, using my client, Adam, as an example. That’s what he had tried. And they just were all saying the same thing. But they weren’t getting inside; they weren’t getting inside, what I call the inner game. The inner game is the foundation of everything that you have. You have the inner game and the outer game. So, he was only focused on his outer game, and he was wondering, ‘Why I’m still stuck?’ I’m still plateaued. And obviously, he was plateaued at a high level. But it really doesn’t matter. As I’ve said, I mean, I’ve worked with athletes and CEOs, but I also work with teenagers and people, veterans trying to overcome PTSD. So, really, head trash affects millions of millions of people, mostly without their knowledge. And, of course, ‘I don’t know how to fix it.’ Tom Poland 5:47 And the other thing that you told me is that the head trash about money often manifests and head trash about relationships and head trash about health and head trash about emotional well-being and so on, which I thought was fascinating. The link between relationships and head trash about money is fascinating. Let’s look at this now. We’ve got two and a half minutes left. Question number five is, what’s one valuable free action that someone listening to this could take. It won’t solve the whole problem, but it might take him a step in the right direction. Noah St. John 6:15 Right, absolutely. So, one of the things you need to do right now for everyone listening is to write down what is your number one goal for the next 12 months, right? Now everybody says, oh, goal setting. I’ve heard this many times. But the second part is the key; then I want you to write about… just make a list of what’s going to cost you actually to get that thing, right? Everybody talks about find your why. And that’s important. It is. But it’s also that thing that you’re going after; it’s also going to cost you something. And so, if I do that, it’s also going to cost me something. For example, I had one client who said, she was a woman entrepreneur, ‘If I became really, really successful, what if my husband is jealous of me? What if he doesn’t like it? What if he leaves me? What if he’s so upset, he’ll leave me? So, she was keeping herself down. You see, that’s an example of head trash. But she wasn’t aware of that. And then, of course, she made a lot of money, you know, had her best year ever. But you see what I’m saying? So, what everybody can do right now is, what do you want? But also, what is it going to cost you to not only go after it, but when you actually get it? What might that cost you? And that’s one clue of why you might hold yourself back. Tom Poland 7:13 Right. Thank you for that. And so, question six, we’ve got one minute left, a free resource. Where can people go to find out more about your work? Noah St. John 7:21 Two places, SendMeaBookNoah.com. That’s where you can get this book for free, called Get Rid of Your Head Trash About Money: How to Avoid the Three Big Money Mistakes Even Smart People Make? SendMeaBookNoah.com, it’s free. We just ask you to cover the shipping. And then noahstjohn.com. That’s my name. So that’s our main website, noahstjohn.com. Also, you can go to freegiftfromnoah. I give you a third one, freegiftfromnoah.com, a free training that I did recently on how I help my clients make more in 12 weeks than they made in the last 12 months. So freegiftfromnoah.com. Tom Poland 7:51 Thank you, Noah. We’ve got 25 seconds left. What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? Noah St. John 7:54 Why did you write all those books? Tom Poland 7:54 Why did you write all those books, Noah? Noah St. John 7:59 Because I wanted them because I read every book out there on self-help, and nobody was actually talking about the problem. They weren’t fixing the problem. And so, I had to write all of these books because I wanted them and what’s nice is, other people like them too. So, it’s been very rewarding and a heck of a lot of fun. Tom Poland 8:13 Awesome, Noah St. John. Thanks for your time and your insights. Noah St. John 8:13 My pleasure. Tom Poland 08:14 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Build a Marketing Strategy with Content – In Just 7 Minutes with Robert Rose | 27 Apr 2022 | 00:06:03 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you need more content; what do you need more content for? What about adding more content writers to your team; is that even necessary? How do you create a strategic approach to your content without writing more? Robert Rose is a sought-after consultant, best-selling author, and keynote speaker. And he is one of the world’s most recognized experts in digital content strategy and marketing. In this episode, Robert shares how to make a vague content idea into a clear content strategy that aligns with your business goals and what it stands for. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “The need for content will exponentially increase given the resources allocated to it.” -Robert RoseClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Welcome, everyone, to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland beaming out to you from the Sunshine Coast in Australia, joined today by Robert Rose. Robert, good day, Sir. A very warm welcome from Down Under. Where are you hanging out? Robert Rose 00:22 Absolutely. And good day. I’m here in Los Angeles, and my home in Los Angeles, which is where I seem to spend most of my time these days in a 16 by nine little window. Tom Poland 00:30 Rob and I were just referencing back to the last sort of classic quote we knew from Australia to L.A.: ‘ That’s not a knife. This is a knife, Crocodile Dundee.’ So, from Hollywood to the little wave of Downs in Queensland, Australia, welcome everyone. Robert is a consultant. He’s a best-selling author. He’s an in-demand keynote speaker, outside of COVID. He’s also, interestingly, I’m fascinated by this fellow, actually, one of the world’s most recognized experts in digital content, strategy, and marketing. And we all know the power, particularly when you’re marketing professional services, the power of establishing the relationship prior to the proposal. And that’s one of the things that content does better than anything else that establishes your authority, your brand, hopefully, something that’s very trustworthy and desirable in the prospect’s mind prior to you popping the question, so to speak. So, Robert, without further ado, the title is, How to Build a Marketing Strategy with content, keyword, strategy, and content. Our time starts now. So, question number one, who is your ideal client? Robert Rose 01:35 Well, our ideal client is truly a marketing leader, and typically a marketing team leader who’s trying to figure out how to operationalize, and that’s a very fancy word for basically saying how to strategize, manage, scale, or measure the content that they’re creating for marketing and communications. Tom Poland 01:52 Perfect, well-articulated, so as I would expect from a content marketer. But the written form is not always as easy as a spoken one, particularly in a… Robert Rose 02:01 You know, I was told there would be some Math in this. So, I’ve actually thought about it a little bit. Tom Poland 02:07 This gets better and better. Question two, Sir. Six and a half minutes left; what’s the problem you solve? Robert Rose 02:12 The primary problem that we solve for businesses is you know they’re trying to evolve their content strategy from this amorphous idea. When we say the idea of content strategy, that’s a very vague thing for most people. You know, you were kind enough to say that I was one of the foremost digital content experts on the planet; there are only three or four of us. So, it’s not actually that big of a claim. But the thing is, we’re transforming this idea from this amorphous business idea into a pragmatic, strategic and focused business function. So, how does content actually function strategically to become coordinated communications for a business? Tom Poland 02:51 Is there also, so, I mean, you’ve taken us to, I think, more of a science than an art. You know, use the word pragmatic. Is there a part of the problem you solve that it’s like that old quote from Madison Avenue? And, you know, ‘We know half our advertising work, we just don’t know which half,’ and so just keep doing advertising. But is a part of your problem that you solve that people don’t know where the results are coming from, the measurability? Robert Rose 03:17 Yeah, well, that’s probably the first and foremost question on most CMOs or CEOs’ minds, right? How do I measure? You know, we have a similar saying in content strategy: content strategy is kind of everybody’s job and no one’s strategy. And you know, it’s the sort of thing, we’re all hired to create, communicate and use content in business, but we never actually go to the trouble of thinking through how is it an actual function, right? So, like accounting, can you imagine the accounting function in business being something where we just all make it up as we go along, you know, you use GAAP accounting, you use cash, accrual-based accounting. We all just sort of figure it all out, not come up with a centralized approach to creating this function in the business. And content, one of the most, if not the most important thing we do in the business, needs that strategic approach as well. Tom Poland 04:09 It’s like holding the numbers on a spreadsheet. So, there you go, you got some numbers, our accountant, we’re doing some accounting as the main thing. So, I’ll stop talking so much and ask you some more questions. Three and four minutes left. Real briefly, what are some of the typical symptoms that this content marketer or this person is in charge of a content team? What’s going on in their business where they would get a heads up and go, ‘I need to speak to Robert Ross?’ Robert Rose 04:31 Most of the time, it is simply just a feeling of disorganization, you know, I was actually having this conversation with someone today, which is, very often what happens is that a boss, whether it’s a CEO or a CMO, will come in and say, we need more content. And the answer to that is usually, ‘Okay, great. Let’s start producing more instead of why. Why do we need more content?’ And by the way, what does that even mean? Right? What is ‘more’ mean? And we walk into a business, and we hear things like, you know, everybody’s got their own idea about the blog that they want to launch, or everybody doesn’t have any time or resources enough to create enough web content for SEO or we don’t know how to do video because we don’t have the skills in-house to be able to do it. Or we hear, sales won’t let us actually take subscribers to our blog because they think that takes away from their lead generation, or should we gate content or ungate content? We don’t know, should we actually make people register to see the white paper that we have? Or do we have all of this demand for content, but we can’t keep up with the scale? How do we actually keep up? We’ve hired more and more writers, but we can’t keep up. Anytime we hear all of those sorts of overwhelmingly big complaints surround, how do we get our arms around this? That’s when we know that there’s a content strategy at play. Tom Poland 05:49 Right. Thank you for that. Question four, two and a half minutes left, give us a couple of common mistakes these folks are making before finding your solution? Robert Rose 05:57 Yeah, the biggest one is that they think that an internal content studio or some sort of internal content team that serves like an internal agency will solve the problem. You know, I have this little saying that I call Roberts content law, which is the need for content will exponentially increase given the resources allocated to it. You will never scale; if that’s all you think about is, “How do we create more and add more people to the equation?” Tom Poland 06:20 Right. You have a lot more to it than that, I’m sure. So, valuable free action, like a top tip. We’ve got one minute, 45 seconds left, what’s one thing someone could do to take them a step in the right direction? Robert Rose 06:31 Well, they can, of course, visit us and look at some of the resources we might have. We have our little hub on the internet at contentadvisory.net. And we’ve got a lot of advice there and resources, all ungated, you know, so you don’t have to register for it. But there are some job descriptions, white papers, and frameworks will really get you off on the right foot. Tom Poland 06:49 There is a wealth of resources there, folks; whether you’re a solopreneur looking at content or running a large team, go to contentadvisory.net. This is not a sponsored podcast; we don’t get any kickback or commissions. We’re promoting Robert because his stuff is solid, and it works. So, go there, contentadvisory.net. That also answers question number six, which has just evolved because we’ve got 55 seconds left. Question number seven. Robert, what’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? Robert Rose 07:16 You didn’t ask me when I’m getting back to Aus. Tom Poland 07:19 And when are you getting back to Aus? Robert Rose 07:22 I am trying to get back this year. It is one of my favorite places on the entire planet. I have been all over your beautiful country. And it’s absolutely, you know, one of the things that I look most forward to getting out of this whole COVID thing is getting back to, well, Sydney is my favorite place on the entire planet. And I just absolutely love that city. Tom Poland 07:40 No, you haven’t been to my place? Robert Rose 07:42 I have not been to Queensland if that’s what you mean, right? Tom Poland 07:46 Well, yeah, but while in the Down, you’d come and have a cup of coffee, we’ll sit in the rain forest next to the swimming pool, and I’ll make you an espresso. Robert Rose 07:52 I love that. Tom Poland 07:53 Let’s make it happen. Robert Rose, thank you so much for your time, your expertise, and your insights. Robert Rose 07:58 Thank you so much. Tom Poland 07:56 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to 2x Your Online Course Revenue – In Just 7 Minutes with John Ainsworth | 20 Apr 2022 | 00:08:40 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Are you a course creator or influencer who has already created content for years and built an audience but couldn’t sell a course? Do you feel like you can be earning more but don’t know how? Are you ready to find out tactics and strategies that can double your revenue? John Ainsworth is the founder and CEO at Data Driven Marketing. They help creators and influencers double their revenue in 3 months through marketing funnels. In this episode, John shares how there are course creators and influencers who have already proven their worth by creating content with a market base that they have not converted yet. He suggests specific ways of increasing their revenue in no time. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “In about a day to two days work, you can increase revenue by about 20% for most people, and it's something called order bumps.” -John AinsworthClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Welcome, everyone, to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland beaming out to you from the sunny sunshine coast here in Australia, joined today by John Ainsworth. John, a very warm day from down under. Whereabouts do you hang out? John Ainsworth 0:24 I’m in Lisbon in Portugal at the moment. It’s beautiful out here. Tom Poland 0:28 Probably, earlier you told me that you’re about to pop back to the UK in preparation for a trip to Kenya. Sounds very exciting. John Ainsworth 0:38 Yeah. I’ve never been; looking forward to it; it should be great. Yeah. Tom Poland 0:41 It’ll be fantastic. Alright, so for those of you who don’t know, John, in addition to being an affiliate world traveler, he’s the founder and CEO of Data Driven Marketing. He helps creators and influences double their revenue in three months through marketing funnels. And the reason I really welcome John onto the show is that he’s not like one of these agencies that say, shut up, give me a lot of money, we’ll see what happens. He actually backs the results, I mean, significantly puts his own skin in the game. So, I’m really delighted to have you on the show, John. You’ve set yourself apart from newer and other agencies. Can’t wait to hear what you’ve got to say, to hear what you got to say. The title is How to Double Two Times Your Online course revenue. And I think you actually can do that in about 90 days for most of your clients. Does that sound right? John Ainsworth 1:35 That’s the average. Yeah, for some people, it’s quicker. For some people, it’s a little longer, but on average, it’s three months, right? Yeah. Tom Poland 1:40 Still pretty fast. Pretty significant. Yeah. So, let’s kick off our seven minutes starts now. Question number one, who is your ideal client? John Ainsworth 1:47 We work with online course creators who have already built an audience. So that could be through YouTube, or podcasts or SEO, or social media, but it’s the people who’ve been putting content out for years and educating people and building up that trust but haven’t converted that into making a ton of sales yet. Tom Poland 2:03 Fabulous. Thank you; very succinct, too. Question number two, six and a half minutes left. Tell us about the problem you solve for these folks. John Ainsworth 2:10 A lot of course creators who are in this position, these guys who are creators, and influencers make a lot of content, share it and build up an audience. They don’t realize how much money is available to them because of what they’ve done. And the problem is that they don’t understand that there are three legs to this; there’s traffic. It Has lots of traffic, that’s great. Courses, you have great courses that people love; that’s fantastic. But if you don’t have a mechanism of converting traffic into buying the courses, which is email marketing and funnels, then you’re leaving most of the money that’s available to you on the table. Tom Poland 2:47 Yes, I’m squirming as I hear these because I think we have those ideal clients of yours. So, make me squirm some more. Questions three; six minutes left; what would you say are the typical symptoms of your ideal clients? What’s going on in their business before they find your solution? John Ainsworth 3:04 What normally happens… The standard approach is, I’ve driven traffic and that has worked, I’ve created courses. And that’s work. So, what I’m going to do is do more of that. I’m going to, every time that I want to make more money, I’m going to make a new course, or I’m going to try and drive more traffic. And both of those work. That’s the thing, right? If they didn’t work, people might look elsewhere, but they both work. It’s just that they don’t work nearly as well as they could. So what people are feeling is, they’re frustrated that they should be making more money, like, I know that this is worth more money. I know that I should be getting more out of this. But I just don’t know quite how and they’ve heard of funnels, and they’ve heard of all of this, you know, different marketing tactics, what have you. And they’re like, ‘Yeah, but I don’t know, I don’t know how to do that. I’m uncomfortable with it. I don’t know exactly which bits would work the best.’ ‘I tried some stuff, but that didn’t really work.’ ‘So anyway, I’m just going to drive more traffic and create more courses.’ And that’s like 99% of people I talked to are like that. Tom Poland 4:04 Perfect. Thank you, Sir. Question four, we’re talking about people who create online courses, and they’ve been doing marketing and putting out content; these people are pretty growth-orientated. So, they’re going to keep trying stuff you’ve mentioned, making the mistake of just doing another course and getting more traffic. Are there any other common mistakes folks are making in trying to solve this problem that you could help them with? Four minutes left. John Ainsworth 4:28 One of the biggest things there is that people might try some tactics that they’ve heard about from marketing people, and they don’t know which ones specifically work for online courses. So, they try something, get mediocre results, and go, ‘You know what, I’m going to get back to what I was doing before.’ Tom Poland 4:43 Right. So, try a few courses and then go back to… kind of works okay by its sound, but it’s not maximizing the potential. It’s not really scaling things, and it’s a lot of hard work to rinse and repeat the new course, etc. So, let’s flip this now, question 5, how about a top tip, like one valuable free action that someone could… they could take it? It’s not going to solve the whole problem, but it might stop them off on the journey on the right foot. John Ainsworth 5:13 Yeah, this is good. So, in about a day to two days of work, you can increase revenue by about 20% for most people, and it’s something called order bumps. And what you do is, an order bump is on your checkout page, you have a tick box and have another offer available somewhere between a third of the price of the original thing and the same price as the original thing that you’re selling. You have about two sentences copy to write very, very short, and about 40 to 60% of people will buy it. We’ve had people increase their revenue by $130,000 a year from doing this. It takes honestly no more than like generally about an hour to do. Tom Poland 5:50 Incredible. I’m internally crying, thinking about all the money that we’ve left on the table by not having done that. An order bump. There you go, folks. John, two and a half minutes left; let’s get people some more value with an online resource. People go to find out more about what you’re doing and get more solutions for their problem. John Ainsworth 6:11 Yeah. So, if people want to know how much more money they could be making, specifically, we will figure it out for them. So, we’ve got a calculator on our website and go to datadrivenmarketing.co/calculator and fill in some questions, about ten questions. And we will go through it personally and figure out for you exactly how much more revenue you could be making. And we’ll send you some useful resources about how to do it as well. Tom Poland 6:34 Not only is that incredibly clever marketing, but it’s also very valuable, folks, www.data drivenmarketing.co/calculator. The link under the video if you’re watching this; otherwise, if you’re on an mp3, then please go to datadrivenmarketing.co/calculator. Question seven. So, the last question, we’ve got 60 plus 35 95 seconds left. What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? John Ainsworth 7:00 I think the question is, how else can people solve that issue? And there are three ways that people can solve it; we covered one increase the revenue you get per sale. And so, order bumps are one way of doing that. Other ways are upselling, improving your offer, and how you can raise your prices, but that’s like order bumps are easy one there. The second main thing is increasing the percentage of your email list to buy each month. And most people send three email promotions a year with a discount as the average, sometimes two, sometimes four, normally three. And it’s possible to send great emails every month that get people to buy people like they don’t unsubscribe, and your bank account will go crazy because of it. And the third one is how you get more people onto that email list. And most people have got an opt-in rate of between normally point five and 1%. And then normally, you can get it to about 5%. by well, as no time to go into that one today, how to do it, but most people can manage to do that. Tom Poland 7:59 So those look a wealth of information and lots of valuable ideas there. John Ainsworth, thank you so much for your time. Appreciate all your insights. John Ainsworth 8:08 My pleasure. Thank you very much. Tom Poland 07:56 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Leverage the Media – In Just 7 Minutes with Patty Farmer | 13 Apr 2022 | 00:06:01 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you experience low conversion rates from your discovery calls and enrollment conversations? Have you checked if your message is confusing and doesn’t speak to your target audience? How do you create a lifestyle built around a business that supports that? Patty Farmer is a Marketing & Media Strategist, Speaker, Podcast Host, Magazine Publisher & Event Producer. She helps entrepreneurs leverage the media and create marketing strategies that are profitable and not painful. In this episode, Patty shares how you don’t always need to go out and find your target people; instead, you only have to find partners that serve the exact audience you do. And that she recommends building relationships that pave the way for opportunities that foster that process. