Marketing The Invisible

By Tom PolandBusiness Education How To Marketing Management

Marketing The Invisible episodes

October 26, 2022How to Increase the Company’s Capacity to Handle More Business Without Compromising Quality – In Just 7 Minutes with Alicia Butler Pierre
Understand how you can still assure good quality and control with a high turnover and attrition
Learn what is a business infrastructure and how it can make or break your business
Know why specific tasks require specific people and not you
Resources/Links:
Want to start your journey of scaling your business without the chaos? Click here: smoothoperator.courses
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:
03:34 – Alicia’s ideal client: 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.
03:52 – The problem she helps solve: 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?
05:02 – The symptoms of the problem: 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.
06:21 – Clients’ common mistakes before consulting Alicia: 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.
08:34 – Alicia’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): 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.
10:53 – Alicia’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): Want to start your journey of scaling your business without the chaos? Click here! Smoothoperator.courses
11:33 – Q: What is business infrastructure, Alicia? A: 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.
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 Pierre
Click 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.
10 min
October 19, 2022How to Get Clients When Nothing Has Worked So Far – In Just 7 Minutes with Abigail Tiefenthaler
Learn why setting up a framework is crucial to your sales and marketing conversations
Understand why rushing into tactics before figuring out a marketing strategy is the biggest mistake you can make
Find out the difference between social selling and social engagement
Resources/Links:
Want more free tips and tricks on how to get that sales strategy that fits you? Click here: Savvysalesstrategy.com/15steps
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:
01:42 – Abigail’s ideal client: Coaches, service-based professionals, consultants.
01:50 – The problem she helps solve: We solve the problem of identifying what’s missing in their marketing that’s making it ineffective. Where are they struggling?
03:04 – The symptoms of the problem: 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.
04:05 – Clients’ common mistakes before consulting Abigail: 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.”
06:27 – Abigail’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): 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.
06:57 – Abigail’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): Want more free tips and tricks on how to get that sales strategy that fits you? Click here: Savvysalesstrategy.com/15steps
07:27 – Q: How do I use social media to actually sell effectively? A: It’s the understanding that there is a difference between social engagement and social selling. We focus on social selling.
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode:
“Marketing creates better selling.” -Abigail Tiefenthaler
Click 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.
9 min
October 12, 2022How to Increase Sales of Your Self-help or How-to Book on Amazon – In Just 7 Minutes with Geoff Affleck
Discover how publishing a book online can vastly increase your sales and get you leads
Understand why you should consistently put a valuable free offer in your books
Learn what is Amazon optimization and how it can be a big help for your Amazon listings and sales
Resources/Links:
To get more FREE advice on what you need to do as a first-time author, click here: geoffaffleck.com/ebook
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:
01:33 – Geoff’s ideal client: 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.
02:07 – The problem he helps solve: 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.
03:16 – The symptoms of the problem: 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.
05:22 – Clients’ common mistakes before consulting Geoff: 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?
07:05 – Geoff’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): 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.
07:30 – Geoff’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): To get more FREE advice on what you need to do as a first-time author, click here: geoffaffleck.com/ebook
07:50 – A: 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.
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 Affleck
Click 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.
8 min
October 05, 2022How to Master Cold Outreach with Personal Video – In Just 7 Minutes with Dave Holloway
Learn how to proactively replace your income in case clients drop off without waiting for inbound leads to come
Find out how to individually personalize your offer to relevant prospects to make you stand out from the rest and make them see the value in what your business does
Discover one most important way to sell not on price but value
Resources/Links:
Download your free resource pack to give you some pointers and starters to help you get started in the world of personalized video. Click here: wonderleads.com/freestuff
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:
01:36 – Dave’s ideal client: My ideal client is B2B businesses that want to sell on value to premium businesses that want to sell on value rather than price.
01:50 – The problem Dave helps solve: I help people overcome their challenges with proactive business developments and new business developments.
02:11 – Symptoms Dave’s clients often encounter: The problems, the common experiences are: feeling like you’re wasting time, that money, and energy on activities that 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. It feels like you’re just stuck in a bit of the mud.
03:54 – Mistakes clients make before they work with Dave: Typically, the main thing that people fall into the trap of is turning to two things: they turn to volume as a solution. And they often use, like, 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.
05:43 – Dave’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): I think the way to get around this is that people need to change their mindset to something instead of looking for 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.
07:15 – Dave’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): Download your free resource pack here: https://wonderleads.com/freestuff/
07:54 – Q: What is the most important aspect of good business development? A: For me, that answer is focus.
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 Holloway
Click 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.
10 min
September 28, 2022How to Quadruple Your Income Without Spending Money on Ads – In Just 7 Minutes with Lilach Bullock
Find out why ads don’t really matter as much as you think it is in business
Learn more on how you can create consistent leads and predictable sales without spending too much
Understand why its more of a lead generation problem rather than a pricing problem
Resources/Links:
To get more FREE tips on how to be friends with money, click here: https://www.lilachbullock.com/8-money-blocks/
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:
01:48 – Lilach’s ideal client: 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.
02:08 – The problem she helps solve: 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?
03:08 – The symptoms of the problem: 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.
04:42 – Clients’ common mistakes before consulting Lilach: 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.
05:59 – Lilach’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): 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.
06:40 – Lilach’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): To get more FREE tips on how to be friends with money, click here: https://www.lilachbullock.com/8-money-blocks/
07:30 – Q: What is the top lead generation tactic you should be doing? A: 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.
