Hands-Off Growth

By Mandi EllefsonBusiness Management

Hands-Off Growth episodes

January 06, 2022Results, Profits, and Exit Strategies with Mark Arnold
Mandi Ellefson’s guest is Mark Arnold, President of On the Mark Strategies, a consulting firm specializing in branding and strategic planning. Mark has written several books, and is an acclaimed speaker who specializes in personal growth, leadership, marketing, and strategy.

You’ll hear Mandi and Mark Arnold talk about:
“When I started, I couldn’t see everything that others could see,” Mark admits. “When the vision expands, the business expands, and sometimes there are self limiting beliefs that hold you back. It really helps to gain that outsider perspective to see a vision you may not be able to.” [2:29]
Mark shares how he continues to make profits with less public input. “While companies are still looking for you, they’re hiring results. They want the results you deliver, so if you can make it more about the process than the person, that’s what helps.” He talks about the importance of having the right team. [5:39]
“Are you a Superman leader or are you a Yoda leader?” The ideal is to be a Yoda leader; you should be a guide, not a superhero, Mark says. He explains why. [11:07]
Mandi and Mark discuss profit margins. “People don’t understand that they’re stuck in the business because they [don’t have] the profit margins to hire it out without losing more and more money,” Mandi claims. [18:38]
“You should have a few different ways that you can exit as part of your exit strategy,” Mark advises. “I still want to be involved in the company as much as possible [when I exit]... I want to put my energy into everything but less on the delivery so the delivery can be done without me. That’s where you want to go.” [23:07]

Resources
Mark Arnold on LinkedIn | Twitter
MarkArnold.com

Mandi Ellefson on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Hands-Off CEO - Executive Briefing
28 min
December 30, 2021Why You Should Outsource Your Lead Gen with Nathan Kievman
Mandi Ellefson’s guest this week is Nathan Kievman, a world-renowned demand generation expert and business growth strategist. He is the CEO of Linked Strategies, a consulting firm specializing in measurable client and talent acquisition campaigns. Nathan is an entrepreneur, executive engagement specialist, and a digital marketing strategist.

You’ll hear Mandi and Nathan Kievman talk about:
“I’ve always had a passion for interacting with the leaders of leaders,” Nathan says. He talks about how he started his company. [2:16]
“Executives are decision makers. They’re comfortable with making fast decisions, or they wouldn’t be in their role.” Nathan shares how an understanding of philosophy and psychology helps you have better conversations with executives. [6:31]
Mandi and Nathan discuss when the right time is to outsource your lead generation. “I don’t think it makes sense to have it in-house, ever…It’s way more expensive to build it internally. To build a really powerful lead generation engine for your company, you need a great copywriter, great data scientists, a great project manager, data entry people, etc.” [16:12]
“You need a partner whose expertise you believe in,” Nathan remarks. “You believe in their content capability and their ability to test and pivot, because marketing is a game of testing and pivoting.” He shares insights on what to avoid when looking for lead gen experts for your company. [23:21]
The difficult thing about marketing is that you’re planting and watering a seed that you’re unsure will spread out, Mandi claims. However, it will if you continue to nurture your message, look at the feedback, and keep on refining that with a solid strategy. [29:29]
According to Nathan, being conscious is good for business. “When you're conscious and when you're clearly aligned to doing good, people want to do good with you,” he explains. “They want to feel that and be a part of that.” [33:15]

Resources
Nathan Kievman on LinkedIn | Twitter

Mandi Ellefson on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Hands-Off CEO - Executive Briefing
38 min
December 23, 2021Shifting Mindsets, Growing Profits with Laura Cook
Mandi Ellefson is discussing mindset shifts with Laura Cook, who is Director and CEO at Teal Vision Ltd, an organization dedicated to unlocking profits, accelerating growth, and helping CEOs get their lives back. Laura is passionate about supporting 7 and 8 figure businesses to predictably grow with less stress, more money, and secure a bigger exit.

You’ll hear Mandi and Laura Cook talk about:
“My monthly rates have tripled since the beginning of the year, and my average length of contract has increased from around 3 months up to at least a year,” Laura shares. She talks about the big shifts that she’s been able to make with less resources than you would typically expect. [4:00]
“Taking action has been the main differentiator of how far you can get and how much progress you’re going to make,” Laura claims. She shares insights about the few pieces that she needs to take action. [6:48]
Laura explores her next steps as a leader. “It's about expanding the team and bringing on support to create more systems in the business and more structure around the offer I’m building, and how that’s going to be delivered to clients.” [15:20]
“One of the first things we're able to do is identify about £65,000 worth of profit that we could instantly add to the business.” Mandi asks Laura to discuss the results that Teal Vision has achieved for clients over the years. [19:26]
“There's something about getting someone out of a crisis.” Laura explains why, despite the fact that companies in crisis mode don’t typically have much money to pay her, she spends time doing it anyway. [23:34]

Resources
Laura Cook on LinkedIn
Teal-Vision.com

Mandi Ellefson on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Hands-Off CEO - Executive Briefing
34 min
December 16, 2021How to Drive Rapid Hands-off Growth
Mandi Ellefson shares how leaders can drive rapid growth in their company beyond themselves in this solo episode of Hands-Off CEO.