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “You need to find partners where you all serve the same audience, and then get in front of each other's audience.” -Patty FarmerClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Welcome, everyone, to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the sunny Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia. Joined today by Patty Farmer. Patty, get a warm welcome Down Under. Where are you hanging out? Patty Farmer 0:22 Dallas, Texas. Tom Poland 0:23 Dallas, Texas. That’s one of the most modern airports. I remember going around there, hopping onto the shuttle, and there was no driver. That was a little scary to start with. But it seemed to work out fine. For those of you who don’t know, Patty she’s a marketing and media strategist. And you can get a lot of leverage out of the media. She’s also a speaker, podcast host, magazine publisher, and event producer. She helps entrepreneurs leverage the media and create profitable marketing strategies and not painful. Good idea. So, that brings us nicely, Patty, to the subject of our interview, which is how to leverage the media. Our time starts now. Question number one is, who’s your ideal client? Patty Farmer 1:07 My ideal clients are established service-based entrepreneurs that are women, 40 plus, who are struggling to identify, attract, and convert their ideal buyers. Tom Poland 1:17 Oh, yeah. Well, that’s a lot of them, right? That’s a lot. Thank you for that. So, that probably leads to question number two, which might be self-evident now. But tell us a bit more about the problem you solve. Patty Farmer 1:29 The problem I solve is helping them package their expertise and then position them strategically in the marketplace so that they can master their marketing, leverage the media, and monetize their business. Tom Poland 1:41 Perfect. So, let’s go then to how someone knows; question three, what are the symptoms? What’s going on in their business or their life where they go, ‘Do I need to find out more about what Patty does? Patty Farmer 1:50 A lot of the things are usually the same things, right? A lot of those things are the same, which is a really low conversion rate, whether from a discovery call and enrollment conversation. Social offers, those types of things, right? So, they have a confusing message. Those are some of the symptoms that people really have, right, and don’t understand the target buyer. And they’re still trying to talk to their target market. Tom Poland 2:17 Right, or they sometimes just wonder why their marketing isn’t working; they’re feeling like the world’s best-kept secret. Patty Farmer 2:22 That is absolutely true; I think they’re the world’s best secret. And really, it’s because they’re trying to talk to too many people at once instead of really learning how to get into a niche and serving them. Thank you for that. Tom Poland 2:34 Thank you for that. So, let’s get to question four. And we’ve got five and a half minutes left. We’re talking about; generally, people are pretty smart and ambitious; they want to grow their business, serve more people, and generate more revenue. So, they’re going to be trying stuff, is what I’m saying. So, question four, what are some of the common mistakes they make when trying to get more clients on board to generate more business? Patty Farmer 2:55 I think the biggest one is that they confuse networking with marketing and sales. Marketing and sales are separate all in themselves. But people really get confused when they’re trying to throw networking in the mix, as well. They try to talk to everybody; there’s a customer journey, right? Everybody’s in a different stage of that customer journey. And what they’re doing is, they’re trying to talk to all of them at once, instead of realizing that one person may be just being made aware of what you do, and somebody else might be ready to evaluate or purchase, but they talk to them all exactly the same way. Okay, Tom Poland 3:29 Okay, so let’s talk about something they could do to solve this problem. It is probably not going to solve the whole problem, but it might take them a step in the right direction. Question five, four minutes left, what’s a valuable free action that someone could take that will take that step in the right direction? Patty Farmer 3:43 So, the first thing I think is that we really need to spend the biggest portion of our time building relationships, right? Right now, relationships are the currency in today’s business environment. And the number one way is what I like to call OPP. Everybody talks about opportunity; OPP for me is other people’s people. And the best way to do that is to promote other people to promote yourself. So, it’s finding opportunities where you both have the same audience. And you can put each other in front of that audience. Tom Poland 4:13 Thank you for that. And so, let’s… How would someone identify OPP? How would they move forward to figure out who those people are that’s got the OPP? Patty Farmer 4:22 I think the first way is to really be thinking about what are the things that you do? Who do you serve? That’s really what it’s about, really more than what you do is, who do you serve? And then ask yourself, who else serves them in a completely different way? It’s okay if you overlap a little bit. I find that very helpful sometimes, but who serves those same people, so you’re not having to go out and find the same people all the time. You just need to find partners where you all serve the same audience and then get in front of each other’s audience. Tom Poland 4:51 Perfect. Thank you for that. So, question number six, let’s direct people to a resource that you might be able to offer them that they’re going to find out more about how you work with your clients and some more top tips? Patty Farmer 5:03 Absolutely. So, talking about relationships, right? I really also believe that one of the things that we need to do is work in our brilliance and hire other people to work in theirs. But one of the things that people like to think about is they like to think about their strengths. And these are my strengths, and then I like to focus on that, which is great, right? That’s really, really great; low-hanging fruit and all that. But the opportunity is really in where you’re not strong because that’s when you have the opportunity to collaborate with other people. So, the resource that I have, the www.m3bizquiz.com, is an assessment that, in three minutes or less, you can find out where you’re strong, where you’re not so strong, where you need to tweak and where you need to get massive growth. And then you know which things to do yourself and where you need to bring those partners in. Tom Poland 5:51 Great. Thanks, Patty. So that’s www.infomarketing3bizquiz.com. Go get it, Marketing, Media, and Money Business Quiz. Thank you for that. Question number seven, and we’ve got 90 seconds left. What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t. Patty Farmer 6:10 What’s the number one takeaway that I want your audience to get? Tom Poland 6:14 Oh, love that –focus. Yes. Patty Farmer 6:17 Right? And what the answer to that is, I believe that the secret to success is designing the lifestyle you want to live and then building the business that supports that lifestyle, not the other way around. Tom Poland 6:27 Lifestyle. Patty Farmers. Thank you so much for your time. Patty Farmer 6:32 Thank you. Tom Poland 07:56 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Crush Your Demanding Schedule and Explode Your Profits – In Just 7 Minutes with Kris Ward | 06 Apr 2022 | 00:08:19 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Are you working long and hard, not even having days and summers off? Do you always think everything is worth doing now and you are the only one who can do everything, and there is always next time? Are you experiencing attention residue and decision fatigue without you knowing it? Kris Ward is the leading authority in leveraging your time and scaling your business. She is the founder of the Win the Hour, Win the Day philosophy. In this episode, Kris shares how we see ourselves as the solution to all the problems, putting off all ideas for improvement to a later time. Also, she talks about someone who already built quite a business, known in the industry but still working extended hours and juggling so many things, including admin work. And when one does find someone to help out, tasks are not defined, making everything unclear and all over the place. And for things to ease up, she suggests getting things executed and not letting it remain an idea. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “Never make the same mistake, increase your traction, be in that 60% execution mode, and constantly get your ideas to execution.” -Kris WardClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland beaming out to you from the sunny sunshine coast in Queensland, Australia, joined today by Kris Ward. Kris, a very warm welcome from down under here. Where are you hanging out? Kris Ward 0:24 I am hanging out in Canada, Tom. Tom Poland 0:27 And whereabouts in that little tiny country are you? Kris Ward 0:30 I am on the East Coast. And yeah, just living the dream. Tom Poland 0:34 Good for you. For those of you who don’t know, Kris is the leading authority on leveraging your time. She has accolades from right around the world for the power and effectiveness of training. None of this is in her bio. I stalked her around the internet and did a little due diligence. Seriously impressive, transformational advice. So, it is about leveraging your time, but it’s also about scaling your business through leveraging your time. She’s the founder of Win the Hour, Win the Day philosophy, and our title today is How to Crush Any Demanding Schedule You Might Have and Explode Your Profits. Can’t wait to get started. Kris, thank you very much for being here. Question number one, seven minutes, starts now. Who’s your ideal client? Kris Ward 1:19 So, I work ideally with entrepreneurs in a service-based business, and they’re at least five years in, and they… you know what, they’re doing amazing, they look good on paper, maybe they have a book, a podcast, whatever. Or perhaps they’re just known in their industry, but they’re working more hours than they expected to be doing by this point. So, they say things like, once I get past this next thing, once I get… once I get… And so, they’re working in isolation and they’re the last one to go to bed in their family and the first one up, and so they’re the kind of secretly no one knows how many hours are working. But they’re thankful to be in business. And they do well. But they’re still working too much. Tom Poland 1:54 Right. And they still want to grow, as well. Kris Ward 1:57 Yeah. So, we’re all about ideas execution. And so, what I would say, as these entrepreneurs, you guys out there know who you are, you’re still trapped in the web of admin, where we believe you should be in execution mode 60% of the time. Tom Poland 2:11 Perfect. Thank you. So, let’s get to question two. And we’ve probably covered some of it. But anything you want to add to the problem you solve, six minutes left? Kris Ward 2:19 Yeah, the problem we solve is, again, getting ideas to execution. And what that reminds me of sort of the three Ds, so many people think like, oh, you know what, I’ll do it myself. That might be saved money, which I call damaging overhead, delayed income, or diminished opportunity. And there’s a lot into that. But given the time we have, I’ll move forward. I would say that sometimes people think, oh, you know what, maybe I just need to hire more people. But what happens is, it’s a lateral move, and they start thinking, well, then I’ll give them this work. And I’ll check on them like a parent-child, teacher-student. And in fact, what you’ve done is just created another job, because now you’re busy checking on them. And we’re all about the win formula where your team manages you. Tom Poland 2:58 Perfect. Wow, what a paradigm shift. Flip that one on what you said. Question three, five minutes left, typical symptoms that your ideal clients will be experiencing before they start working with you. What’s going on in their life or the business? Kris Ward 3:12 Well, again, as I said earlier, they say things in their head, like if you ever hear yourself say like, once I get past, once I get like, there’s always going to be something. It’s like walking in the desert; there’s a moving horizon, right? So, if you think once you get past this next thing, ‘Oh, I just need a few more clients.’ ‘Oh, now we just have to onboard these clients, or once we get past this and that. So, they think, you know what, they also misdiagnose that I get a lot done. I’m the go-to person for most people in my life. I have accomplished a lot. So, there must just be too much to do. Because they look around, and they’re achieving more than most. And so, but if you’re not working what I call school hours, you know, taking Fridays off and long summers, then you’re working too hard. Tom Poland 3:51 Right. Oh, well said. Thank you for that. So, let’s go, four minutes left. Question four, we’re talking about growth-oriented individuals here; they want to go and try things, but they might be making a bunch of mistakes before they find your solution. So, question four is, what are some of the common mistakes you see people making? Kris Ward 4:11 Spending too much on growing a team. And then also talk a lot about our super toolkit, which is not like SOP standard operating procedures. Standard operating procedures are written not by the end-user; they’re static in nature and really cover liability. So, we lean heavily into, you know, systems and processes, which we have, you know. Really our signature program is a super toolkit. And this allows you to compress anything you do, and just, you know, never make the same mistake, increase your traction, and really just, you know, be in that 60% execution mode, and constantly get your ideas to execution. So not relying on the systems as the issue. Tom Poland 4:48 Right, and presumably filtering those ideas as well, somehow. I think I read somewhere that you have a system for prioritization because as entrepreneurs that lack ideas, it’s a problem as we start thinking, race after another one. Not that I’m teaching you anything new. Three minutes left. Let’s flip it now and go to moving folks forward. Question five, what’s the top tip or a valuable free action you could give folks that… it’s not going to solve the whole problem for them, that might take them a step in the right direction. Kris Ward 5:17 Yeah, so most of my clients tell us that when working with this in the first month, they get 25 hours back a week. And it’s really about managing your energy. So, we definitely talk about your win formula, and your win team, all that stuff. But there are some basic fundamentals that people are mistaken about this serves as our energy management. So, I would tell you, science has shown that the first hour is where you should put your work where it requires the most attention or creativity. And so many people waste that on their email. And their brain is going in all different directions, which gives you attention residue and decision fatigue. And so you are; it’s like having a whole bunch of apps open on your phone. You’re burning your battery down that first hour by diving into emails. Tom Poland 5:59 Fascinating. I can just sense all the depth of knowledge and experience and the systems and models you have behind this. Let’s go on to question number six, where people might be able to tap into some of that resource, one valuable free resource we can direct people to that will help them even more with this problem. Kris Ward 6:18 Yeah, so you can check out a free gift from Kris, that’s giftfromkris.com. And we put something very special in there that we still charge for, the audio version of my book. So, you might want to check that out because it’s not going to be there very long. But I want to give something special to your listeners. So, freegiftfromkris.com. Kris Ward 6:37 freegiftfromkris.com. Go get it, folks. Question 7, 70 seconds left; what’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? Kris Ward 6:47 Yeah. Oh my, there are so many things. So, I think, to go back again, some of the biggest mistakes people make is hiring a VA, and they think that will solve everything is, what happens is, again, you’ve just created another job. But more importantly, you’re not clear what that person will do. Sometimes people will say, hmm, I should have a social media person. Well, which, what do you want them to do? And I’m all about having a lean team, but you want them to design. So, you’re asking them to write. They have to know the backend stuff. So, there’s no clarity in that. And when that doesn’t pan out, and it usually doesn’t, they think I spend more money. Oh, that’s it, you pay what you get for more and more, more, more. So, they just start chasing the wrong thing. And they also think that they can just hire somebody on the side, but they have no training experience on that whatsoever. Whereas we hire, train onboard your first-person, and help you get set up so that we could start teaching how to use super toolkits. So, minimizing onboarding somebody is a problem. Tom Poland 7:40 Perfect. Kris Ward, I want to thank you so much for your time, insights, and the wealth of tips and information you shared. Unfortunately, it was too short a time. Thank you very much. Kris Ward 7:49 Thank you. Tom Poland 07:56 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| The Video Edge: How to Leverage AI and Video to Attract More Leads and Clients – In Just 7 Minutes with Lou Bortone | 04 Jul 2024 | 00:08:50 | |
Why you've got to check out today's episode:
Resources/Links:
Summary: Are you struggling to cut through the digital noise and get your message seen by your target audience? With millions of messages flooding platforms like Facebook and email daily, standing out can seem nearly impossible. Lou Bortone has been a pioneer and thought leader in the video space since the launch of YouTube in 2005. In this episode, Lou shares how to leverage video effectively to attract more leads and clients. He discusses the importance of creating engaging content that resonates with viewers, emphasizing that simply producing a video isn't enough—it's about making the message clear, engaging, and being consistent. He also delves into the power of AI tools in video production, highlighting these two tools that he uses himself. Check out these episode highlights: 01:46 - Lou's ideal client: My ideal client is an established small business owner who has an open mind about technology and AI and is not afraid to be a little bit of an early adopter. 02:24 - The problem Lou helps solve: The problem with a lot of the folks I work with are, they are the best kept secret in their niche. 03:06 - Symptoms his client face before meeting him: There's so much noise and clutter online that you really have to have a clear message to break through and a method to do that. 03:56 - Common mistakes his clients make: The biggest mistake is really not being consistent. 06:09 - Lou's Valuable Free Action [VFA]: A lot of it is really just being open to experimenting, especially with AI. 07:34 - His valuable Free Resource [VFR]: Download Your Free Ultimate Guide to AI Video!: loubortone.com/aiguide. 08:01 - Q: How did I make the transition from the television industry to online video 20 years ago? A: It was bumpy. But I'm glad I did it. Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: "Video marketing, like any kind of marketing, is a marathon and not a sprint." – Lou Bortone | |||
| Publicity Be Seen – In Just 7 Minutes with Jill Lublin | 30 Mar 2022 | 00:08:24 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you want to reach the right people and let them know what you do? Are you on point with the message you put out there and get people to notice what you do? Have you thought of ways to increase visibility and awareness of what you do? Jill Lublin has 25 years of experience as a publicity strategist and has authored four bestsellers including Get Noticed…Get Referrals and her last book, Profit of Kindness. She also helps authors to create book deals with major publishers and agents. In this episode, Jill shares how you can magnetize, multiply, and monetize yourself with visibility-building strategies and communicate messages that resonate with the people that you care to serve. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “The wonderful thing about publicity is that it magnetizes people to you, multiplies you, and monetizes you.” -Jill LublinClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Welcome, everyone, to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from the little sunshine coast in Queensland, Australia, joined today by Jill Lublin. Jill, very warm, got it from down under. Where are you hanging out? Jill Lublin 0:22 Well, I’m in your sister city to Sydney, I live in San Francisco, California, Tom Poland 0:27 Sydney to San Fran, trust that little pond. Jill Lublin 0:32 Yes. Tom Poland 0:32 Pacific. It’s a long haul, that flight. If you don’t know Jill, she’s got 25 years of experience, count them. As a publicity strategist, which means, she not only looks at the big picture of how you can get promoted, but she’ll help with the execution of the tactics, as well. She’s authored not one best seller but four bestsellers, including Get Noticed…Get Referrals. And the last blast book was Profit of Kindness. Fascinating. She also helps authors to create book deals with major publishers and agents. Is there anything else she can’t do? Let’s find out. Jill, very warm welcome! Our subject today is publicity, so you get seen. Let’s kick off with question number one, seven minutes starts now. Who’s your ideal client? Jill Lublin 1:26 My ideal clients are consultants, coaches, speakers, authors, and then what I might call service providers. You can be in real estate, a chiropractor. You know, the people who serve others. Those are my most ideal clients. Tom Poland 1:40 Same, same! Question two. And we’ve got six and a half minutes left. What’s the problem you solve? Jill Lublin 1:47 The problem really is, how do you get visibility? You know, you have to let people know you exist. And the wonderful thing about publicity is that it magnetizes people to you, multiplies you, and monetizes you. All good things, M&Ms. This is the third M. Tom Poland 2:08 Magnifies, monetizes, and multiplies. Love the alliteration there. So, let’s go to the symptoms. Question number three is, six minutes left. Someone listening to this, how would they know that they should be really reaching out to you and finding out more about what you do? What’s going on in their business or their life? Or they go, yeah, I’ve got those symptoms? Jill Lublin 2:30 Well, the question is, could you use more clients? Could you use more people know about you? And by the way, the answer to that one is always yes, even with your clients which base is full. That’s a great time to be doing publicity letting people know you exist. So, I’ve had people on both sides of the spectrum with no clients, oh, my God, how am I going to pay my rent, put their credit card down, have faith, and see it multiply quickly. And you know, you can be anywhere on the spectrum. But the point is publicity needs to be a normal part of your marketing activities. Look at the big companies, they all do it and spend millions on it. Tom Poland 3:11 That’s right, you’ve probably alluded to one of the mistakes that people make, which is Oh, I got plenty of clients, what’s fast but those are going to dry up and though you need to be preparing for the next group of clients if you like. So that brings us nicely into question four: What do you think are some of the common mistakes that your ideal clients are making before they find your solution? Jill Lublin 3:34 Well, a couple of things assuming social media is the answer. Not, you know, number one, people sometimes aren’t reading your stuff. And it’s only a blip. The power of what publicity does is staying power and its authority-giving power. And frankly, it’s third-party endorsement, which is even better, not just you saying how great you are. It’s powerful. So, I think that not even thinking about publicity, maybe needs to be part or maybe being afraid of it, taking four steps toward it. All of those are important. And by the way, I have a very broad definition of Publicity, meaning it’s about visibility-building activities, that can be everything from networking in your message when you speak. Two, publicity through the traditional sources, as well as a podcast, blogs, and all aspects of putting your message out there. Tom Poland 4:26 That is a broad definition. It makes so much more sense than just the one channel because I mean people talking about websites, but it’s often about web presence, you know, to Google your name, and are you popping up all over the place? That’s a lot of credibility. Let’s flip it and go to stuff people can do to take action. Question five, three and a half minutes left. One top tip, a valuable free action someone else can do this that could take, it’s not going to solve the whole problem, but it might take them a step down the right direction. Jill Lublin 4:53 Great. Well, one thing is, Google Alerts. Okay, I want you to put your name in it because you’re an expert. You’re watching this; you’re listening. You’re an expert; I know you are. And I want you also the one like, let’s say you’re a leadership coach, put in the word leadership. Also, under Google Alerts. What this does is immediately literally tells you what Google’s searching for. If you do get any media, you absolutely want to know, which is the part about your name, but also, you know, let’s say they’re doing pieces on leadership or there’s you know, a person in leadership in government, you will know what’s going on. And then you can comment, you can come in, you can be the resource that media is always looking for. You know, think of it, they use the word source. That’s why you’re the source, the expert who knows. Tom Poland 5:39 Right. So, folks, you can go to Google and search Google for Google Alerts and sign up for an alert every time your name is mentioned on the internet somewhere. Terrific. Jill Lublin 5:49 And your topic. And it’s free. It’s completely free. Tom Poland 5:55 It was a good price. Thank you, Jill, for that top tip. Question six, we’ve got two minutes left, one valuable free resource. Where can people go to find out more about this information? Jill Lublin 6:07 Absolutely. Well, I’ve got a great free gift for you. It is an action guide. You like this, just what you see, what we put in the action guide to help you take the second step and come to my publicity masterclass. Also free, where you get to be live and interactive with me getting your questions answered. Tom Poland 6:26 Okay, so, folks, it’s www.publicitycrashcourse.com/free gift. The link is under the video if you’re watching this. If you’re on our podcast, publicitycrashcourse.com/free gift. You’re going to get a free publicity action guide there. Jill, we’ve got, it looks like 78 seconds left. Question number seven. What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? Jill Lublin 6:52 Do I like pina coladas? No. Tom Poland 6:56 I think I know the answer to that. Jill Lublin 6:59 It’s well, yes. And I like wine better. Red wine. In particular, I would tell you the one question that you all should be thinking about and wondering: What is a good first step to take? And the good first step to take is to focus on your message. What do you say when people say what you do? I just got off a consultation with a woman; an international artist was all over the place and distracted people when people said, ” What do you do? We got to be focused on where… from Cologne to New York City. She’s, you know, demonstrating her art. It’s just so much more powerful when you are focused and on point; people will trust you, and your message will be congruent. And I want you to be authentic and resonant to it. So, let’s start with your message. Tom Poland 7:45 Perfect. Jill, we’ve got exactly 14 seconds left. Just enough time to thank you so much for your insights, expertise, and experience and for sharing with us. Thank you. Jill Lublin 7:54 Thank you. Tom Poland 07:56 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to THRIVE by Turning Uncertainty to Competitive Advantage – In Just 7 Minutes with Meridith Elliot Powell | 28 Mar 2022 | 00:08:47 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Have you thought of channeling your stress and anxiety into something productive? How do you turn uncertainty that keeps you up at night into something that will make you sleep? Are you ready to learn the strategies to make decisions during uncertain times based on your core values? Meridith Elliott Powell was voted one Of the Top 15 Business Growth Experts to Watch, Top 41 Motivational Sales Speakers. She is passionate about helping her clients learn the secrets to turn uncertainty into a competitive advantage. In this episode, Meredith shares how you can get unstuck, take action, and move forward in the face of uncertainty. She also talks about how you can now make use of your existing resources to get ready for any change that would take place. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “Core values are powerful.” -Meredith Elliott PowellClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings everyone! And a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing The Invisible. My name is Tom Poland beaming out to you from the sunny sunshine coast of Australia, joined today by Meredith Elliot Powell. Meredith, welcome back! It’s been five years since we met. How have you been? Meridith Elliot Powell 0:26 It’s been an interesting five years, what do you say? Tom Poland 0:29 I would say the last couple of years have been especially interesting, pandemics and elections and different bits and pieces… Meridith Elliot Powell 0:36 Lockdowns and all those great things. Yeah. Tom Poland 0:39 But it looks like you’re in the great outdoors there, right? Meridith Elliot Powell 0:41 That is sort of, I live in Asheville, North Carolina, and I literally live in a log cabin. Tom Poland 0:47 Yeah, it looks like it with your English set of dogs. Meridith Elliot Powell 0:56 I’m trying to keep him out of this interview. So, I apologize if he appears. Tom Poland 1:00 Not at all. Let’s celebrate diversity, including species. Meridith Elliot Powell 1:03 Good. Tom Poland 1:04 So, for those of you who don’t know Meredith, she has been voted one of the top 15 Business Growth Experts to watch, Top 41 Motivational Sales Speakers. She’s also incredibly passionate about helping her clients learn the kind of the…, if you like the-secrets-of-the-top-tips take answered, which often comes with anxiety and to channel that energy into competitive advantage. So, that brings up quite nicely to the title of this interview, which is how to thrive by turning uncertainty which we all live with almost every day, to over the last few years to competitive advantage. Meredith, your time starts now. Question number one is, who is your ideal client, Meridith Elliot Powell 1:41 My ideal clients are CEOs or C-suite professionals doing well looking to take their business to the next level. Tom Poland 1:49 Thank you for that. So, question two, what’s the big problem you solve? I guess it’s this whole thing around uncertainty. Can you elaborate a bit on that? Meridith Elliot Powell 1:58 Yeah, absolutely. One of the top three issues keeping CEOs and C-suite professionals up at night is uncertainty and change. And I help them turn that from something that keeps them up at night to something that helps them sleep because they have a strategy; they have a plan to not only navigate it themselves but also help their teams navigate it successfully. Tom Poland 2:19 Thank you for that. So, it’s a lot more than you mentioned, sleeping well at night, which is important, because that gives us the energy to have a productive day and be a nice person with family and friends. But you added a little bit there as well, which is around not just alleviating stress or anxiety or uncertainty but actually channeling that. And that’s what we’re going to explore a bit more focus on, turning that into something that’s a positive force. So, tell us about the symptoms. You’ve got these leaders and organizations, the C-suite execs and so on. What’s going on in their business or their life that they would think, yeah, I need to listen up to this. Meridith Elliot Powell 2:56 Yeah, and it’s such a good question because there are a couple of things, either they’re doing incredibly well and they’re waiting for the ball to drop, they’re worried about when this shift is going to come that’s going to negatively impact them, or they’re having the flip, they’re really struggling, they’re right in the middle of uncertainty, and they don’t know what to do. It’s really fascinating. I studied what happened to people in the middle of the pandemic; 75% of the people I interviewed got stuck. They wanted to take action; they wanted to do something, they wanted to move forward, that they didn’t know how. I wanted to solve that problem. So, that’s why we wrote the proven formula of what you need to do. We took the guesswork out of how to navigate uncertainty. Tom Poland 3:36 Alright, and we will then come to some of the real oil on that in a moment, folks. So, question four is, I want to explore the common mistakes that these leaders make when they do have uncertainty. So that’s question four. They’re ambitious people. They want to deal with that. What are they doing that actually turns out to be a mistake in hindsight? Four and a half minutes left. Meridith Elliot Powell 3:55 Number one, they ignore it. They wait for it to show up. The funny thing I think about uncertainty and changes, we know it’s coming. So, if you know changes coming, why don’t you prepare for it? The second is they don’t get their teams ready for change. We make change something that we dictate to people. What people want in the middle of uncertainty is they want control, the one thing they can’t have. So, we built strategies that help leaders proactively deal with change, and then help their teams feel empowered by change, rather than disempowered by change. Tom Poland 4:29 And what I love about that is you’ve got a process, a proven path that people can follow, step one, step two, step three. Let’s look at one of those steps. Question five, three and a half minutes left and top tip, one action that some of these leaders could take, it’s not going to solve the whole problem. They might need you for that, but it might take them a step in the right direction. Meridith Elliot Powell 4:50 Yeah, it’s strategy number two, condition yourself for change. There’s a great term from the US military called Embrace the Suck. Is it the realist or the pessimist that survive challenging times? It’s the realist that does. And we use a tool called Skeptic, where you look outside of your business to see the change coming in society, competition, economics, politics, technology, industry customers. By simply doing an external brainstorm, you can start to examine the shifts coming in the marketplace and ask yourself, what shifts do we need to be paying attention to now while you have resources and time to prepare. Tom Poland 5:29 Right? Perfect. Thank you. So, question number six. And we’ve got three minutes left; I want to talk about somewhere people can go to get more about this, they can find out more, a free resource would be great. What have you got? Meridith Elliot Powell 5:43 Yeah, well, number one, if you go to my website, valuespeaker.com, just valuespeaker.com/quiz, you’re going to take the Thrive Indicator Quiz, you’re going to see where you fall on the scale of uncertainty. And in that, you’re going to get the nine-step proven formula; you’re going to get step-by-step exactly what you need to do to thrive in an uncertain marketplace. My website is full of free tools and resources. I even did nine videos on the nine steps. Tom Poland 6:12 Fantastic. So, what’s the website again, please? Meridith Elliot Powell 6:15 It is valuespeaker.com. It is just the words, valuespeaker.com. You will find everything there. Tom Poland 6:22 Value speaker.com. Thank you very much. And folks, look, do look for the quiz, because that’s going to give you a really good blueprint, not only where you’re at, but we need to get to and how you need to get there. Question number seven, we’ve got 95 seconds left. Meridith, what’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? Meridith Elliot Powell 6:39 What is the most important and most shocking strategy that I have found out when doing the research and studying these companies that have been around and been through tragedies? The one that blew me away was the one I never saw coming is the biggest challenge you have in the face of uncertainty is how to make a decision. When you have no idea what the future holds, positive or negative, how do you know what top technology to invest in, whether to expand, whether to pull back, whether to do whatever? Every company I researched for over 250 years has been making decisions the exact same way. They have been making decisions according to their core values. If that aligns with their core values, it’s the right decision for them. If it didn’t, they let it go. Core values are powerful. They’re like a North Star that will carry you through any challenge, obstacle, or opportunity that you are facing, and they will carry you through it beautifully. I’m so obsessed with this, Tom, that I’m writing my next book about the power of core values as it relates to uncertainty. Tom Poland 7:39 So, when you say that, it sounds easy. But when people make decisions based on core values, there’s often a big sacrifice they need to make. You know, we are just exiting Facebook because we do not believe their values are aligned with our core values. And that’s not a judgment of Facebook. It’s just there’s no alignment there. But there’s a cost to that. So, it’s fascinating. And I’ve heard similar reports before from massive research papers fascinating to me that something like core values can actually be like a beacon or a light that leads us to continue growth. Meridith, thank you so much for your time and your insights. It’s been a pleasure again. Meridith Elliot Powell 8:14 Thank you. I really, really enjoyed it. Really appreciate the time. Tom Poland 8:17 Cheers. Tom Poland 08:18 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Discover Your Very Own Money DNA – In Just 7 Minutes with Daniel Mangena | 23 Mar 2022 | 00:07:54 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you want to grow more and get the recognition you deserve without the cost? Have you been feeling like you’re not finding joy anymore with what you’re creating? Do you want to know more on how you can enjoy what you’re doing and having time while getting the profit you deserve? Are you ready to drop that cookie-cutter approach and find out what your money DNA is to maximize potential and get 10x results? Daniel Mangena is an International Speaker, Best-Selling Author, Broadcaster, and Coach. He is best known for his highly successful Micro2Millions program, being the author of Stepping Beyond Intention and his Do it With Dan and Beyond Success podcasts. He is completely self-made and has spent decades perfecting his world-class coaching methodology. In this episode, Daniel talks about how to see money as a powerful and important tool that you can leverage and maximize through finding your money’s DNA. He also shares his insights on why you should focus more on having fun and feeling fulfilled with what you’re creating. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “If you find that you're not making as much money as you could be making, you had to leverage your money today.” -Daniel MangenaClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Welcome, everyone, to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from a little sunshine coast in Queensland, Australia, joined today by Daniel Mangena. Daniel, a very warm good day from Down Under. Sir, where are you hanging out? Daniel Mangena 00:23 I’m hanging out in Cabo Mexico. Lovely to be from one sunny place to another. Tom Poland 00:28 Yes, lots of sand and surf– love it! For those of you who don’t know Daniel, he’s literally an international speaker, Best-Selling Author, and broadcaster. He’s a coach. He’s best known for his very successful Micro2Millions program, being the author of Stepping Beyond Intention. I love that title! Stepping beyond intention. And his Do It with Dan and Beyond Success podcast. He is completely self-made and has spent decades perfecting his world-class coaching methodology. And he’s about to share it now with this podcast. And the title is, “How to Discover Your Very Own Money DNA”. Yes, there is such a thing, and it’s critical that you discover it. Daniel, sir, our seven questions are going to start now. Question number one is who is your ideal client? Daniel Mangena 01:13 My ideal client is people who are into personal development, are entrepreneurially minded, and, generally speaking, don’t want money for money’s sake. There is something bigger to it, but they’re not caught up in the idea of the bigger thing and still not enough of their money too. Tom Poland 01:28 Love it! Thank you, sir. So, let’s go to question number two, what’s the problem you solve for these entrepreneurs? Daniel Mangena 01:36 Entrepreneurially minded people, often, if they’ve got anything to do with personal development can get caught up in some of the other pieces. So, you get people that they obsessed with whatever the latest courses, the latest program, the latest new hack or gizmo, or the latest new fan Google from the world of spirituality, and they just don’t get as much done. All the stuff that does get done ends up happening not as much efficacy as could be done. You get people on the other side of that hustle, hustle, hustle, and lose sight of the other pieces. The problem we solved is we bring people to the middle, bringing in together all the mindset and personal development– all that good stuff, bringing together the emotional relationship to money and all the frequency and the vibe and the woo-woo. But also, powerful strategies, specifically, leveraging their money DNA. Tom Poland 02:23 Perfect! Nice sweet spot. Thank you for that. And the world needs that. So, question number three is can you describe the symptoms that your ideal client would be experiencing before they start working with you? So, what’s going on in their business or their life where- kind of give an audience member right now a heads up and go, “Yeah, I need to find out more about dreaming with Dan”? Daniel Mangena 02:43 Well, there are a couple of different angles that we find being symptomatic for people that really are supported by what we do. Number one is if you find that you’re not making as much money as you could be making. Great symptom for us to cover, so you had to leverage your money today. Because money DNA, the power behind that, is you can- we see people 10x, 20x, 50x their results, but using a fraction of their energy, a fraction of the resources because you’re not pushing against the tide. You’re going with the flow. Another thing, as well, is that people are not enjoying the experience of what they’re creating. Far too many people maybe have financial success, but it’s at the cost of burnout. It’s at the cost of time with family, time with loved ones, hobbies, things that you really care about doing. Well, you’re just not having fun anymore. Those are the key symptoms– you either got the money, and it’s costing you. Or maybe you’re okay with the other stuff, but the money is not where it needs to be. We bring you again to the middle, getting the best of both worlds, leveraging money DNA for the most part. Tom Poland 03:39 So, it sounds like money DNA is about finding the way that fulfills you that also generate fulfills clients and therefore generates a fair bit of money. The sweet spot, as you call it, or the middle ground, I think? That’s not trying to be an- Daniel Mangena 03:55 But the simple analogy that was given that makes it really easy to understand and will give us the really sharp thing that people have come to listen to this podcast today is, imagine a child. When a child’s in the belly, you don’t know what configuration is going to come out– hair color, eye color, unless you’re both blonde or you’re both redhead or whatever. For the most part, you don’t know. My wife’s blond-haired, blue-eyed. I’m brown-skinned, brown-eyed. We didn’t know what my son was going to turn out and there was nothing that we could do. That was going to unfold naturally. Your financial situation is unfolding naturally right now from a series of different things that you’ve identified down to pretty much a tee. If you’re not having fun, then forget it anyway. If you’re not fulfilled, forget it anyway. But understanding where that flow is for you, to have a natural unfolding, that feels fun, is full of meaning, and is profitable– that’s what we support them to do with money DNA. Tom Poland 04:46 That’s the sweet spot! Nice. So, question four, we’ve got three minutes left, what are some of the common mistakes that people make when they’re trying to find that sweet spot? You know, we’re talking about entrepreneurial people that are asserted. They’re growth orientated. They’re going to try stuff to find that sweet spot. So, what would you say are some of the common mistakes that folks make? Daniel Mangena 05:04 I’ve got one that will just, you know, put a nail in the coffin– the cookie-cutter approach. We’re all different. Trying to follow exactly what somebody else is doing, exactly that the way that they’re doing it. How many people are trying to do Elon Musk’s morning routine because they think they’re going to make him a billionaire is ludicrous. We’ve all got our strengths. We’ve all got our natural dispositions. We’ve all got our natural flow. Drop the cookie-cutter approach. Find your money DNA. Dive into that and get the results. Tom Poland 05:04 It sounds like a lot of this is about listening to ourselves, about doing the things which we intuitively know we were born to do. Let’s help people move forward now. Question number five is one valuable free action. We’ve got two minutes left. What’s a top tip you can give someone to move forward with this? Daniel Mangena 05:48 Definitely get to know yourself. And the answer to the next question will be a resource for them to do that. We actually give the listeners just four tests, four simple tests you can go and do that will give you such an insight into who you are and what you’re about, that it will definitely move you along in terms of understanding that it’s famous for you. Tom Poland 06:05 Well, let’s go to that. Question six is a valuable free resource. And it’s, folks if you go to https://dreamwithdan.com/moneyDNA/, you might want to tell folks. Dan, we’ve got 90 seconds left. What are they going to find there? In that, there might be another top tip, as well? Daniel Mangena 06:21 Yeah, what we’re going to do is we’re going to give you the link to four tests, and a quick basic rundown on those four tests on how they lead to identifying your money DNA. They want to book a consultation after that for us to help them, you know, go a bit deeper point. You get those four tests and you’ll understand a very, very high level, some great insights into you and where your flow exists. Tom Poland 06:41 Where listening to yourself could be as simple as making a diary note of your thoughts that are coming in. That’s probably a good start. So, folks, the resource is dreamwithdan.com/moneyDNA. One minute left, Dan, question number seven is what’s the one question I should have asked you, but didn’t? Daniel Mangena 06:57 I thought I knew what I was going to say for this, but I didn’t. I’m going to say, you know, what’s the most important thing in all of this? I’d say have fun. Make it meaningful. Don’t get caught up in money– not being the most important thing or it being the most important thing. It’s just a tool. And having your money DNA will help you to take that tool, leverage it and be a contribution to the world. And that’s the kind of person that I like hanging out within certain. Tom Poland 07:20 Perfect! Daniel, thank you so much for your time and your insights. Daniel Mangena 07:23 Thanks for having me, buddy. Tom Poland 07:50 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Become an Influential Voice – In Just 7 Minutes with Tricia Brouk | 21 Mar 2022 | 00:08:18 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Do you want to grow more and get the recognition you deserve without the cost? Have you been wanting to share your story but just don’t know how to share it with impact and confidence? Are you ready to speak better, inspire more, impact widely with your powerful story? Tricia Brouk is an international award-winning director. She founded The Big Talk Academy and was the executive producer of TEDxLincolnSquare. She curates the Speaker Salon in NYC, hosts The Big Talk an award-winning podcast, and her book, The Influential Voice: Saying What You Mean for Lasting Legacy was the #1 pre-order new release on Amazon. In this episode, Tricia talks about how speaking up and sharing your story is more than just getting recognition but is also a step for you to change and inspire more lives. She also shares how you can leverage your story to share it with more impact that will keep your audience hooked and all ears. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “Everyone has a story, but not everyone knows how to leverage it or how to share it impactfully.” -Tricia BroukClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and welcome to another vibrant edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland, joined today by Tricia Brouk. Tricia, good day from down under. A very warm welcome! Where are you hanging out with your big love hearts there? Tricia Brouk 00:22 I’m hanging out in New York City in midtown Manhattan. Tom Poland 00:25 Oh, that is the beating heart of the free world! Well, great to have you here. You’re in the middle of the middle– you really are. So, for those of you who don’t know Tricia, she is an international award-winning director, which is freaking amazing! I mean, if people don’t know how freakin’- well, you won’t, unless you’ve been in the industry, but that is freaking amazing. She founded The Big Talk Academy when she was the executive producer- I mean, get this, folks- of TEDxLincolnSquare. She curates the Speaker Salon in New York City. She hosts The Big Talk, an award-winning podcast, and her book, The Influential Voice: Saying What You Mean for Lasting Legacy, was #1 pre-order for a new release on Amazon, and deservedly so. Tricia, thank you for being on the show and accepting our invitation. It’s a privilege and a pleasure to have you here. Folks, get your listening ears on because this is going to be a cracker! The title today- no pressure, Tricia. The title today is, “How to Become an Influential Voice”. Tricia, our time starts now. Question number one is who is your ideal client? Tricia Brouk 01:35 CEOs, founders, authors, professionals who want to improve their communication skills. Tom Poland 01:41 It sounds like it’s anyone leading a group who wants to be a better leader. Tricia Brouk 01:45 Absolutely! Thought leaders, influencers– anyone who really wants to speak with effective, dignified communication for impact. Tom Poland 01:54 And we all know that walking the talk is important, but you got to talk the walk as well. Tricia Brouk 01:59 Absolutely. Tom Poland 01:59 Question number two, and we’ve got six and a half minutes left, what is the problem you solve for them? Tricia Brouk 02:05 I will solve how to leverage the power of your story. Everyone has a story, but not everyone knows how to leverage it or how to share it impactfully. Tom Poland 02:14 And many of them don’t even know they have a story, do you think? Tricia Brouk 02:17 I think everyone thinks they have a story, but they aren’t confident enough to share it. So, I really curate thought leadership by packaging these authentic stories, industry-leading voices, and media luminaries. Tom Poland 02:31 And with your background as executive producer with TEDx, I think you’re pretty well caught, and then a global winning award director. That’s pretty well qualified! So, let’s talk about the symptoms. Question number three is, we got six minutes left, we’ve got this leader who’s wondering about their voice, their communication skills, and style. What would be happening in their life that would give them a heads up that they need to find out more about the influential voice? Tricia Brouk 02:57 Most of these leaders are very successful already in their careers, but what they’re lacking is the recognition to make the impact that they want– to shine as leaders and the go-to experts in their space. And they’ve got passion and motivation, but they don’t necessarily have the skill set to formulate all of their ideas into one potent big idea that will have the kind of impact that they desire in the world. Tom Poland 03:24 Right, kind of like the flame that attracts the moths. Tricia Brouk 03:28 Yeah. Tom Poland 03:28 You know we have this thing, we call it “the world’s best-kept secret”. Maybe they’ve got the world’s best-kept story. Tricia Brouk 03:34 There is a best-kept story and all of us, it’s just a matter of how to give birth to it. Tom Poland 03:39 You’re talking about symptoms, still. Are they feeling like they’re just not getting the cut through with their leadership? Would that be another symptom? Tricia Brouk 03:47 Too many ideas which are going to cause paralysis or not enough ideas cause paralysis. So, it’s that moment of, “I’m just not going to do anything because I don’t know how to cut through all of the ideas that I have” and you have to actually generate the ones that are potent. Tom Poland 04:03 Do you find that people, some of your clients prior to working with you, are actually making the mistake of communicating too many ideas, desperate ideas? Tricia Brouk 04:12 Absolutely. It’s got to be one clear idea that you are constantly always talking about. And that’s from your point of view, as well. Your point of view as an expert, and as a leader is what makes it special. Tom Poland 04:25 Very interesting. And we often see some of the better politicians sticking to the same story, don’t we? And that’s how they seem to get cut through all the messages. So, let’s move on to question number four. We have four minutes left. We’ve got these people who have, by and large, are very successful already, but want to get to the next level on their skills or leadership and communication, so on. They’re going to be trying things is what I’m saying. So, what would you say are some of the common mistakes that they try before they find your solution? Tricia Brouk 04:49 Well, the biggest mistake is not knowing what your values are. When you’re clear on your values and your purpose and your mission, then you can begin to talk about the thing that you care about in a way that’s authentic. And the next thing is not realizing that speaking is an art form. There is an art to public speaking. You can’t just get up on stage and blather on or use bullet points. There is an art form. And yes, I’m a director. I work in the theater which means I require memorization of scripts. And then also the mistake they make is making their talk about themselves or their business instead of what they care about and what they’re passionate about. That’s a huge mistake! Many people who apply to speak at my events, pitch their business instead of their big idea. Tom Poland 05:34 Me, me, me! There’s a bit of a sweet spot, isn’t there, between drawing from our own experience, which is about me, but doing such a way that the audience is relating to it and getting value? Is that- Tricia Brouk 05:43 It’s got to be in service of the audience. Absolutely. It can be your personal story, as long as you’re telling it in a way that’s going to serve the audience. Tom Poland 05:54 If people feel like they can relate to it, right, other than just, “Look at me! Pick me!” Okay, so let’s flip it now. Let’s go to question five and talk about what people can do to move forward with this. Question five is one valuable free action, like a top tip that’s not going to get people fulfilled in terms of being an influential voice, but it will start them in the right direction. Tricia Brouk 06:12 Writing is a practice and memorization will free you. You have to roll up your sleeves. It’s like plays for a dancer or bicep curls for a gym rat. You have to have repetition and practice inside of your writing skills and your memorization skills. And when you practice every single day, even if it’s 10 minutes a day, you will start to do it. And it will become easier and your stories will begin to come out. And the same thing with memorization. If you are repeating yourself over and over again, you move beyond that threshold of memorization, so that the work is in your DNA. And that frees you when you step onto the stage. Tom Poland 06:48 So true! Thank you. Question number six, 90 seconds left, one valuable free resource. Where can we direct people to go to find out more about the influential voice? Tricia Brouk 06:57 I’m going to give you chapter one of my book, theinfluentialvoicebook.com/chapter. Tom Poland 07:04 Perfect! The Influential Voice: Saying What You Mean for Listing Legacy, go get it, folks! It’s theinfluentialvoicebook.com/chapter. Question seven, the last question, a whopping 60 seconds left. What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t and the answer, please? Tricia Brouk 07:19 Can anyone be an influential voice? And I would say yes. If you are a parent at home with your kids sitting across the dinner table, what you say matters to them. You are a teacher and you are teaching your students. You are an influential voice in their lives. And if you are a CEO, a founder, a thought leader, and an influencer, you know that you have an influential voice which means there is a responsibility that comes along with that. Tom Poland 07:43 Perfect! Tricia Brouk, thank you so much for your time and your insights, and your wisdom. Tricia Brouk 07:47 My pleasure. Thank you, Tom. Tom Poland 07:50 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| The #1 Key to Breakthrough Online Growth – with Rich Schefren | 16 Mar 2022 | 00:38:47 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Have you been struggling with the fast-pacing changes brought by the online world that it makes online marketing just so hard? Do you want to know the nits and grits of online marketing so that you can maximize your business and product’s potential? Are you ready to breakthrough online growth with the right marketing strategy that will last you a lifetime and organically attract high-paying clients? Rich Schefren is widely recognized as an Internet marketing pioneer and one of the world’s top experts on online business strategy. He has coached the world’s top online business gurus, increased client revenues by BILLIONS of dollars, and grew 3 of his businesses to 7-figures a year. Agora publishing a billion-dollar testimonial. In this episode, Rich talks about the different online marketing tactics and strategies that you can apply to your business that can organically get you traction and clients. He also shares the importance of being aware of anything online— from trends to hashtags and whatnot, which you can adapt and help you market online. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “The one competitive advantage that cannot be copied is timing.” -Rich SchefrenClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Welcome everyone to another edition of Marketing The Invisible. My name is Tom Poland, beaming out to you there from little Castaways Beach from Queensland, Australia, joined today by Rich Schefren. Rich, good day, Sir. Very warm welcome. Where are you hanging out? Rich Schefren 0:23 I am in Delray Beach, Florida. Tom Poland 0:26 Sounds like a nice spot to be. For those of you who don’t know Rich, you must have been living in a cave, because he is one of the founding fathers of online marketing. He’s literally one of the world’s top experts on online business strategy. He’s coached a Rolodex of who’s who in the world of internet marketing. Most of the internet, the people that I respect and I hold in high esteem based on their integrity in the results in the internet marketing world have been mentored by Rich. He’s come out of retirement. He’s got- If I read his whole bio, it’s kind of, it would rival war and peaceful credentials and lengths, he said. For example, just plucking one thing out of the air, he’s got a testimony from Agora about how he helped them get to $1 billion of extra revenue. I mean, you can’t live on a billion dollars, right, Rich? But it’s a good start, yeah? Rich Schefren 01:19 Yes, a good start. I wish I would have negotiated a piece of that, but unfortunately, not. Tom Poland 1:25 I want to add, as well, that Rich is just an extraordinarily generous person. I remember getting something from you for free and it was about strategic alliances. It was a giveaway, but it was something that had been previously sold for a lot of money, and rightly so because it was chock full of value. And everyone I speak to, the usually inestimable Bob Bly, who introduced us Rich, speaks so highly of not only your integrity but your generosity. So, delighted to have you on the show. I think without further ado, we will announce the title, which is “The #1 Key to Breakthrough Online Growth”, and we’re going to kick off. Folks, today, I so wanted to have Rich on the show. I’m throwing away our seven-minute timer. We’ll go through the same questions, but we might take a little deviation here and there with his act of smells and gold. So Rich, let’s kick off with question number one, though. Who’s your ideal client? Rich Schefren 2:15 Yeah, it’s very wide open these days, which is always generally a bad answer for marketers, right? Tom Poland 2:20 Right. Rich Schefren 2:21 Anyone that uses online marketing to either make money, grow a business, etc., is ultimately a client of ours or a potential client of ours based on some of the products that we recently released, like in the last few years, really, it’s so wide open. So, you know, the same product that became our flagship is great for agency owners, it’s great for coaches and consultants, as well as people who are trying to scale a business online. So, which will make sense, I think, as we go on. Tom Poland 2:52 As we go on. So, common denominator – people wanting to get growth online. Would that be fair? Rich Schefren 2:57 Yeah. Tom Poland 2:58 So, question number two is what’s the problem you solve? We were talking before the interview. It sounded very much like, if I could paraphrase it, the problem you solve is people feel like they’re a voice in a crowd of screaming people. How would you define the problem you solve? We know it’s about growth, but what is the problem or the potential people are looking for when they become a client to yours? Rich Schefren 3:18 Well, I would say that, you know, if they are not satisfied with the performance of their marketing, at the end of the day, like, that’s the problem I would solve. So, that’s the starting point, really. That if the marketing is not performing as well as it should or as they hoped or etc., not powering the growth that they want, then that’s what we solve. And the- I don’t know if I should go further with that. Tom Poland 3:44 Yeah, please. Let’s do. Anything you think about, your own? Rich Schefren 3:48 Yeah. So, what most people don’t realize is that there are strategies, tactics, channels, etc., that can, at one moment in time, be insanely powerful, but that over time, it degrade. Tom Poland 4:07 Right. Rich Schefren 4:08 And that’s pretty much consistent with everything, as far as marketing online. And so, the only exception to that can be tremendously great creative, like an amazing copy or something like that, but that’s outside the reach of most people. Tom Poland 4:23 Right. Rich Schefren 4:24 So, you know, I’ll give you an example. So, when I brought the VSL to Agora, it was back in 2007. Tom Poland 4:33 Just let me explain to folks. VSL is the Video Sales Letter. Rich Schefren 4:37 Yeah, Video Sales Letter. It was invented by John Benson. He’s the creator of it. He invented it at the end of 2005. He first did it for a client in 2006. I saw that and brought it to Agora, like soon thereafter, early 2007. When Agora used that, that’s what the testimonial from them, from Bill Bonner and Mark Ford says, when I brought it over to them, immediately, conversion rates went up 400% in the US, 300% in France, 250% in Germany, and all they did was take the sales letters that they had and copy and paste it into a PowerPoint. You know, white background, black text. That’s it. And just to give a full arc of that story, right? So, John Benson invented it at the end of 2005. The very first course on video sales letters didn’t come out until 2010. And that was the 3X VSL method by John Benson. And the Agora got those benefits in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, right? By 2017, there was absolutely zero difference between a regular sales letter and a VSL the way that Agora had been doing it. So, zero, right? And so, what most people don’t realize is that you’re either there for the beginning or you don’t get the benefit that, like, you could get. And you know, a year later, when I invented automated webinars, like, we had the same thing. Like, the show up rates were 80%. The registration rates were high, like you know, because there wasn’t- it wasn’t the way it is now, right? Tom Poland 6:18 Yep. Rich Schefren 6:18 And so, every marketing, or if you were early on in AdWords or early on in Facebook, like there was a time when it was very easy. Tom Poland 6:27 Yeah. Rich Schefren 6:28 The time is over now, right? Like, now, it’s easier to make something work on YouTube than it is on Facebook, and if you don’t know that, you could be pounding your head against the wall to try and make Facebook work. So, there are these levers, but what’s more important than the lever itself is also the timing. And because not only this performance degrade on any channel, any tactic, any strategy, but the effort that’s involved to get the result increases over time. So, you have one graph, which is results, they’re going down, right? Like, if I can- Tom Poland 7:01 Yeah, I got it here. Rich Schefren 7:02 Like going down, right? But then, the effort to get the result is going up. So, you have this like, moment in time right over here where it’s high results, low effort, right? And then it goes down and up, and so now all of a sudden, on this side, it’s high effort, not great results, right? And if someone looks at their marketing arsenal, their marketing mix, you know, the assets that they’re using, and none of them are anything that is new, like not anything that has been introduced in the last 12 months or 18 months, then probably, everything in their mix is stuff that everybody knows. And if you’re using stuff that everybody knows, there’s not really the advantage to propel you forward. And what I think most people miss these days, is that that’s the primary way of growth online. And so, whether people realize that or not, they should take a step back and look at the businesses that they know that are successful online; I’m not talking about, you know, VC-funded, but entrepreneurial driven, and how they grew and what was their primary way of growth, and generally, it can be reduced down to a channel, a strategy, or a tactic that they got on before the rest of their industry did – the other people, right? And so, I got known because back in 2006, I wrote a free report. And back when I wrote that free report, you know, my problem was is that I got great results for clients like Ryan Deiss and Russell Brunson and those guys, but nobody wanted business coaching back in 2006 and nobody knew who I was. And so, I wrote a free report, like hoping to get a dozen clients. Just put it on my blog. It’s called the “Internet Business Manifesto”. And then, that ended up going viral. And so, been downloaded millions of times, and totally took me from unknown to known, and built the West, built the business, etc. And for the next year and a half, from, you know, that first report, Internet Business Manifesto I wrote in June of 2006, till 2008, I wrote six more free reports. And that’s how I built my whole business, just like writing free reports, putting them on my blog, and having affiliates mail for it. And that was a very effective strategy in 2006, 2007, 2008. In 2009, the book “Free”, written by Chris Anderson, the editor of Wired Magazine, was talking about this new concept about giving stuff away for free to sell your product, but by that time, that’s when everybody knows. And there’s no doubt, right? That if someone were to start today, like if they thought they could put a free report on their blog, and that somehow, they’d have millions of dollars, like a month or two later, that’s not going to happen, because the window has already closed. So, that’s what I’m talking about, as far as this idea that there are asymmetric kind of rewards for stuff that is new online because they grab attention and it’s not clear yet as obvious that I’m trying to sell you something, right? It’s like stealth, camouflage kind of selling. Tom Poland 10:23 Right. And so, what I’m hearing is that once the thing becomes common place, it becomes- it doesn’t get the cut through that I need to get in order to get noticed. It doesn’t get noticed. It doesn’t get acted on. So, there’s two things. There’s the lever or the platform or the tactic or whatever it is, the VSL or the free report, but it’s also the timing. Rich Schefren 10:42 Right. Tom Poland 10:43 I almost had to use the analogy, but it sounds a bit like multi-level marketing. If you don’t get in at the top, it’s going to be too late. And, you know, it’s kind of like, when I got to the share market, everyone was in there, and so, yeah. You know, if the taxi driver is telling me about the best stock to buy, it’s probably time to get out. Rich Schefren 10:58 Right. But the good news is that there’s always something. Tom Poland 11:00 Right. Rich Schefren 11:01 So, it’s just a question of like, figuring out what it is now? Or, what’s next, right? It shouldn’t be shocking, right? That there might be an opportunity right now on TikTok, right? Like, it should not be shocking to anyone. Tom Poland 11:16 No. Yeah. Rich Schefren 11:17 Now, finding out like what it is and what’s working. Like, you either can come to a service like mine, or you can just, you know, keep your ears open and eyes open, rather, and pay attention to anything that gets you to pay. Anything that you notice that’s different and new. And I can give you a ton of different examples of like what’s working now, but yeah. I mean, that’s the gist. Anytime someone sees something and stops and says, “what is that?” There’s something to it. Tom Poland 11:45 And so, we need to pick up areas. So, we don’t necessarily have to be the innovator, the one person that comes up with one idea at the right time. We might be able to kind of hang on to this shit tiles and go on for the ride, if I’m mixing my metaphors up. Maybe just three or four examples of what you think is hot right now. Rich Schefren 12:01 Sure. Yeah. So, something that, like, we talked to our group about recently, a couple months ago, was one that is called Interactive Sales Letters. It’s like a video sales letter, but they’re interactive. And this was shared with me by Daniel Levis. He’s a copywriter. Tom Poland 12:19 Yeah. Rich Schefren 12:20 And he changed his application funnel for his coaching program from the standard model, which is, you know, ad, opt in, VSL, application, right? Like, that’s the process. So, there are two different companies that you can do this with. One is VideoAsk. The other is Go Tolstoy, like the writer, Tolstoy, Leo Tolstoy. Both of them are platforms where you can do interactive video. And so, Daniel Levis has it where, you know, you get to this one. The difference is that instead of people going through multi pages, they stay on one page. It’s a seamless experience. And the number of people that he was able to get into his coaching program grew from like about 200 to 300%, like the conversion rates were that much higher, the show up rate was higher, everything was higher, and it makes sense, when I explain why. Tom Poland 13:13 Right. Rich Schefren 13:14 So, it’s an interactive video, and Daniel does three different questions throughout. And the first question is, are you B2B or B2C? And then, you know, they click a button on it, and then it keeps talking. Tom Poland 13:28 Yup. Rich Schefren 13:29 And the next question is, which niche are you most closely aligned with – health, wealth, or relationships? And they answer, and then it keeps talking. And then the last one is like, are you a small, medium, or large business? And he attaches numbers to those three different, you know, categories. Tom Poland 13:46 Right. Rich Schefren 13:47 And so, with those three questions, there’s two answers to the first one, three answers to the second, three for the third, so it’s two times three, it’s six, times another three is 18. There’s 18 buckets that someone could fall into. Tom Poland 14:01 Gotcha. Rich Schefren 14:02 And as soon as they finish that third question, Daniel then goes into a case study about someone very similar to them. Who’s in B2B or B2C like them? Who’s in the same niche as them? Who has a similar business than they had, and that’s now at the next level, right? And then invites them to apply and set up a call, but like, while he’s talking them through it, right on the video, because they never have to leave that video, it’s all seen. Tom Poland 14:28 Right, it’s clever. Rich Schefren 14:29 And that has a higher engagement rate right out of the gate, right? Because it’s new and novel. Tom Poland 14:34 Right. Rich Schefren 14:35 And then, in addition, the message is more catered to them and they’re being kind of pre-sold before they get on, even on the call, right? And so, that would be an example of something that’s working really well now, but I’ll give you another one that’s in the same field, because this one is very much working like right now and it will be something that, in a year and a half from now, will be a problem. Tom Poland 14:59 Right. Rich Schefren 15:01 And it’s funny because a friend of mine, Rudy Mawer, who runs a lot of the brands for Tai Lopez, like he sits on top of Pure1 and RadioShack and all the brands that they bought, and he called me because he has a coaching program. And he was like, “I heard that there’s been a change in the way they’re being sold, and I heard that, like, I should talk to you about those.” So, I was like, “Yeah, I’ll send you the thing that we did on the segment.” And so, this one came from a gentleman by the name of Cole Gordon. Cole is the guy that has set up the phone rooms for a lot of gurus that want to have phone sales but want to keep it totally in house. Like, they don’t trust, and there’s a lot of good reasons not to trust other people because they can damage your reputation so fast, right? Tom Poland 15:45 Yeah. Rich Schefren 15:46 So anyway, he’s done it with like Traffic and Funnels, and Aaron Fletcher, and a bunch of bigger companies, too, he’s also worked with before. And so, I did a call. I did a, you know, a segment with him, and he started that by telling me that outbound is the new inbound. And so, that was the premise of the segment. And what he was talking about was that the standard process, the way I was explaining it, the way Daniel used to do it, right? Opt in page, video, right application. Instead, it’s opt in, but it also has optional phone number, and then as soon as the person – this is just one of seven different funnels that you went over, right? But when they’re watching the video, there’s an outbound call to that person while they’re engaged, right? That’s an extra call that’s being added to the sequence, right? And that extra call is taking a very, like, leadership concierge role. It’s just like, what brought you to the site, seeing if they can give them something right now for free as a gift that like kind of fits where they’re at, and setting up the future call, etc. so there’s already that first touch point. And so, very interesting segment. And actually, I’ve done a segment with the guys from Traffic and Funnels and Chris Evans. And he was telling me that they had started sending out more content to their list and sending them to the blog, and then people could opt in for content expansion, you know, and that they were making an extra, you know, mid six figures a month, because they were doing that. I was like, “I don’t understand how you’re making an extra six figures just by that.” But it’s because when they’re on the site, getting their content expansion, that’s when all sorts of phone calls are happening out, right? Tom Poland 17:38 Right. Rich Schefren 17:39 So, I asked the guys from Traffic and Funnels about it, and they said, “Oh, yeah. We switched to outbound and that’s now responsible for about 90% of our sales.” Tom Poland 17:48 Wow! Rich Schefren 17:49 It starts like the first contact starts outbound. So, like, that’s a strategy right now. It’s very effective, right? You can bet, you know, dollars to donuts, right? That as more people start doing that, at some point in time, whether it’s eight months from now, whether it’s a year and a half from now, two years from now, people are not going to appreciate that call. Tom Poland 18:09 Right. Rich Schefren 18:10 Right now, they do. They feel like this business really cares. Tom Poland 18:12 It’s novel. Rich Schefren 18:13 But when they start getting calls from every website they got into, it’s going to be a different story. So, very effective now. Tom Poland 18:21 Interesting. Okay. Rich Schefren 18:23 The next one, this one was shared by also two different people kind of