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 Bullock
Click 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.
7 min
September 21, 2022How to Craft Messaging that Moves People into Action – In Just 7 Minutes with Dawn Apuan
Discover what’s the strategy that will guarantee you more sales, qualified leads, and frequently booked out
Learn why you should stop wasting your money on ads and start investing in a good copywriter
Find out how you can effortlessly craft a one-liner that will keep your audience hooked and you fully booked
Resources/Links:
To find more on how you can get more sales and be effortlessly booked out, click here: www.dawnapuan.com/copykeys
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:
02:02 – Dawn’s ideal client: My ideal clients are online coaches who have digital courses and group programs like a mastermind.
02:36 – The problem she helps solve: 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.
03:34 – The symptoms of the problem: 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.
04:54 – Clients’ common mistakes before consulting Dawn: 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.
06:22 – Dawn’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): 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”.
07:12 – Dawn’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): To find more on how you can get more sales and be effortlessly booked out, click here: www.dawnapuan.com/copykeys
07:52 – Q: What am I most proud of in life and business? A: 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.
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 Apuan
Click 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.
10 min
September 14, 2022How to Listen to Your Own Ideas and Make Waves and Get Noticed in Your Marketplace – In Just 7 Minutes with Hillary Weiss
Get to the root of what makes you stand out and turn your brand into a statement piece in the marketplace
Find out why overloading on information is a big no when it comes to marketing yourself
Understand what are the three categories of places where your best ideas come from
Resources/Links:
To grab the ultimate tool to make waves and more money for your brand, click here: hillaryweiss.com/statementpieceframework
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:
02:17 – Hillary’s ideal client: 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.
02:58 – The problem she helps solve: 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.
04:20 – The symptoms of the problem: 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.
05:37 – Clients’ common mistakes before consulting Hillary: 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.
06:50 – Hillary’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): People tend to create by 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.
08:04 – Hillary’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): To grab the ultimate tool to make waves and more money for your brand, click here: hillaryweiss.com/statementpieceframework
08:38 – Q: Where did you get the frickin’ headphones? A: 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.
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 Weiss
Click 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.
8 min
September 07, 2022How to Generate Referrals Without Asking – In Just 7 Minutes with Stacey Brown Randall
Discover how to get referrals naturally and without manipulating and incentivizing
Learn what are the old school referral triggers and how to avoid them
Understand the science behind why referrals happen in the first place
Resources/Links:
To learn more about your referral ability and how to get referrals naturally, click here: referralquiz.com
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:
01:38 – Stacey’s ideal client: 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.
02:05 – The problem she helps solve: 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.
02:52 – The symptoms of the problem: 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.
04:01 – Clients’ common mistakes before consulting Stacey’s: 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?
05:20 – Stacey’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): 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.
06:36 – Stacey’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): To learn more about your referral ability and how to get referrals naturally, click here: referralquiz.com
07:25 – Q: What are the results? What’s actually happening and how long does this take to work? And what does it look like? A: 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.
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 Randall
Click 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.
9 min
August 31, 2022How to Sell Your Value in a Competitive Market – In Just 7 Minutes with Gail Doby
Discover what are the different factors you need to work on and be clear about when it comes to selling in a competitive market
Learn more about the importance of having an ideal client profile in understanding and selling what you’re worth
Understand why investing in yourself isn’t something you should be guilty about
Resources/Links:
To get the FREE Easy Budget Calculator, click here: gaildoby.com/poland
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:
01:10 – Gail’s ideal client: 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.
01:35 – The problem she helps solve: 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.
02:38 – The symptoms of the problem: 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.
03:31 – Clients’ common mistakes before consulting Gail: 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.
04:56 – Gail’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): 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.
05:43 – Gail’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): To get the FREE Easy Budget Calculator, click here: gaildoby.com/poland
06:37 – Q: What’s the reason most people don’t reach their financial goals? A: I would tell you that, hands-down, 100%, it is mindset and fear.
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode:
“Market when you're the busiest.” -Gail Doby
Click 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.
9 min
August 24, 2022How to Avoid the Top 3 Sales Phrases That Make You Sound Outdated and Old School – In Just 7 Minutes with Liz Wendling
Discover what are the top 3 overrated and over dated sales phrases you should totally drop
Find out why your marketing and selling skills are more crucial than how your website looks
Understand how your language and choice of words play an important role in convincing prospects
Resources/Links:
To get more FREE tips and secrets on how to sell more with less pressure quickly, click here: https://www.lizwendling.com/free-gift/
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:
01:28 – Liz’s ideal client: 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.
02:18 – The problem she helps solve: 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!
03:32 – The symptoms of the problem: 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”
04:23 – Clients’ common mistakes before consulting Liz: 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.”
06:17 – Liz’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): 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…”
07:00 – Liz’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): To get more FREE tips and secrets on how to sell more with less pressure quickly, click here: https://www.lizwendling.com/free-gift/
07:32 – Q: 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? A: 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?”
Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode:
“If you don't change your language, it's going to be hard to change your results.” -Liz Wendling
Click 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.
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The Mission of Marketing The Invisible is to bring proven marketing ideas to professionals offering a service, advice or software and who want a weekly flow of inbound new client inquiries. We deliver one idea to boost marketing results using our “7 questions in 7 minutes”.

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