You’ll hear Mandi talk about:
Convincing someone to do something: they have to want to do it, and money isn’t the most reliable incentive. [1:32]
The food chain of passion. “If you don’t have a lot of passion, then neither will your team.” [3:43]
The secret to growing your company beyond you. “What is the bigger reason for why you're scaling? What is the impact that you could potentially be making in the world?” [5:27]
How an inspired team affects performance and engagement. “I am here because I love [the company], I'm inspired by it, I'm excited, and I don't feel like I'm working.” [7:29]

Resources
Mandi Ellefson on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Hands-Off CEO - Executive Briefing
10 min
December 09, 2021Modifying Your Marketing Method with John Jantsch
Mandi Ellefson discusses global shifts in marketing with John Jantsch, the founder and President of Duct Tape Marketing. John has been featured in multiple publications including The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Inc. Magazine, and USA Today. In addition to training and licensing independent consultants and agencies using the Duct Tape method, John is also the author of several books focused on marketing and professional development.

You’ll hear Mandi and John Jantsch talk about:
“Every author loves to hear [that their book] meant something to people and had an impact.” John shares insights about his most recent book, The Ultimate Marketing Engine: 5 Steps to Ridiculously Consistent Growth. [2:27]
“People don’t recognize that you should be selling all the way through your process.” You don’t just promote your product: you also promote your team. Mandi discusses why. [9:26]
“Secret number one to raising your prices to where they should be is having confidence.” When that confidence is translated to your performance, it shows in your results, and attracts customers to you. [16:16]
“What if we began to think of our customers more like members?” John talks about developing deeper, more personalized relationships with customers. [18:57]
“I think there’s never been a better time for businesses to innovate and try new things,” John remarks. He and Mandi briefly explore the global shift in the approach to marketing caused by the remote world. [22:13]

Resources
John Jantsch on LinkedIn | Twitter
DuctTapeMarketing.com

Mandi Ellefson on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Hands-Off CEO - Executive Briefing
28 min
December 02, 2021The Integrity of Scaling
Mandi Ellefson is discussing why popular scaling advice is terrible for consulting agencies. She shares insights about marketing, systems, and what you should actually do to scale.

You’ll hear Mandi talk about:
“Do you really want to systematize and accelerate a process that's just getting okay and mediocre results?” Mandi shares a story about a company that grew from referrals, but was challenged when they attempted proactive marketing. [1:25]
“Your marketing could be telling stories to support the promises you make to clients,” Mandi says. “With a clear and compelling message, you can then build a solid go-to marketing strategy that can work even with the coldest of traffic.” [6:14]
“If you don’t have the cash flow and profit to pay people to replace yourself, that's what keeps you, as a CEO, stuck in your business.” In order to be sustainable, you have to have enough of the right systems. [8:57]
“Do you really want to go out and sell something if you're not sure it's going to work?” Mandi discusses the integrity of scaling when you’re not sure of your product. [11:30]

Resources
Mandi Ellefson on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Hands-Off CEO - Executive Briefing
15 min
November 18, 2021 Adapting to the New Business Climate
Now may be the best time for your business! Mandi Ellefson returns in this exciting new season of Hands-Off CEO to tell us why. In this week’s episode, she discusses the changes that the business climate has undergone over the last 18 months, and how you can use it to your advantage. She shares tips on ways to strengthen your business, increase your fees, and get a higher commitment from your very best clients.
You’ll hear Mandi talk about:
The challenges that arose in the spring of 2020, and how she helped her clients navigate it using the ‘Power of 1’s’ formula. [1:54]
Maintaining your footing within a shifting market. [2:49]
How she helped a client raise their fees and retain the interest of investors. [6:35]
Creating the ‘abundance bubble’ and scaling to freedom. [9:31]
Resources
Mandi Ellefson on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Hands-Off CEO - Executive Briefing
12 min
May 27, 2021 3 Ways You Can Fail with Hiring an Operations Manager E47
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED January, 2020.
Next to hiring salespeople, hiring an Operations Manager is the most difficult position to hire for. I'm going to share with you the three ways that we see CEO’s fail when hiring a Second in Command. And then how to get them right.
Even if you find a great candidate, you won’t be able to retain them for long if you haven’t considered what we share in this episode.
18 min
May 20, 2021 How to Guarantee Results for Your Clients E46
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED November 2018. How much could you grow if you could guarantee results for your clients? Because many custom service providers only market their clients’ successes and aren’t honest about the rest, there are a lot of burned clients. And ethical providers tend to be less forward because they’re nervous about over-promising and under-delivering. You can stand out in the crowd by embracing integrity. Then you don’t have to SAY you’re better; you ARE better.
17 min
May 13, 2021 How to use “Vision Selling” to Grow Your Client List with Confidence EP 45
Do you rely on persuasion to make sales? Yes, it works and that is why people continue to rely on it to grow their businesses. But what if you could move beyond these old school tips and tricks? And honestly discuss with your clients their challenges and help them see what is possible. On this week’s episode, I talk about the five steps that will help you to update the way you sell to clients. Use these steps to not only grow your business, but also retain clients for longer.
20 min