overlapping. It’s about discovery ads for YouTube. So, Aleric Heck was talking about how, you know, it’s a great opportunity right now to grow your channel if you have an organic YouTube channel by using discovery ad, and that they’re very inexpensive. And discovery ads, just for people who don’t know, when you’re watching a YouTube video, some of the suggested videos on the right hand side are discovery ads. Tom Poland 18:57 Okay. Rich Schefren 18:58 And then also, if you search by keyword, sometimes, a few of the top ones will also be discovery ad. And generally, you’re advertising your organic content, right? And so, our work just was talking about it as a, like right now, it’s very useful to use, it’s very inexpensive, and it can reduce your overall advertising rates for several reasons. I, then, also did one with Ian Stanley. And Ian Stanley teaches people. It’s one of the best actual biz ops out there, because I’m generally not a fan of biz op at all because they don’t work. But it needs to just, people have to be email copywriters. And there’s a million businesses out there that don’t manage them as well that you can actually have a career. I mean, you’re not going to get rich but you can make, you know, six figures as an email copywriter relatively easily. Anyway, so he uses discovery ads as well. And if you have an organic channel on YouTube, you have to link it to your Google account. Until you link it to your Google account, you can’t, you know, you don’t get the benefit of having an organic account because you can retarget anyone that watches your organic videos once your organic YouTube account is linked to your advertising account. Tom Poland 20:18 Right. Rich Schefren 20:18 You can’t go back. And you can only go to the point where your link those up. And so, what Ian is doing is he’s spending five bucks a day on Discovery ads to get his videos, and then he- retargeting on YouTube is relatively cheap as well, very cheap, actually. So, once he retargets anyone who watches any of his videos, so the people that come to his videos through discovery ads are the same as people that can do it organically. And on just $5 a day, he is selling high-end coaching to clients through this whole process of moving people through the discovery ad to channel, prevent seeing other ads, and then ultimately being taken off site. And other ones are a little bit more complicated, but those are examples, I would say, of different strategies that are currently working right now. Tom Poland 21:14 It’s interesting. Rich Schefren 21:15 And you know, another thing I can just quite share is that whereas I don’t know of any marketer who has gotten any ads to work from YouTube, or Facebook, or Instagram on TikTok. I know lots of marketers who have ads that work on TikTok, that work on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Like, that format works on all channels, right? Which is interesting. They don’t know yet how to apply that, but it’s something to think about. Tom Poland 21:47 Well, certainly test on TikTok, and if you don’t get it working, go to the other channels, maybe. But yeah, this is interesting. So, the key point, I think, folks, is that there are innovations. You don’t necessarily have to be the innovator, but you have to keep your eyes and ears open and notice what you are noticing, because there might be an opportunity to jump on that particular bandwagon before it rides off the cliff. One day it will. Rich Schefren 22:09 And what I would say is, is that you don’t need- not every element of your business needs to be this, but you need one. Like, you know, like when I released my free reports, like I was using regular email, a regular blog, like what was the thing at that moment was free content that was valuable, that made a sale. Tom Poland 22:29 Yes. Rich Schefren 22:30 You know. When I did the webinars, like it was the same thing, like everything else was normal, like the standard stuff everyone else was using. So, my point is that you don’t need 100 of these things, but there should be one element in part of your marketing arsenal that is relatively new, that your competitors are not using. And you should spend some time looking for that and recognize. And it could be in any other industry, but it’s not yet been in your industry so your prospects are not like familiar with it. Your competitors aren’t using it. Tom Poland 23:03 And the process of innovation, it’s necessary that people are going to fail, people are going to trip over, that if you can hang off, if you can notice what is working somewhere, you know, perhaps, you could avoid a lot of those a lot of that downtime and wasted money. But it’s either way. It’s fascinating stuff. And essentially, what you’re saying is that, really, the only competitive advantage of sustainable is innovation. You’ve got to have something that’s timing Rich Schefren 23:25 The one competitive advantage that cannot be copied is timing. Tom Poland 23:31 Perfect. Alright. So, terrific stuff. Strategic, but also lots of examples to flesh out those concepts. Let me give you question five. I’ve skipped a couple because I think we’ve covered them adequately and lots of value has gone out, anyway. What would you say would be one valuable free action? Where could someone go from here to start the process of exploration or innovation or timing? What’s one step in the right direction you’d recommend people take? Rich Schefren 23:58 I would say that they should pay more close attention to the people that they buy from, the places that they shop from, and notice anything that is new to them when they first noticed that. Like, you know, all of these things are hidden in plain sight, you know. They’re out there. It’s just a question of whether you can spot them or not. And you’re not going to spot all of them, that’s for sure, but you only need to spot one, you know, at any given point. So, I would say that, you know, recognize that some percentage of your time – and I’m not necessarily saying a lot of it; maybe 5%, maybe 10% – put some amount of your time recognizing that if you look at what your marketing arsenal is right now and you don’t have anything that you would say is cutting edge or something that’s relatively new, then you should spend 5-10% of your time to be on the lookout for those things. Go to different marketers sites. Opt into their stuff. See what they’re doing. See if it’s anything different than what you’re doing, right? Most of the time, it’s not going to be found in a course, because generally, it takes a few years or at least a year or two for something to get out in a course. So generally, you know, there might be a few in a course, but that’s not the amount of time to invest it. Courses are great for what they are. They’re just not great for the latest and greatest, usually. Tom Poland 25:19 Yep. Yeah. Rich Schefren 25:20 So, I would say that, and be willing to test, but recognize that, when I speak to most people, if they get honest about it, they’ve never spent any time looking for this. And so, the first thing is to recognize one that there is this kind of time element that is involved with marketing, and that, you know, looking at what the people that you look up to, that you know are doing well, what they’re doing is a start, ideally not in your industry, so that you have the opportunity to be first in your industry, and experiment. You know, at the end of the day, putting your own spin on things. Like, the reason I wrote a free report was that I was listening to a Dan Kennedy program for coaches and consultants. And at that moment in time, I had my coaching program. Nobody knew me, right? And so, I’m listening, like very eagerly, and I will always remember the question and answer because, like, I can’t believe that I thought this way once, but I did, so, you know. But I had this great coaching program getting people great results, but I felt like I needed new front-end products, new low-priced products to acquire new customers. And then I would need, you know, mid-tier products. Like, I needed this whole built-out business in order to do well. And I didn’t know what to put in these front-end products, these low-priced products, because I had all this great stuff in my coaching program, but I was afraid to take anything from my coaching program because I was afraid I cannibalize my coaching program. Tom Poland 26:52 Right. Rich Schefren 26:52 So, I’m listening to this Q&A session that is at the end of what Dan presented, and this coach asked the exact question that I was thinking, which is, I have like this coaching program but I don’t know what to put in these lower-priced products to acquire customers because I’m afraid I’ll cannibalize. And Dan just laughed at him. Like literally started, like chuckling, and he said – these are his exact words. He’s like, “Baba? Baba? You don’t get it. You put your best ideas in those products because that’s what’s going to get people to want to join your coaching program.” Tom Poland 27:24 Right. Rich Schefren 27:25 And I was like, that was news to me, back in like, you know, 2005-ish, or whenever I was listening to it. I was like, that was news to me. And the more I thought about it, I was like, well, if that’s true, then what if I just gave it all the way from like, put not all my good ideas, but what if I gave a bunch of good ideas away for absolutely free? Tom Poland 27:44 Yep. Rich Schefren 27:45 And what if I gave people, gave affiliates, you know, 25% of the coaching, like, just for giving away a free valuable report? And so that’s what I tried, right? Like that. It was just an experiment, but it was based on Dan’s saying, what he said, and based on like, what I know about online marketing, and maybe like, asking affiliates to just give away something highly valuable and we’ll take care of all the selling and do everything from there. Maybe that’s enough. And it was enough. And so, didn’t have to build a lot of front-end products and I didn’t have to do all these things. But it was because like, I was willing to experiment. Tom Poland 28:20 Yes. And we all want this thing that’s going to stay true and sit and deliver results for ad infinitum, for eternity, but unfortunately, it just doesn’t exist. So, someone’s going to move the cheese, right? Rich Schefren 28:33 Yeah. I mean, people are always shocked. Like, I wrote a report on automated webinars in early 2008, weighing out how to work, like the whole model. That’s still used today. And people were shocked, like, “why would you do that?” And I’m like, if I thought I could actually do it forever and no one would know about it, I would certainly- Tom Poland 28:52 Keep it to yourself. Rich Schefren 28:53 That’s not on the table. Yet anyway, so I credit the guy that invented Tom Poland 29:00 Right. It’s going to have a “use by” date, so he has to get it out before that expires. Rich Schefren 29:05 Yeah. Tom Poland 29:05 So Rich, let’s go to your website. You’re going to set up a special page – www.strategicprofits.com/jay. What are people going to find when they go there? Rich Schefren 29:17 Yeah. So, they’re going to find, this was a book that Jay Abraham used at the most recent Anthony Robbins, like super high-end Mastermind. Jay called me because he was giving away one of his books, and none of his books have really the internet component in it and he felt that that was necessary. And so, we took seven of the segments that I’m talking about, like the examples I was giving you, and Jay titled it “Getting Everything You Can Out of All That’s Hot Online” which is like a take-off of his book, getting everything you can from all that you’ve got. Tom Poland 29:55 Right. Rich Schefren 29:55 And this has strategies in here from Tim Burd, who has Ads Secrets, which is one of the best Facebook groups out there for media buyers people, like he’s got several 1000 in there that pay him 97 bucks a month; Fernando Cruz, who’s the Head Marketer for Legacy, which is one of the best divisions of grow wise until it was just sold for $3 billion; Jordan Menard, who is the top media buyer. I’ll give you an example of another one just with Jordan. It’s not the one that’s in the book. The one in the book is about how to produce new angles. But Jordan shared a strategy with me. This was like about 18 months ago so its effectiveness is a little less than where it was, but it still works. And he showed me in split tests. He had three split tests. He had one for Bob Proctor who’s a client of his, one for the Morrison Brothers who’s also a client of his, and one, Agora property. And he did a split test with Facebook ads, and all he changed was two words – the first two words of the Facebook post. And the two words that he added were “It’s true…” And “it’s true…” boosted the click through rate by about 50-70%. Tom Poland 31:10 Wow! Rich Schefren 31:11 Kind of shocking. But anyway, so Jordan Russell Brunson has his favorite funnel, the funnel that actually has built more click funnels than any other funnel, and one that he spends over a million dollars a month on, that’s cashflow positive. And then Aleric Heck talking about YouTube retargeting, and why it’s so effective and how to do it, and Growth Secrets, Molly Mahoney. So, it’s seven different strategies that people can have, and we are planning on selling it on Amazon, but for your listeners, they can get a free by just going to www.strategicprofits.com/jay. j-a-y. All lowercase. Tom Poland 31:49 Rich Schefren, it’s been an absolute pleasure having you on the show. I’m so glad we throw away the seven-minute timer. Folks, hope you enjoyed that. Go get that book for free. www.strategicprofits.com/jay. Rich, your score on the gentlemen. Thanks very much. Rich Schefren 32:04 My pleasure. I do want to answer that last question. Tom Poland 32:08 Oh, I’m sorry. That’s my bad. Question seven, kind of our trademark question – what’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? Rich Schefren 32:15 Yeah. You wouldn’t know to ask me this question, but since I’m asking myself the question and delivering the answer, let me tell you. I want to share what I did to watch my coaching. It’s something I’ve taught to numerous people and the people who have done it have done very well and done the same. So, you know, it’s very first time I got a chance to speak where I was going to sell something, and I’m not a really- I’m a great marketer, because I’m a bad salesperson. Tom Poland 32:43 You’ve to be good at one or the other. Rich Schefren 32:45 Yeah. I was quite concerned about selling from stage, especially with other sharks speaking, right? Because that’s not me. And so instead, I decided that to avoid the possibility of there not being anyone getting up and buying, better to like, kind of make sure that that’s not even an option, so I’ll make an application only. So, there’s no reason to rush. You could just fill out the application, and you know, etc. And then well, what could I do to get people to want to fill out the application? And I could put a really strong guarantee. And so, my original guarantee when I started my coaching program, and it was the first group of people that I coached, and those were nice, those guys, you know, it was a year-long program, you will double the amount that you’re currently making and you will be working half as much by the time we’re done. Like 4x your return on your like, on your own. And there were several hundred people in the room. And that guarantee got, you know, especially when I reinforced it, got quite a few people to apply. Tom Poland 34:00 Right. Rich Schefren 34:01 So, you’re basically guaranteeing that I’m going to be at 4x and a year from now, or all the money I pay you is going to, you know, be returned to me, and I’m doing private coaching at this point. It’s not like a group program. Like, there’s some group components, but I’m talking to everyone individually, too. Tom Poland 34:18 Yes. Rich Schefren 34:19 And so, I had about 40 some on, like 47, 48. I don’t remember how many, but 40 some on apply. Tom Poland 34:26 Yeah. Rich Schefren 34:27 But I then spoke to every single person for 15 minutes, because I only accepted the people who I felt I could actually deliver that for, right? So, put a big guarantee out there if you have the opportunity to talk to a good, you know, some amount of your prospect. Put a strong guarantee out there. Make it by application only, but then, only accept that people into the program you actually could deliver on, right? You know, I never worked harder than that year, because like, I didn’t have a program. I didn’t know. But I knew that these people were winners I felt, and I felt like I could help them, right? Tom Poland 35:09 Yeah. Rich Schefren 35:09 But it was that, and then it was my delivering that result for those people, so that I didn’t have to refund anyone’s money, that their results went into the Internet Business Manifesto. So the Internet Business Manifesto, like, reek of proof, and it was the proof of those people who I had built the program on. And so, I was talking to them individually, like twice a month, I was doing group, like lessons for the group. Those group lessons were based on the individual calls that I had, so they were based on what I felt they needed. That’s what I was teaching. So, my entire program was built out by delivering, so that one group. Then, that was what I ended up selling, automated for the next 10 years, right? Like, that exact program. I had A studies. I had everything from that initial group, and that initial group was gotten by an over-the-top guarantee application where I would only accept the people that I could help around. Tom Poland 36:17 A careful selection. So, there was actually a heck of a lot of integrity around that. And last question, bonus question, then we’ll wrap up in another 30 seconds. You think that the marketplace responds a lot better when they sense you have skin in the game. You’re offering all money back after you work for people for 12 months. People are going, “Wow, Rich must really believe in this.” Rich Schefren 36:36 I think there’s a part of that. I also think that, you know, on the one hand, people think that that’s a tremendous investment, and it certainly is, right? Like, I’m willing to risk a lot. But also, the likelihood of someone being this honest with you after you’ve been personally talking to them as a coach, where people have opened up to you like, you know, they’re on your side. They want the outcome. But, you know, if you’re a good coach, odds are that they’ve also grown to like trust and bond with you, right? And so, I think, partly that. And then the other thing I would say, which like, just as an added bonus tip, there is no excuse, like zero, for a coach not to be a great marketer. Because the questions that marketers, like we’d love to know the real answers to, are the questions that coaches get answered, like at the beginning of a conversation, right? Tom Poland 37:43 Yeah. Rich Schefren 37:43 So, a lot of times, in all the free reports I wrote, one of the most common feedback I got was, “It felt like you were just standing right over my shoulder, like you were describing quite me.” Tom Poland 37:53 Music. Music to my ears. Yeah. Rich Schefren 37:57 You know, if you coach a lot of people, you don’t have to hear the stories that many times to see the commonalities that are in all of them, but people generally won’t open up to anybody like that. They are opening up to you because you’re here to help them, and that is the exact information that is like the gold when it comes to marketing. Tom Poland 38:18 Isn’t it? Yeah. Rich, thanks so much for your time. Rich Schefren 38:20 My pleasure. Tom Poland 38:21 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How To Stop Underselling Yourself – In Just 7 Minutes with Robin Waite | 14 Mar 2022 | 00:07:16 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Have you been always struggling with pricing your products or services that you just end up selling by the hour? Are you always trying to compare your price to other competitors that you end up finding yourself underwhelmed with your price? Do you want to know how you can stop underselling and give your service the luxurious price it deserves? Robin Waite is a dedicated husband and father, a multiple, bestselling author, and the founder of the Fearless Business Accelerator. In this episode, Robin talks about the three ways to price a product and how you can find the right price to give. He also shares his tips and insights on what you need to stop doing and instead what are the three important levers you need to focus on to get the price that you deserve. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “The reality is there are three ways to price a product– you can either be the cheapest in the market, the middle of the road, or the most expensive.” -Robin WaiteClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland beaming out to you from a little sunshine coast in Queensland, Australia, joined today by Robin Waite, on the top of the world. I mean, literally, he’s on top of the world! Robin, where are you hanging out? Robin Waite 00:24 I’m down in the southwest of the UK, England. So, if you can imagine a chocolate box or biscuit, 10 of like, what England is like, I’m in the middle of England in the Cotswolds. It’s lovely here! Rolling hills. Tom Poland 00:34 Yeah, I’ve only had beautiful things about the Cotswolds. So, Robin’s on top, I’m down under. What we’re going to do is rock and roll here. We’ve got a terrific little interview around, not underselling yourself, which is a plague upon humanity, and probably has been for 1000s of years. And with Robin’s help, we’ll put a bit of a dent in that in a moment. But for those of you who don’t know him, apart from being one of Britain’s best chocolate biscuits, he is a dedicated husband and father, a multiple, best-selling author. He’s also the Founder of Fearless Business Accelerator. And I just love the theme, Robin, that you bring through, which is around stepping up and stepping into destiny and backing yourself. You’ll say this a lot better than I could, so we’ll get on with the interview. The title is, “How to Stop Underselling Yourself”. Robin, our seven minutes, sir, start now. Question number one, who is your ideal client? Robin Waite 00:37 So ideal client is coaches, consultants, and freelancers who are typically selling time for money, either hourly rates or day rates. Tom Poland 1:26 Perfect! Question two, sir. What’s the problem you solve for them? Robin Waite 01:32 Essentially, what we do is we help them to get out of selling time for money. So, stop selling by the session or by the hour and package up whatever it is that they do, and then get them very heavily focused on the results or outcomes which they deliver. So rather than selling features, we get them to focus on the remarkable outcome that they deliver for their clients. And generally speaking, when they manage to do that, and they can articulate their value a bit better, they can double, triple, quadruple their price. We’ve even had somebody go out there and 10x their prices. Tom Poland 02:06 Wow! Robin Waite 02:06 So, you can, it’s one of the fastest ways to grow a business. If you can get to grips with packaging up your services, and then confidently charging a bit more for it. Tom Poland 02:14 Music to many coaches’ ears and consultants, I’m sure! Six minutes left, sir. Tell us about some of the typical symptoms that your ideal clients are experiencing prior to working with you. What’s going on in their life or their business that would kind of give the listener a heads up that they should be listening even harder? Robin Waite 02:31 Yeah, well, that’s the obvious stuff. So, generally speaking, they’re very intelligent people. They get amazing results for their clients already, but what they haven’t figured out is, you know, they get to the end of the month, and I’m scratching my head and going well, “Where’s all the money? I’ve done all this work this month.” So, things that typically happen with our coaches and consultants is they’ll work out how much money they want to earn on an annual basis. And then they will divide it by 2000 hours, which is the typical number of hours that you can work in a year, so about 160 hours a month. And the challenge with that, though, is that- well, there are several challenges with that. So, the first one is that they haven’t taken into account the fact that they’ve also got to do marketing, admin, sales, and all of the other good stuff that comes around running a business, instead of just client fulfillment. And so inevitably, what that means is their kind of working about 40 or 50 hours worth of, you know, deliverable work to a client, charging out at, say, 50 bucks an hour. And then that means that they’ve inadvertently gone and limited their earnings potential. So, one of the ways that we have to look at it is, first of all, it’s just a process of working out the economics of a running small business. So, let’s just say, for example, a business owner wants to earn $100,000 a year, okay? And what we might do is we’d say, “Okay, well, you know, how are you currently charging?” And they might say, “50 bucks an hour.” Okay, cool. So that means that you need to sell somewhere on the order of, you know, 4000 hours this year in order to earn $100,000. And then they start going, “Well, that’s just a ridiculous number. I couldn’t possibly sell that many hours.” So, we can already see that supply and demand is just a bit sort of out of kilter. And the second mistake, which we see people making, biggest mistake, or symptom, which we see people making is they’re just a bit burnt out, really. You know, they’re doing all of this great work, and they feel just, you know, unjustly unrewarded for it so, or justly- you know what I mean? Not justly rewarded for it. Tom Poland 03:11 Indeed. And it is unjust. Robin Waite 04:13 There we go! And so eventually, just their energy levels start to deplete. They get, you know, this thing which they started off doing, that they’re sure incredibly passionate about. A couple of years down the line, they’re starting to lose their passion for it, which obviously creates this sort of vicious cycle, if you like, of, you know- just really, it just breaks business owners. And, you know, the thing is, like, I’ve done corporate, by the way, in terms of like from a coaching perspective. And for me, I love the impact that small business owners make. So, getting one-man bands, you know, into creating highly profitable businesses really fills me up with joy because you can see the immediate impact when they get pricing. Tom Poland 04:59 Perfect! Thank you, sir. Let’s get to question five, a top tip, a valuable free action. We’ve got this cultural consultant who feels a bit trapped with the time for money, wants to break out of that, needs to shift to a more benefit-orientated value proposition, looks at pricing, etc. How could they get started on this? What’s the top tip you can give them that’s really going to take them a step forward, might not solve the whole issue, but it might take them a step in the right direction? Robin Waite 05:24 Yeah, so the typical way people price sort of services is they look at their competitors. And they assume that their competitor- well, the mistake is assuming that their competitors know what they’re talking about. The reality is like, there are three ways to price a product– you can either be the cheapest in the market, the middle of the road, or the most expensive. So cheap is the way people choose because they think that’s the way to acquire clients. But the reality is if you’re copying somebody else’s business model, and they’re cheap, it means that they’re probably not very profitable. Why would you copy a broken business model? It doesn’t make sense. So, you’ve got to rethink the way that we charge, you know, for products or services. So, the other option is you go middle of the road, which is what everybody else is doing. So, it doesn’t really differentiate you in some aspects. And then the third option is, well, you could be the most expensive in the marketplace, but there are actually some clues here. The reason people don’t choose to be the most expensive is that they believe it’ll put people off buying their products or services. But the reality is, in every industry, there’s somebody out there who is the most expensive, and the clues are, they’ve got the most reviews. They’ve been around the block a bit. They’ve got enough clients, and they’re still able to make, you know, healthy profit margin because they’re the most expensive, and they’re still able to acquire clients. So, when it comes to actually like productizing service, how do we get out of these hourly rates that are trapped. There are three levers at work, which we have to bear in mind, so this is- Tom Poland 06:37 Real quick because we’ve got 90 seconds left, and still two questions to go. Robin Waite 06:40 That’s cool. No, I’m on it. Don’t worry. We can do this! So, the three things we’ve got to do when we productize a service. Number one, we need to focus on the remarkable outcome or result we’re going to deliver for our client, okay? So, you need to go to articulate that. The second thing that needs to be delivered over a fixed period of time. So, say three months, six months, 12 months, however long it is. And the third thing for a fixed fee. And if you can nail those three things, you’ve managed to successfully productize your service and you can charge more for it. Tom Poland 07:07 So, define the transformational benefit, articulate that, set a period of time for the transformation to occur, and then set the price based on that value within that time frame. Perfect! Thank you, sir. Robin Waite 07:18 Articulated it better than I! Tom Poland 07:20 Not sure I did, better in my mind. 35 seconds left, one valuable free resource. I’m going to say this for the sake of time. Fearless, as in no fear, fearless.biz/tys. Real quick, what will people find there, Robin? Robin Waite 07:34 Yeah, they’re going to find a free download of “Take Your Shot”. Or if there’s a bit of ethical bribery in there and maybe some beer tokens, then I may even sign a copy and paste it wherever you are in the world as well. So, a free copy of the book, Take Your Shot. Tom Poland 07:45 12 seconds left. What’s the one question I should have asked you? Real quick. Robin Waite 07:49 The one question you should have asked me. Oh gosh, we’re only going to get six seconds. What’s the one piece of advice that I would have listened to if I’d listened to myself years ago? And the answer to that is JFDI. If you’re thinking about putting a price up, if you’re thinking about starting a business, just effing do it. Life’s too short. Tom Poland 08:05 If you’re thinking about it, do it. That is such wise advice. And you’ll tap into a whole string of intuitive consciousness in doing that, folks. Robin Waite, thank you so much for your time and over-delivering. Even if we did go but over time, it was well worth it. Thank you. Robin Waite 08:18 It’s my pleasure. Thanks, Tom. Tom Poland 08:21 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Build a Heart-Centered Business Around Your Gifts – In Just 7 Minutes with James Lam | 09 Mar 2022 | 00:05:50 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Have you been wondering how you can turn your gift into an answer to people’s problems worldwide? Do you want to find out which online platform will help you market more and get higher sales? Are you ready to jump-start your journey into building a heart-centered business around your gift? James Lam helps heart-centered entrepreneurs discover their superpowers and then use those gifts to shape their businesses into change-making enterprises. In this episode, James talks about how you can find your gift, build a message around it, and spread it worldwide while getting sales from it. He also shares his tips and insights on what you need to do to make the most out of your gift and finances. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “Build your business around the best transformation that you can achieve- what you can do, not what other certifications can do.” -James LamClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland beaming out to you from little Castaways Beach in Queensland, Australia, as per usual, joined today by the nest of the mobile, James Lam. James, good day, sir. A very warm welcome. Where are you hanging out? James Lam 00:26 Hello. I can’t believe you’re on an island. We’re not an island. I’m based in Calgary, so we’re in Canada. And if you look at the map of Canada, it’s on the left side by the mountains. So, we’re not quite hitting the water. We’re sort of three-quarters of the way left. Tom Poland 00:38 That’s a beautiful part of the world, I have heard. Do you have snow right now? James Lam 00:41 Oh, it’s for those of you who work in Celsius, it’s about -15 Celsius, and it’s snowing. And we’re recording during the season. So, it’s going to be a White Christmas here. Tom Poland 00:51 Right. Well, it’s Christmas Eve here on the 24th of December 2021. Wherever you are, whoever you are listening to this, I think you’re in for a great little episode here Because James helps heart-centered entrepreneurs discover their superpowers. And then use those gifts to shape their businesses into change-making enterprises. And this is a big thing, James. So many people start with a bank account balance. “What’s going to get more money in the bank account balance?” But your superpower is showing people how to start not with the bank accounts, but to start with the authentic them. And their gifts and their inclinations and their passion. And that bank account becomes just a symptom of fulfilling that very well. This brings us nicely to the title, “How to Build a Heart-Centered Business Around Your Gifts”. James, our seven minutes start now. Sir, question number one is who is your ideal client? James Lam 01:40 As I said, you said it for me, I work with five-figure heart-centered entrepreneurs who have an inspiring message, who need to get on the ladder, so they need to monetize. They need a product to stand for. And to be honest, one of the things they’re doing is using all the mechanisms without the heart. So, all the tricks without any of the heart and passion that goes in there. So, I work with a lot of solopreneurs, feelers, coaches, those people who want a digital group program that is my specialty, and we do a great job and get them locked there. Tom Poland 02:06 Bonus question, do you find this great sense of relief for your clients when you tell them they don’t have to bend themselves out of shape in order to be successful? James Lam 02:13 Yes, absolutely! There’s a whole story behind that, but I’ll make it really quick. We have a company called, “Learn Photography Company”. It’s got 10 locations internationally. We’ve had over 5000 students. We only achieved that when we stopped being somebody else. Tom Poland 02:24 Wow, powerful stuff! We only achieve that when we stop being someone else. Question two, tell us more about the problem you solve. Six minutes left. James Lam 02:34 We’ve got who they are, what they sell, and how to do it. That’s basically it. So, I have a signature 12-week course. And basically, in there, we figure out what their gift is, how to wrap messaging around that gift, how to do marketing based on what they know, what their interests are, and it can always work. Right? One of the best things we do is- a key plank of what I do is do what’s called a “pilot beta” or “founder club”, whatever you want to call it. Essentially, it’s launching to some raving fans to test the product. What a lot of people don’t do is test the product. They try to sell it full board and launch a full price and it doesn’t work very well. Tom Poland 03:07 So that’s a common mistake. And, let’s go to question four, then I’m going to circle back. What other common mistakes do people make? Five and a half minutes left. Before they find your solution, what do you see that these people are making? James Lam 03:19 We’re talking a little bit nebulous here, but let me put it this way. They distract themselves with things that don’t serve. One of the things I help them try to do is find courage. And I know I’m taking time here; it takes courage to launch a product. It does. If this is your first product ever, it takes courage. A lot of people try to do all the “right thing”– five-day challenges, doing a summit, doing a lot of webinars and not getting anywhere because they are constantly distracted from what needs to happen, which is they need to stand for something and they need to put that out into the world. And it is much easier to do busywork than actually be productive. Tom Poland 03:51 Right and be accountable! So, the next question, we’ve got four and a half minutes left. What I’m after here is kind of a heads up. Someone listening to this going, “Oh my goodness, that’s me!”. Some of the symptoms that your clients feel before they become clients: what’s going on in their life or the business that gives them a heads up that they need to talk with you? James Lam 04:09 They have a dream and they have no way to get there. And they are sustained by a slowly diminishing sense of optimism, and a very quickly diminishing bank account, right? It’s one of the things that is absolutely true as well. A lot of my clients and it’s not- look, the paradigm these days is if you’re not successful, what do you do, Tom? You hustle and grind. You work harder. You put in more hours. And entrepreneurs are the greatest thieves in the world. We steal from our health. We steal from our happiness. We steal from our family, right? We steal from our bank account. And the honest to goodness truth is if you are working too hard and making no money, and you’re hoping things are going to happen, that is not a plan. Hope is not a plan. Let’s get you doing the things that you need to do in the time that you have to get results. And there was a very clear delineation of what to do before doing a summit or doing that five-day challenge. Tom Poland 04:09 Perfect! Thank you for that. Three and a half minutes left, sir. Question five, let’s flip it! We’ve talked about some of the people listening to this, the challenges they’re facing. What’s one valuable free action that’s going to help them move forward like a top tip? James Lam 05:14 They’re really- one of the biggest things I’m going to tell you right now is to build your business around you. And I’m going to give you three examples really quick, okay? One of them is to build the business around the best transformation that you can achieve– what you can do, not what other certifications can do. Okay? Number two, choose marketing channels that are going to work for you. Look people have been successful on YouTube. People have been successful on Facebook. People have been successful with email. Choose what’s going to work for you. There is no one thing you’re missing. And number three, as I said, look, launch a beta before anything else. Please, for the love of God, launch a beta, like a charge for it so that you know there’s interest before spending all the time and effort to build something that no one’s going to buy. Tom Poland 05:51 Perfect! Three top tips, over-delivering. Thank you, sir. Two and a half minutes left. Two questions left. A bucketload of information already in value, but plenty to come! One valuable free resource. This is question six. Where can people go to find out more about what you do and learn even more about your work? James Lam 06:06 Right. So, I think it’s in the show notes but it’s going to be lookaheadmarketing.com/vipfreebie, all lowercase. So, my last name is Lam, Look Ahead Marketing is an acronym for my name. Lookaheadmarketing.com/vipfreebie. You get- this isn’t for everybody, let me say this out of freight. Okay, it is completely free. It’s a workshop I actually charge $197 for, real people have paid that amount. And in there, we’re going to iron out the best transformation you can make, your story arc for true abundance, how to compete in the market where you don’t have any competition, and how you’re going to launch your product for 1000s of dollars without having complicated funnels jayvees, Facebook ads or even with a teeny tiny email list. Tom Poland 06:44 This sounds great! I’m on that page right now, folks. There are lots of dates to choose from. It’s really simple to get started. It’s in the show notes, as you said, James, but if you’re listening to this, and you don’t have access to the video and the show notes, lookaheadmarketing.com/vipfreebie. All lowercase at the moment. So, thank you, sir. Question seven, last question. We’ve got 75 seconds left. What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? James Lam 07:09 Alright. First of all, if you do join me, which I would love you to do in that workshop, please turn your camera on. It’s one of the best things I can tell you. Tom Poland is going to tell you the same thing. If you’re going to show up, show up well. Okay. Well, first of all. The biggest takeaway for people who work with me is- the question that you should have asked is, what’s the biggest takeaway for people who work with me? And yes, they have a monetized product. Yes, they have a group coach. And yes, they have a way to a mastermind. But honest to God truth is they’re on the ladder. They have the confidence that they can actually sell. They have the confidence that the product is actually wanted. More importantly, they believe in themselves that they can achieve the transformation. And now they are ready to scale and spread their inspiring message all over the world. That’s what I do, my friends. And the very first thing before that is understanding you need to build the business around yourself. Tom Poland 07:57 Perfect! James Lam, thank you so much. And thank you for sharing so that people could swap their frustration for fulfillment and freedom! James Lam 08:03 You’re welcome, Tom. Good to be here! Tom Poland 08:05 Cheers. Tom Poland 08:07 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Grow Your Business with Retreats, Seminars & Mastermind Groups – In Just 7 Minutes with Michelle Villalobos | 07 Mar 2022 | 00:07:29 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Have you often been feeling stressed and have constant burnout because of your business? Are you trying to find ways how you can make your job less stressful and more fulfilling? Do you want to know how you can align yourself to your business through the promising effects of retreats and seminars? Michelle Villalobos is the host of the Awaken Your Inner Superstar Podcast, creator of the Superstar Business Breakthrough Weekend & Retreats to Riches Course. In this episode, Michelle talks about how you can ditch the burnout and stress in exchange for more money and lesser business hours. She also shares the powerful impact of investing in retreats, seminars, and events on your business and how it can help you start your self-alignment journey as well. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “Energy precedes outcome.” -Michelle VillalobosClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. I’m Tom Poland beaming out to you from little Castaways Beach in Queensland, Australia, joined today by Michelle Villalobos. Michelle, good day. A very warm welcome! Where are you hanging out? Michelle Villalobos 00:25 Right now? Just about 30 minutes south of Austin, Texas. Tom Poland 00:28 Oh, keep Austin weird, right? That’s what we want to do. I remember the t-shirt in the lobby of a hotel, and the conference I went to there was “Keep Austin weird.” I quite like that. Michelle Villalobos 00:38 Thank you. Tom Poland 00:39 So, for those of you who don’t know Michelle, she’s the host of Awaken Your Inner Superstar Podcast, which I reckon the world needs because so many people are solopreneurs. We get beaten up. We beat ourselves up. And the reason you’re a superstar, is we do have a gift that we can bring to the world. And Michelle’s special gift is to awaken your special gift and help you to realize you’re a superstar. She’s the creator of the “Superstar Business Breakthrough Weekend & Retreats to Riches Course”, which brings us quite nicely to this beautiful alignment, Michelle, between what you teach and what you do. I love that! The title is- to demonstrate that alignment, “How to Grow Your Business with Retreats, Seminars, and Webinar Groups”- mastermind groups, I should say. Webinar is on my brain. So, Michelle, our seven minutes is going to start now. Please, let us know, who’s your ideal client? Michelle Villalobos 01:25 I work with thought leaders and industry leaders. So, into specific industries, and each industry is people who are looking to evolve and lead the evolution of their industry. So, we’re working with people who want to lead others, essentially. So, consultants, speakers, authors– people like that are my ideal clients and my favorite people to hang out with also. Tom Poland 01:47 Fantastic! Thank you for that. Question number two, tell us about the problem you solve. Six and a half minutes left. Michelle Villalobos 01:53 Really it comes down to an alignment. Essentially, the problem is that these people, these thought leaders, often get themselves into business models where they’re exchanging time for money. And they’re selling their expertise. So that’s a very obvious easy way to get started and make money. And it kind of has an upper limit where you can’t make more hours in the day, or you start to work yourself into the ground. So, the problem is usually that there’s a lack of alignment between their business model and the vision for their life and for their health and for their happiness and for their, you know, to fulfill their purpose, even. Tom Poland 02:30 Right, so it’s like that time constraint is the bottleneck or it’s the break that stops them from going faster. Thank you for that. Question three, five and a half minutes left. One of the symptoms you’ve just described is people are running out of time, but they’re nowhere near fulfilling their potential, and their gift to the world is constrained by the calendar. What would you say are some of the other typical symptoms that people are experiencing with this problem that you help them with? Michelle Villalobos 02:54 Well, when there’s a lack of alignment, there’s a lack of joy. And that’s one of the biggest, sort of, common threads, it’s like people thinking- and I went through this. This is how I came up with this. It was because I thought I’d be happy. You know, if I did all the things and I got all the degrees, and I made all the money. And I became known and wrote books, and this is supposed to make me happy. And what they find is that they’re not happy. And so, there are deeper layers of alignment to bring the business into- not just the business model, but the purpose, the mission, the clients they’re working with– all these different pieces bringing them into alignment, really to start from joy, so that joy gets infused into the thing they’re creating and the things that they’re saying and the speeches they’re giving, and the books they’re writing. And so, the joy gets infused into that and gets disseminated and spread out into the world rather than this kind of belief that, “Well, if I do these things, then I’ll find joy.” Tom Poland 03:45 Right. So, approaching it from joy being the source of it. That’s very interesting! Four and a half minutes left. I almost hate to move this along because it’s so interesting, but we need to. Question four is what are some of the common mistakes that your clients are making before they find your solution? Michelle Villalobos 04:02 I would say the mistakes they’re making are the same mistakes I made, which is the following- really optimizing for money, optimizing for significance versus optimizing for alignment. And what that means is it’s like working from the outside in. For example, “I want to change my business” or “I want a new”, you know, “I want to start something new” and starting from “Oh, I wonder what the market wants? What’s the market opportunity? What are my clients asking for?” Those are all really important questions, but beginning from the outside in is kind of a recipe for misalignment because you end up getting pulled in the direction of these forces that are not necessarily coming from your deepest innermost desires and destiny. Tom Poland 04:45 Right. So, would you say that you’re looking, therefore, with your clients to find that sweet spot between what they’re passionate about, what they’re on Earth to give to the world, and what’s going to work well in the marketplace, as opposed to starting from the marketplace and trying to put a square peg in a round hole? Michelle Villalobos 05:02 Exactly! And my belief, and what I’ve seen happen again and again is when you start with that alignment piece, what brings you joy? What are you great at? What do you love doing? Why are you here? Who do you want to serve? Who do you want to play with? When we do all that first, what ends up happening is that joy and that alignment creates the energy, for lack of a better word, that gets infused into all the things. In fact, this is my phrase, which is that energy precedes outcome. And when we start from the energy of joy, excitement, contribution, generosity, abundance, all of that, and we cultivate that energy, what we create, just works better. Like if people are attracted to it, people do want it. Even if they didn’t know why they wanted it, or they didn’t think they wanted it before, they’re like, “I want some of that energy.” You know, they’re drawn to it. Tom Poland 05:52 Would you say your work is quite intuitive? Michelle Villalobos 05:54 Yeah, I would. And I think that eight years ago, I probably wouldn’t have said that. But yes. Tom Poland 05:59 But you have learned to trust yourself? And yeah, interesting! Thank you for that. Two minutes left. Question number five, what’s one valuable free action, like a top tip, that you could leave folks with? Michelle Villalobos 06:10 Well, one of my favorite things, it’s not exactly what we’ve been talking about, but it’s “sell it, first figure it out later”. I find that so many people get caught up with trying to have an idea. And then they go create the thing and they put it all together. They spend all the money on it. And then they go out, once they’re bored of it at this point and try to go sell it, I say, you know, get the idea, create it. Create all the marketing materials for it. And then go out and sell it with a date attached to it. And then put that deadline so that you, then you create it, and deliver to the people who already bought it. Tom Poland 06:39 I suspect people do that because it feels a lot safer to tinker away in the back room where they could take it to the market. So that’s a great top tip. Thank you! 75 seconds left. One valuable free resource. We got a website we could direct people to so they can find out more about your work? Michelle Villalobos 06:52 Yeah, so one of the things that I do a lot with my clients is to help them with the business model. And that particular model that I found that works really well for me and for a lot of my clients is the retreats into a big end, into a like a monthly recurring mastermind model. So I lay out that whole model in “Retreats to Riches Roadmap” which you can get at retreattorichesroadmap.com. Tom Poland 07:12Www.retreatstorichesroadmap.com. Go get it, folks! It could be your pathway to your destiny, and also a very fulfilling and profitable future. 35 seconds left. What’s the one question I should have asked you, Michelle? Michelle Villalobos 07:25 Well, the one that you should have asked me but it would have taken way too long to answer is how did you figure all this out? And essentially, I had a massive breakdown in my business, my life, my health about seven, eight years ago. And it was like the dark night of the soul, everything fell apart– my business, my health, my relationship. And it was a spiritual awakening that is what put me on this path. And I think that’s probably a story I could tell another day. Tom Poland 07:52 Perfect! Michelle, thank you so much for your time and your wisdom and insights. Tom Poland 07:56 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Make an Extra 6 or 7 Figures Using Conversational Commerce – In Just 7 Minutes with Paul Ace | 02 Mar 2022 | 00:06:30 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Have you been wanting to scale up your business but end up struggling with how to break that glass ceiling? Do you want to know how to track your most profitable path and make an extra 6 or 7 figures in your business? Are you ready to learn more about conversational commerce and how to level up your lifetime customer value? Paul Ace is the CEO of Amplify C-Com. They help 7-figure high ticket course creators break through their glass ceiling to generate an extra six or seven figures+ in new revenue using conversational commerce. In this episode, Paul talks about the importance of measuring and tracking every stage of your business and how it can help you better understand your customers and give them the best of what they want. He also shares his tips and insights on why you need to better understand lifetime customer value and its purpose. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “Lifetime customer value dictates everything in the business!” -Paul AceClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland beaming out to you from little Castaways Beach in Queensland, Australia, joined today by Paul Ace. Paul, good day, sir. Where are you hanging out? Paul Ace 00:22 Good day, Tom. I am across the pond as far as you can go in the sunny UK, yet to be like what seems to be the sunny UK. Tom Poland 00:31 Right. So you’re actually pretty early in the morning by the sound of it. So- Paul Ace 00:34 I love it! Tom Poland 00:35 But you’re probably an early bird, anyway. So for those of you who don’t know Paul, he is the CEO of Amplify C-Com. He helps seven-figure high ticket course creators break through the glass ceiling to generate an extra six or seven figures+ in new revenue using conversational commerce. Very interesting concept! And that introduces us quite nicely to the title today, Paul, which is, “How to Make an Extra Six or Seven Figures Using Conversational Commerce ”. Paul’s gonna share how to do that in the next seven minutes. Paul, our time starts now. Sir, question number one, who is your ideal client? Paul Ace 01:15 So our ideal client is 7-figure+ course creators who have a high ticket offer, who, right now, really want to scale up, but they don’t want to go and train a massive team internally. Or they’ve gotten to a point of bandwidth where they’re just like, “We’ve got nothing left.” And they want to go and take it to the next level. So we come in and help them, support them with that whole process to make an extra six or seven figures. Tom Poland 01:38 So they’re doing pretty well already. but they want to get to the next level, but they run out of bandwidth. So is that- question number two is what’s the problem you solve? Do you want to add anything more to that? Paul Ace 01:48 Yes, the big problem we solve a lot of the time is helping clients break through that glass ceiling, right? So the glass ceiling usually is like, “Hey, I get to a point. And then either my ads are starting to slow down in terms of the rowers, or in terms of actual scaling.” If they can’t scale anymore because they’ve just run out of their own ideas to an extent because they don’t have their report in place to accurately scale on a 30-, 60-, 90-day process. So one of the big things that we help them solve is lifetime customer value. And actually understanding what a lifetime customer value is, and how to track that and understand the most profitable path in their business, so they can go in and scale confidently and know the numbers inside out. Tom Poland 02:30 There’s a heck of a lot of what you just said there. So folks, if you want to unpack that, you might want to sort of rewind and have a listen. Because knowing the most profitable part of your business– which part of your marketing is working? Which part of the client work is actually more profitable? And unpack all that. Question number three is some of the typical symptoms that people experienced with this problem. We’ve got five minutes left. It sounds like a part of it is there are people not too sure, actually, where the results are coming from. Anything you want to add to that? Or any other symptoms people are going to be noticing if the people- are they going to be needing what you’ve got? Paul Ace 03:02 Yes. So you know, we are very- we’re quite niche-specific, right? And so we build on our “Small Giants” philosophy. So it means we have a small number of clients, but we go really, really deep with those clients. And one of the first things I asked someone on a client interview to see if we’re going to be a good fit together is, “So, what is your LTV right now?” And then most of them can’t even- bear in mind these are seven-figure, maybe mid-seven figure level for doing $4, 5, 6 million a year. And they don’t know what the customer lifetime value is. Tom Poland 03:31 They probably don’t even know what LTV stands for? Paul Ace 03:33 Well, that’s the thing, lifetime customer value, right, dictates everything in the business! So one of the other things that they find, as well, is we ask them questions, for example, like, “Your customer journey right now, do you have that all mapped out?” Like, “So where is the map of your whole customer journey?”, “How do you know every touchpoint that a customer has on the way to becoming a customer?” And then another one of the key problems, right? A lot of the time as you’re growing and scaling from that $1 million to $10 million range, you’re in scaling mode, and you just kind of like firefighting. And then, at some point, you hit a block because you don’t know, you’re just kind of like, “Okay, well, everything was working, And now it’s not. But we don’t know why because we didn’t have the report in or we didn’t have the systems and processes in place to understand what was working and what wasn’t.” So one of the other things that we asked was, “Hey, when was the last time you did a customer survey?” You know, “What do customers love about what you do? What do they hate? And what can they improve on? And what language patterns are they using that we can then use in the marketing?” Tom Poland 04:33 You’re really giving people a heck of a lot of clarity on what’s actually going on in their business by the sound of it. Paul Ace 04:37 Exactly! Imagine it like a doctor coming in, right? So we have like three stages, like we diagnose, find out what the problem is, not the symptom, the cause of the problem. And we go and add conversation into that of where we go and add conversational commerce and like everything from the language patterns that we use to build in systems and automation. And then we look at their growth stage where it’s like, “Okay, how do we go and scale that and repeat that over and over again?” Tom Poland 05:04 Okay, thank you. So we got two and a half minutes left, four questions to go. What are some of the common mistakes? Just a couple that people are often making in trying to break through that glass ceiling you referred to? Paul Ace 05:14 Yeah. So the first one is what you don’t measure doesn’t get managed. And so knowing every single stage of the journey– what’s going on, and what is the most profitable path? Secondly, when people split tests. They split tests based on that individual page. So for example, if you split testing one opt-in page versus the other opt-in page, great one might convert better than the other, but does it turn into Lifetime Customer Value back in sales? So we track it through the whole journey to actually see which is most profitable. Tom Poland 05:43 Critical. Yeah, a common mistake I’ve seen as well. Absolutely critical! So let’s flip it and go to question five. Moving people forward, one valuable free action. Real quick, what’s the top tip you got for folks? Paul Ace 05:57 So one valuable free action is to go and map out your whole customer journey. I’m going to check another one quick and go and put a customer survey out and find out what your customers want and give it to them. Tom Poland 06:06 And what they really want. Thank you. So 80 seconds left. Question six, one valuable free resource. Where can people go to find out more about what you do to get more help? Paul Ace 06:15 Yeah, so you can go get “The Seven Figure Audit” which basically runs through our whole process of what we look at, and you can mark yourself off and check it off. So you can go to go.amplifyccom, no hyphen or anything in that. Amplifyccom.com. So it’s go.amplifyccom.com/mti. Tom Poland 06:36 And we’ll have that underneath the video, but if you’re listening to this on iTunes, it’s go.amplifyccom.com/mti, which stands for Marketing the Invisible. 40 seconds left, sir. Plenty of time! What’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? Paul Ace 06:50 How do you get more people to buy? Tom Poland 06:52 How do you get more people to buy, Paul? Paul Ace 06:54 So using conversational commerce. So taking the customer’s language patterns, and using them back in the market and say, for example, we just did a test with a customer where we took the survey results and then use those for new benefit statements on their page and it resulted in LTV, after the first day, going up 284%, I think, it was. Tom Poland 07:17 Perfect. Amazing. Paul Ace, thank you so much for your time. Paul Ace 07:21 Thank you very much. Tom Poland 07:22 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Get Consistent Lead Flow Without Needing to Become a Marketing Expert – In Just 7 Minutes with Matt Clark | 28 Feb 2022 | 00:07:48 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Have you been stuck on the revenue rollercoaster and don’t know when you’re going to reach that peak again? Are you struggling to get your clients hooked up on your services or products? Do you want to learn how you can create a signature offer that will guarantee you consistent lead flow? Matt Clark is the co-founder of the Rainmaker system where he helps coaches, consultants, speakers, and experts to create a signature offer that increases their prices, buys back time, and converts clients effortlessly. In this episode, Matt talks about how to get off that revenue rollercoaster and create a high-ticket offer that your clients just can’t resist! He also shares his tips and insights on how you can increase your price and charge what you are worth in just three ways. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “Instead of changing the entire business model and everything there, let's take a look at the offer. Let's simplify it.” -Matt ClarkClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland beaming out to you from little Castaways Beach in Queensland, Australia, joined today by Matt Clark. Matt, good day, sir. Where are you based? Where are you hanging out? Matt Clark 00:23 Hey, Tom. Good to see everyone listening. I am in Johannesburg, South Africa and it has been raining for the past two days, like pouring! Tom Poland 00:30 Must be the same cloud we’ve got here in Australia because we’ve been raining too! Matt Clark 00:34 It’s like someone’s standing throwing buckets on us. It’s nuts! Tom Poland 00:37 Alright. Okay, but good for the garden or good for the farmers or something. Folks, moving off to geography and climate. Matt’s the co-founder, funnily enough, ironically enough, of the Rainmaker system, where he helps coaches, consultants, speakers- exactly our audience- and experts create a signature offer. So there’s a lot to crafting an offer. So he helps folks with that! A signature offer that increases their prices, buys back time, and converts clients effortlessly. Music to my ears! Matt and his business partner, Wes, have helped over 1500 clients in 26 countries and counting to grow their revenue and profit exponentially while enjoying less time working and more time living life. Sounds terrific, Matt! A pleasure to have you on the show. Our title today is, “How to Get Consistent Lead Flow Without Needing to Become a Marketing Expert”. You could share with us how to do that. Our seven minutes starts now, sir. Question number one is who is your ideal client? Matt Clark 01:36 Thanks, Tom. So we work with coaches, consultants, course creators, anyone that’s an expert in their field, and that has got something that they need to get out to the world. And the biggest, most important part about this is that they want to make an impact. You know, they’re not just starting a business to make money, they want to do something bigger and better than just making money. They want to change something in the world. Tom Poland 01:58 Purpose and profit! Fair enough. Matt Clark 02:00 Purpose and profit, yeah. Tom Poland 02:02 Well, question number two, let’s talk about what’s the problem you solve for these folks? Matt Clark 02:05 The biggest problem that we solve is that we help them to create a signature offer. The reason it’s a problem for them is that most coaches, consultants, course creators are either charging too little or are charging hourly for their services. So what ends up happening is they’re constantly on the hunt for new clients. They’re on a revenue rollercoaster where they’re either marketing and selling or delivering. And, you know, they can go from 5k to 30k, down to zero. And so we help them, really, to create an offer that increases their value, so they increase their prices, that buys back time. So they don’t create themselves a glorified job and become a slave to their business and converts clients effortlessly, right? And building a monthly recurring revenue, so they don’t constantly have to be on the hunt for new clients. Tom Poland 02:48 This is kind of the way it should be, right? I mean, the other way, it’s not the way! This is the way it should be. So tell us about the typical symptoms, if you would, that one of the people who’s not a client quite yet, what are they going to be experiencing? What are they going to be noticing in their life or their business that gives them kind of a heads up that they need to find out more about what you do? Five and a half minutes left. Matt Clark 03:08 Yeah. So I mean, I look at someone that I was speaking to yesterday. And his big challenge is that he’s a consultant. He’s an expert at what he does. He’s gone from working in corporate to now starting his coaching or consulting business. He doesn’t know how to price himself, so he kind of takes a look at everyone in the market and finds a swipe box somewhere, and then places himself. The problem is that he hasn’t stood out from the crowd. He looks the same as everybody else. And his message is also very vanilla– doesn’t have a name for his system. And now what’s happening, as a result, is he’s kind of grown his business to like 10-15k a month, and he’s stuck. The only way he can grow is by putting more of his time in, right? And even when he does, it becomes a glorified job instead of a business that gives him the control, the security, the time, and location freedom, which is ultimately what he’s looking for. So those are the kind of people under the 250 cap. The people who are above 300k a month to about a million a month, their biggest challenge is that they need to scale. And they’ve positioned their offer in a way where it hits a plateau. And they either need to bring more people in, or they’ve got to change the entire business model to be able to scale. So we look at it and we say, “Cool, well, let’s just look at the offer. Instead of changing the entire business model and everything there, let’s take a look at the offer. Let’s simplify it. Let’s increase your prices. And let’s structure this in a way that actually gives you leverage so that you’re not delivering 24/7.” I mean, I’ve got a client where we took it from $175 an hour. We turned it into a $60,000 for the year offer. We get paid regularly and he delivers in one hour a week. That’s it. Tom Poland 04:45 Perfect. Beautiful. Wow! Creative. Profitable! So let’s talk about- thank you, sir, for that. That’s a good example. What are some of the common mistakes that people make when they’re trying to scale and, you know, they’ve got another offer? What are they doing that you think might be wasting their time and money? We’ve got three and a half minutes left. Matt Clark 05:02 Perfect. The biggest thing is that they try and they look at other people, and then they kind of try and price themselves somewhere in between there. There’s nothing that distinguishes them from anybody else, you know. There’s no value in being the second cheapest or the second most expensive, right? You want to not compete against everyone else that’s out there. You want to set yourself apart. So that even if there are big companies vying for the same business, you’re solving such a different problem. So the biggest mistake I see is that people look vanilla. They don’t charge their worth. They undercharged themselves. And then they also believe that they need to put more of themselves into the business to be able to get their clients the results, where that’s not actually good. And then add one more thing to it is that they’d say, as I said, that they limit their own growth because they believe that they need to have achieved those results so that they can help their clients achieve the results. It’s not what a coach doe., Tom Poland 05:57 Well said! Thank you for that, sir. Two and a half minutes left. Question five, let’s talk about one step that someone can take– a valuable free action. It’s not going to solve the whole problem, but it might start them in the right direction. Matt Clark 06:08 Perfect! So one thing that can set you apart from everyone else, and I like to call this “sales acceleration” or “decision acceleration” is that when you take a look at your offer, you want to, number one – is three ways you can make more money. The first way is just to increase your pricing, okay? Double your pricing, or even at 50% to it. Then put in scarcity, urgency, bonuses, and a guarantee that will make your ideal client super excited and remove the objections. Because creating an offer is very simple. It solves your ideal client’s unique problem in a unique way that removes their objection. So I would say that is a simple thing that’ll get people making decisions a lot faster. Tom Poland 06:51 Fantastic. A reason to move forward now, some sort of bonus or scarcity, something they might lose or something they’re going to get if they make a decision now, and a price increase, we’ve got the second one. And question number six, Matt, is one valuable free resource. Where could we direct people to that’s going to help them even more? Matt Clark 07:08 So Tom, you know, we send people to my website, which is www.thevirtualedge.com. At the moment, we’ve got a resource on there that will be the “20-minute Profile Makeover Using LinkedIn.” But I think I’m actually going to change that so by the time people get it, I’m going to have your “Offer Creation Checklist” that’s going to be up there. So, www.thevirtualedge.com and go and grab that. It is power! Tom Poland 07:34 Thank you, sir. And 35 seconds left. Question number seven, what’s the one question I should have asked you but didn’t? Matt Clark 07:39 Why don’t more people focus on the offers the first thing they do? Tom Poland 0 7:42 You know, why don’t they? 25 seconds. Matt Clark 07:44 Because everyone out there is talking about leads, is talking about sales. And everyone thinks that you need more leads and you need more sales, but the truth is that most people have already got leads. They’ve got a network, but they’re not converting the leads that come to them. Tom Poland 07:58 Perfect! Matt Clark, thank you so much for your time, your wisdom, and your insights. Matt Clark 08:03 Thanks, Tom. Tom Poland 08:04 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Become the Business Everyone Wants to Promote – In Just 7 Minutes with Danny Bermant | 27 Jun 2024 | 00:08:50 | |
Why you've got to check out today's episode:
Resources/Links:
Summary: Are you struggling to attract high-quality clients and effectively grow your business? Many coaches and consultants face this challenge, often finding themselves frustrated with ineffective collaborations that yield poor results. They may have tried various marketing methods, like advertising and SEO, only to be disappointed by the lack of substantial leads and meaningful connections. Danny Bermant helps established coaches and consultants attract their ideal clients through joint venture partnerships. In today's episode, Danny delves into the heart of this problem and shares what makes joint ventures successful, common mistakes to avoid, and actionable tips for adding value to your partners. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “A joint venture is an investment. When you decide to collaborate with somebody, you have got to invest time into really understanding their business.” - Danny Bermant | |||
| How to Attract More Clients by Becoming a Thought Leader and Sharing on Podcasts – In Just 7 Minutes with Ugi Djuric | 23 Feb 2022 | 00:06:40 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Have you been wanting to get off from doing traditional sales and hop into podcasting– the new way of marketing? Do you want to learn how and why podcasting is your best bet in building an audience, gaining their trust, and getting more sales? Are you ready to become the best thought leader and speak your niche through podcasting? Ugi Djuric is the CEO of Contenthorse, an ROI-based content marketing agency, and the CEO of Podino, a thought leadership agency for business experts. In this episode, Ugi talks about how you can position yourself as a thought leader and speak your niche through podcasts. He also shares how podcasting can guarantee you better sales, build trust with your audience, and speak your niche with less stress. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “If you process everything; you systematize everything right, positioning yourself as a thought leader is not actually that hard.” -Ugi DjuricClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland beaming out to you from Little Castaways Beach in Queensland, Australia, joined today by Ugi Djuric. Ugi, a very warm welcome, sir, from Downunder. Where are you hanging out? Ugi Djuric 00:26 In Belgrade, Serbia, my family home right now. Just woke up because the baby slept during the night. Tom Poland 00:32 For the first time in six months, so a little bit- Ugi Djuric 00:35 For the first in five or six months, yeah. Tom Poland 00:37 Well, congratulations on that! For those of you who don’t know Ugi, he’s the CEO of Contenthorse, which is a return-on-investment, really important words, return-on-investment-based content marketing agency, and he’s the CEO of, what is fast becoming a phenomenon, Podino. It’s a thought leadership agency for business experts. And our title today, Ugi, is, “How to Attract More Clients by Becoming a Thought Leader and Sharing Those Thoughts on Podcasts”. So, our seven minutes starts now, sir. Question number one is who is your ideal client? Ugi Djuric 01:13 Yeah, so Podino’s ideal clients are the business experts. So, the consultants, CEOs, coaches, and the people who I’d say, need some influence in their niche, and who are selling the courses, who are selling the consultant services, whatsoever, to their business-oriented audience, marketers to build better sales, etc. Tom Poland 01:39 Business-to-business. Perfect! Thank you for that. Six and a half minutes left, sir. What’s the problem you solve for them? Ugi Djuric 01:45 So, the main problem is that in traditional sales, in order to work, besides like, you need to be working on them more on problem off to make them better. But you need to repeat them all the time. So, they’re not quite capable of keeping that in mind. Plus, on the other side, for selling high ticket services, high ticket businesses, like the products, your potential customers need to have trust in you. And that’s what we saw. We help people become top leaders and make their audience trust them. Tom Poland 02:21 Perfect! Thank you, sir. Five and a half minutes left. Question number three, what would you say the typical symptoms are of someone who needs your services? How does someone listening to this know, “I got to find out more about Podino and what Ugi does”? Ugi Djuric 02:36 Definitely. So first of all, measuring the strict ROI from, let’s say, podcasts in the top leadership are hard, but that’s a long-term game. So that’s the game that’s we’re playing in the next six months, one year, two years, three years. And the most, let’s say general symptoms are, the first thing is you wish you start earlier. Right? You wish you start working on your thought leadership brand earlier because it’s never too late. And the best time to do it was yesterday or 10 years ago. The second-best time is today. Right? Because it takes time. And as I said, like non-scalable sales processes. And plus, by having a personal brand in place, you will never have to worry about sales ever again. Literally, ever again! Tom Poland 03:24 That’s a big problem solved. So, we’re talking about your thought leaders, executive leaders, business coaches, consultants, and so on, who want to get their brand established for a particular niche specialty service. They’re going to be trying stuff. So, question four, and we’ve got four minutes left. What are some of the common mistakes that you see people making out there in the marketplace, trying to establish themselves as a thought leader, still feeling like they’re the world’s best-kept secret, but they’re doing stuff? What are those mistakes? Ugi Djuric 03:54 First of all, regarding podcasting, or taking on podcasts. Let’s start with the beginning. They’re writing and speaking about literally everything that’s in there, let’s say niche or area of expertise. The best authors do need to have their enemies. So, for example, my personal enemy for counter calls, let’s say is content that’s written for SEO, not for the users, right? So, they need to have their enemies. They need to have some strong stakes and opinions that make them different from the pool of all other people in that market. Right? So that’s the first thing that they start with the wrong step. The second thing is regarding podcasting, like if they want to speak on a podcast, the first thing people do is, of course, do the calling and outreach. They’re pitching to podcast hosts. And as you know, yourself, 99% of those emails are personalized. They feel spammy. They don’t show that the guests care about your show. Right? So, that’s the first thing. And the pool of podcasts is so small in the world. I mean, there are 2.5 million podcasts in the world but the high-quality ones really want to be heard. There are not a lot of them. And Podino’s one of these opportunities. So, the two, let’s say the best, biggest mistake. Tom Poland 05:09 So, getting really clear on what you stand for, but also your enemies, what you rail against, what annoys you, etc. Crafting that little message, getting invited as a podcast guest is positioning you for someone else’s platform that’s broadcasting a message. Let’s go to question five, with just over two minutes left, one valuable free action. What would you say would be a top tip you could offer as a piece of advice that’s going to help people get established as thought leaders and get their message out on other people’s podcasts? Ugi Djuric 05:37 That’s it. So, the first thing is, if you process everything, you systematize everything. Right? Positioning yourself as a thought leader is not actually that hard. As I mentioned, the first thing is you need to have a strong take on opinions. And you need to be sharing your secret knowledge and the knowledge that only you know, and you’re niche to bring to the world, right? However, if you have the right process, it’s not that hard. For example, you jump on the show, on some relevant show in your market, the podcast gets published. And you take that episode, you repurpose it into one thought leadership article for your blog. You repurpose it into 5, 10 tweets or chats for your Twitter profile, 5 to 10 YouTube videos, videos for YouTube, bring with thoughts, etc. And from one piece of content, you have like 50 plus pieces of content available with you not needing to create new content all the time. So about repurposing and distribution. Tom Poland 06:31 Super! Thank you. And so, just under a minute left, two questions to go. One valuable free resource. And I’m going to tell everyone what this is just for the sake of time. Folks, it’s https://podino.io/, P-O-D-I-N-O, .io. What are they going to find there? And how will they benefit from that real quick? Ugi Djuric 06:51 So, we don’t have some like lead magnet, but whoever wants to get into the “speaking on podcast game”, can go to podino.io, as you mentioned. Scroll down to the bottom of the landing page, fill down the contact form and tell us that they came to MTI, podcast with Tom Poland, and my team will personally find 15 to 30 high-quality best shows for the audience. They’re the dream customer’s handout. Tom Poland 07:16 Perfect! Ugi, thank you for your time. Tom Poland 07:19 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| Media is the New Marketing – In Just 7 Minutes with Joe Pulizzi | 21 Feb 2022 | 00:08:26 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Have you been struggling to build a loyal audience online that you can monetize quickly? Do you want to know how you can use and maximize media as a marketing tool? Are you ready to learn how to create content that will build your business and turn viewers into loyal high-paying clients? Joe Pulizzi is the founder of multiple startups including content creator education site, The Tilt, and is the bestselling author of seven books including Content Inc. and Epic Content Marketing, which was named a “Must-Read Business Book” by Fortune Magazine. His foundation, The Orange Effect, delivers speech therapy and technology services to over 200 children in 34 states. In this episode, Joe talks about how you can turn to creating content online as an opportunity to build and grow your business. He also shares what you should be doing when wanting to become a successful content entrepreneur. Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “Focus on building a base on one or two places where you can be remarkable.” -Joe PulizziClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Greetings, everyone, and a very warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland beaming out to you, as always, from little Castaways Beach in Queensland, Australia, joined today by Joe Pulizzi. Joe, good day. Sir, a very warm welcome. Where are you hanging out? Joe Pulizzi 00:23 Thanks for having me, Tom. I’m in the lovely city of Cleveland, Ohio, right on Lake Erie. Tom Poland 00:27 And Joe and I were discussing before the national treasure, such as the Sydney Opera House, where he’s been to Sydney a few times. And I was saying, “Yes, but you’ve got Drew Carey, so-” Joe Pulizzi 00:35 Drew Carey, yeah, I know. That’s a tough one! Opera house to Drew Carey. Tom Poland 00:38 Yeah. How do you beat Drew Carey, right? Alright, for those who don’t know Joe, he’s quite extraordinary, not just because of his business achievements, but because of all the work, he’s done with helping folks out, not for profit. He’s the founder of multiple startups, including the content creator education site, The Tilt, which is definitely worth a visit, folks! He’s the best-selling author of seven books, including Content Inc. and Epic Content Marketing, which was named a “Must-Read Business Book” by Fortune Magazine. His foundation, The Orange Effect, delivered speech therapy and technology services to over 200 Children in 34. States. Kudos to you, Joe! Making the world a better place both in business and outside. Joe Pulizzi 01:20 Great team! You got it. A lot of people helping out with that one. Tom Poland 01:23 Our title today is, “Media is the New Marketing”. Joe’s going to share that over the next seven minutes. Joe, our seven minutes starts now. Question number one is who is your ideal client? Joe Pulizzi 01:33 An ideal client is content creators who actually want to be content entrepreneurs that actually want to build a business model from all the content they’re creating on whatever platforms they’re doing it on. Tom Poland 01:45 Yeah, people like you and me just can’t help but create more content. It’s kind of what we do, right? Joe Pulizzi 01:49 Exactly! Tom Poland 01:50 It just comes out, somehow. A lot of folks like that. So, tell us about the problem you solve? Joe Pulizzi 01:54 Well, if you’re looking at just a content creation standpoint, they’re trying to build a business. They might be creating a lot of content, not building an audience. And it’s a problem, especially, if you got to put food on the table. So, there is a formula that we try to teach them. Tom Poland 02:08 So, we’ve got these people when they got to go to work, they enjoy creating content. They have their “ideas machines”, and probably hear crickets when they publish it at the moment. So, let’s go to question three, we have six minutes left, what would you say are some of the typical symptoms of these folks that are putting content out there, apart from not getting any traction? Joe Pulizzi 02:26 Sure thing. Yeah, Tom, I mean, you hit the nail on the head. They’re not getting usually- it takes a long time to build a loyal audience that you can monetize. And what we found is generally it takes between 15 and 18 months until you get to a minimum viable audience that you can actually create a sustainable living off of. So, they basically give up. You don’t have to go the distance. So, they’re not building that audience quickly enough to monetize. Or when they do build an audience, then they don’t know all the revenue levers that they need to pull in order to create a business that will succeed in one to five years. Tom Poland 03:00 Right. But I mean, I love the concept of content creation and marketing, because to me, it’s what I call “karma marketing”. You’re giving stuff. You know, it’s good karma. So, let’s talk about, question four which is common mistakes. So, what I’m after here, five minutes left, we’ve got these people who are probably solopreneurs, or entrepreneurs, they’re creating content. They’re aware that it’s not getting traction right now. Apart from giving up too soon, what are some of the other common mistakes that you see people make in this area? Joe Pulizzi 03:27 Yeah, so there are a couple of things. One is they don’t have what we call a “content tilt”. They don’t have an area of differentiation that can break through all the clutter and differentiate themselves and actually stand apart from the competition. Basically, a lot of content creators create content like a lot of other creators, so they’re not building an audience. So that’s probably the number one way. The second way is, most content creators, whether they’re marketers or content entrepreneurs, diversify too quickly. They say, “Oh, okay, we need to do all the things. We need to be everywhere where our audiences are online. We need to be on Twitter, and LinkedIn, and Facebook, and on blogs and podcasts, and webinars and events and everything else.” And that’s actually wrong. It rarely works that way! What you want to do is focus on building a base on one place, one or two places, where you can be remarkable. So that lack of differentiation, and then that diversification and, basically, being all over the place and not being great at one or two things really inhibits them from building a business. Tom Poland 04:22 Very interesting! So instead of kind of sticking to their core focus and delivering something as unique on a consistent basis, they think, “Well, let’s get it on whole different platforms.” Joe Pulizzi 04:32 And look at it- and you know, Tom! Look at the average creator. They’re just always got to be on 14, 16 different places. That strategy is about saying no! So, let’s say no to some things and say yes to a couple of things and be amazing. Tom Poland 04:44 I have to tell you, that would be a mistake. I definitely fall into that trap because it’s so easy now with all these platforms. You can click LinkedIn, click Twitter, click Facebook, click this, “Well, oh, cool!” We got to sprinkle around the internet like confetti when winning. Let’s move on then to something else that’s going to help folks. Question five is one valuable free action that someone listening to this could- it’s like a step in the right direction. It’s not going to solve the whole thing, but it might help them start in the right area. Joe Pulizzi 05:07 Yeah, guess what I would recommend is if you’re a content creator or marketer, what we call a “content mission statement”. If you’re a media company, we call it the “editorial mission statement”. So, what we want to do is we want to list out on paper, if you can, who is your target audience and make it as niche as possible? What are you going to deliver for that audience? What? Are you going to deliver podcasts? Are you going to deliver videos on YouTube? What are you going to do? And then number three, most important, what is the outcome for the audience? This is where everybody makes a mistake. Because we say, “Oh, we want to create content because we want to sell more widgets.” No, this is all about the audience. What are we going to deliver to that audience? And how are we going to help them live a better life or get a better job? And you put that into a document called your “content mission statement”. And every time you create a piece of content, you review that. You say, “Am I on target? Am I delivering to those pain points? Am I differentiating? Can I be the leading informational expert in that niche.” And it’s our guiding light, it’s our North Star. And if you do that, and then you carry that along with you, you’ll be very, very successful. Tom Poland 06:06 This is in stark contrast to what I’ve done and many others, as I’m sure, which is, what you’re talking about staying focused on. Stay true to your mission. Stay true to your differentiation. Stay true to your market, etc. Love that idea! Except for the thing you’ve talked about putting it on paper. What is this paper you speak of? Joe Pulizzi 06:22 What is the paper? Yeah, when I set goals, I write them down. I think it’s more- I don’t like to put it on the phone. Tom Poland 60:29 It’s more physical, isn’t it? Yeah. Joe Pulizzi 06:30 Exactly. Tom Poland 06:30 There’s probably something more visceral about it. Thank you for that. Question six, one minute, 40 left, is a valuable free resource. Where can we direct people to that’s going to find out more, that’s going to help them even more? Joe Pulizzi 06:39 Great. So, here’s a free ungated resource, you can go to thetilt.com/research. We researched 1400 content creators and what makes them successful, what they did, how they built their business. We put it into a 20-page, 25-page free report. Basically, if you want to be a successful content creator, we tell you exactly what the best content entrepreneurs are doing. Tom Poland 07:00 Fantastic! So that’s Thetilt, T-I-L-T, .com/research. Go get it! Thetilt.com/research. Joe Pulizzi 07:07 Ungated! Share it around. Tom Poland 07:09 Thanks for that! Fantastic. A minute left. Last question, what’s the one question I should have asked you, but didn’t? Joe Pulizzi 07:15 Probably, why am I doing this? This is my business. I sold Content Marketing Institute. Now I’m starting The Tilt and basically 2019, I became a novelist. I was going to write mystery and thriller novels and decided to get back into this business because I love the idea of being an entrepreneur, being a content creator. And there’s nothing out there telling them, “Here’s a business model.” I’ve been through it. I have friends that do it. So, here’s the answer I’m trying to teach! I’m a teacher now. What I’m trying to teach them is the business model, and there’s a way that you be successful and live the life you’ve always wanted to live. Tom Poland 07:47 Yeah, and do the stuff you love to do. Joe, thank you so much for sharing your insights and your experience, and what’s clearly a bucketload of wisdom! Cheers. Joe Pulizzi 07:56 Thank you, Tom. I appreciate it! Tom Poland 07:58 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||
| How to Grow Your Business with Copywriting – In Just 7 Minutes with Mike Giannulis | 16 Feb 2022 | 00:07:56 | |
Resources/Links:
Summary Have you been investing tons of money in ads but ended up not gaining much traffic online? Do you want to learn how you can save yourself from all the stress and invest in the right marketing strategy? Are you ready to hone your copywriting skills, save yourself tons of money and gain more clients in a shorter time? Mike Giannulis helps leaders and entrepreneurs live better lives and build bigger businesses. He is a serial entrepreneur and master copywriter who helps business owners grow their companies and instructs copywriters on creating highly converting and compliant ads and sales material. In this episode, Mike talks about how you can overcome the struggle of selling yourself through the power of copywriting. He also shares the 3 S’s you need to focus on and how they can also help you get yourself back in the game– gaining new clients at a lesser price in a shorter time! Check out these episode highlights:
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode: “You can't just scale marketing if you don't have operations and fulfillment in the sales team. So, you have to look at everything across the whole spectrum and bring them up at the same time.” -Mike GiannulisClick To Tweet Transcript (Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast) Tom Poland 00:10 Welcome, everyone, to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland beaming out to you from little Castaways Beach in Queensland, Australia, joined today by Mike Giannulis. Mike, a very good afternoon, I think, it is for you. Welcome to the show! Mike Giannulis 00:23 Yes, I’m very, very thrilled to be here. Thank you for the invite! Tom Poland 00:26 Where are you based, Mike? Mike Giannulis 00:27 So, I’m in Tampa Bay, Florida. Tom Poland 00:30 Tampa Bay! Mike Giannulis 00:31 In the States? Yeah. Tom Poland 00:32 Yeah! Mike Giannulis 00:32 Home of Tom Brady. Tom Poland 00:34 Yeah. And, Mike Levin, our business manager lives there as well. So, between Tom and Mike, you’re in good company. Well, they are. So, for those of you who don’t know Mike, he’s quite an extraordinary individual who’s achieved really incredible things personally, but also in business. He had his superpowers, taking words and turning them into clients. In broad terms, he helps leaders and entrepreneurs live better lives and build bigger businesses. Mike, I love the way those two things go together because, very often, people have a wall between them. And in fact, there can’t be separation. He’s a serial entrepreneur, a master copywriter who helps business owners grow the company’s infrastructure- copywriters! He is the copywriters’ copywriter on creating high converting and compliant ads, which is very important these days with regulations and sales content. So, the title that Mike has very generously agreed to share on by our invitation is, “How to Grow Your Business with Copywriting”. Mike, our seven minutes starts now. Question number one, who is your ideal client? Mike Giannulis 01:37 So, my ideal client is actually an existing business owner who wants to grow their company and needs help with marketing and sales and even some operational stuff, but they want to grow. Tom Poland 01:50 Oh, Interesting! Thank you. Question number two, six and a half minutes left. How would you describe the problem that you solve for them? Mike Giannulis 01:57 I think the biggest problem that I solve for people, especially when you’re the owner, is you really can’t see what you truly have. I deal with this too! It’s very hard for me to sell myself. And I understand that for these people, it’s hard for them to sell themselves and especially underpricing, not wanting to charge your true value. And then also being able to structure your offer or your program or whatever it is that you sell in a way that’s compelling, that people will want to buy it without having to resort to like persuasive little hacks, you know. Tom Poland 02:30 Right. This is a legend hack! So, folks, just please listen up to this because this is the number one problem that I encounter with hundreds, if not thousands of clients over the last 40 something years, is how do you articulate your value proposition in such a way that’s clear, that is also magnetically compelling, and that the value is obvious! Because, very often, price is an issue when value is in the street. So, listen up! This is the real oil coming from Mike here. My question number three, five and a half minutes left, what would you say would be the typical symptoms of someone who needs your services? What’s going on in their life or their business right now? Mike Giannulis 03:06 I think some of the biggest symptoms for people that need what I do is they’re kind of at a place where they sort of feel stuck. They’ve kind of done what they know how to do. And they’ve reached a point where they’re sort of like, they’re either going to decide- I break it down into three things. The three S’s- you can stay where you’re at, you can decide to sell, or you can decide to scale. So, which of those three is it? You know, are you going to stay and just kind of say, “Hey, this is it!”? And again, there’s nothing wrong with that! If that’s where you’re at, well, great, you know. But if you want to sell it, that’s fine, too. Or if you want to scale it. And many times, people have sort of- they’re just unsure of how do they reach to either a new audience, or roll out new products, or create ads that better convert, especially on the front end, so they can afford to run more ads. That’s probably the biggest thing- is like, they don’t have a scalable marketing system. And that’s the biggest struggle! Tom Poland 04:02 And if I can add a little PSA, folks, if you’re looking to avoid stress, the other S, you can’t! Like, you can manage it. And I tell you what, I prefer the stress of scaling over the stress of surviving any day. Mike Giannulis 04:14 Yeah, that’s a great idea. Tom Poland 04:15 But, Mike, tell us about the common- this is question number four, we’ve got four minutes left, so we’re right on track. What are some of the common mistakes that people make prior to finding your solution? So, what are they trying to get out of the sort of feeling of getting stuck right now that just isn’t going to work? Mike Giannulis 04:29 Well going- this is going to sound kind of bad because this is part of what I do, but I do think a lot of people make the mistake of just like getting themselves in the course mindset, where they’re going to buy the next course, buy the next crop, buy the next thing, trying to new hack, go to the Facebook ads event that they saw advertised. And so, they end up spreading very, very thin, trying to find whatever the next thing is, and that’s truly a bigger problem of going outside of your area of expertise. I see this all the time we’re I’ll people and they’re like a world-class, say, psychologist, right? And they’re spending their nights and weekends learning Facebook ads– not worth it! Just get someone to do that, you know. And so, I find people that think they need to learn to write ads themselves and run their own Facebook ads, “Do this and do this!”. You know, it’s very, very, very hard to do those things without help or experience. So, if you’re already an expert, focus on that and find the help. Find the support. Don’t try to do it all on your own. I get it, maybe you have to at first, but, as fast as you can, get some help! Tom Poland 05:32 One of the big secrets of success is you don’t have to be that smart, you just have to be smart enough to know how dumb you are, and get help. So, folks, question number five, two and a half minutes left, Mike. What I’m after here is a top tip, a valuable free action someone could take. A step in the right direction, if you will. Not going to solve the whole problem but it might help them start moving. Mike Giannulis 05:51 I think two big things are focused, really homed in on, “What’s the biggest problem that you solve?” and “What’s the biggest promise that you can make?” And if you can really iron out those two things, those are the two ways you’ll attract people in. Tom Poland 06:06 Yeah, I love those two questions– what’s the biggest problem you solve, and the biggest promise you can make to a prospective client about solving their problem. Two minutes left, Mike. Question number six, a valuable free resource we could direct people to that’s going to help them even more? Got a URL or landing page somewhere? Mike Giannulis 06:20 Yes. So, if people want some access to some like pre-written copy that I’ve already done for them– templates, structures with the ability of an AI to actually write those, I’m about to launch Prontowrite.com. And I’m allowing people to join it as beta testers. So, they just go to prontowrite.com. They can opt-in, and as soon as it comes live, they’ll be the first to know, and they’ll get early, kind of like, free tester access. Tom Poland 06:45 Folks, it’s very clever. I’ve got it open on the screen now, the landing page. And essentially what it is, it’s a template that guides us through the articulation of what it is you want to say so that it’s clear and it’s compelling. It’s Mike-holds-your-hand-digitally through that process. So, it’s Pronto, P as in very fast, P-R-O-N-T-O, write as in your scribbling something, W-R-I-T-E .com. Go get it! We’ve got 65 seconds left, Mike, so plenty of time for the last question. Question number seven is what’s the one question I should have asked you, but didn’t? Mike Giannulis 07:15 Yeah, always the toughest one! I’ve seen your show, so this is the one that I’ve been thinking about. I think probably it would be, you know, what should someone do if they’re sort of feeling stuck or if they’re unsure of what the next step is for them? How do they know when they’re ready for that next step? And I kind of tell people when it comes to scaling things, you’ve got to its kind of cool, but the word “scale” itself is the answer. So, if you’re going to scale- when you think about scale, you think about balancing, right? So, if you want to ramp up any particular area, you’ve got to make sure you’re doing it at the same time. So, you can’t just scale marketing if you don’t have operations and fulfillment in the sales team. So, you have to look at everything across the whole spectrum and bring them up at the same time. Tom Poland 08:01 Perfect! Mike Giannulis 08:02 All right. We did it! Tom Poland 08:03 Michael, perfect timing. Thanks so much for your time and your insights. Mike Giannulis 08:07 Thank you. Tom Poland 08:09 Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com. | |||