If we’re good at delivering the service, but don’t realize that all of life is sales and marketing, we are going to struggle with the idea of selling and stay stuck in the growth of our businesses. What are the 2 challenges service providers with functional skills have? How do we balance what the market will buy, what will create rapid growth and what’s authentic to sell for us? On this episode, Introvert’s Edge author, coach, entrepreneur and speaker, Matthew Pollard shared how entrepreneurs can learn to sell by understanding that it’s a system and not an ability only a few people have.

Working with people who have an intent to sell their rockstar business is a different opportunity and beast to deal with. What are the things that need to be put in place 6-12 months before the big sale? What is the process of starting to attract buyers and how do they identify a business that has the potential to become a scalable platform? When we’re in the position to be potential strategic buyer for something what do we look for vs. what a private equity firm would look for? On this episode, Inflection 360 managing partner and consultant, Michael Roub shares on finding the right buyer for a business, and the ideal motivation for exiting a business.

When a system is to lengthy, too complicated and has to many steps in it, the likelihood that it will be implemented or followed is low. How do we create systems that are actually operationally doable? How do we come to grips with the upfront investment it takes to build a system rather than emotionally pushing our people to do better? How do we empower people in our organizations to become system builders in their own right? On this episode, corporate systems expert, entrepreneur and author Josh Patrick shares why our systems need to be simplified and how to do it.

Developing our people and investing in those resources for them is how our companies grow and succeed. Why do leaders often struggle to find the best ways to bring the best out of their staff? What competence and why do we have to rethink what it means in how we run our businesses? How do we create the space for our staff to develop their superpowers, and also overcome wanting to take all the glory as leaders? On this episode, organizational psychologist, executive coach and CEO and founder of Gallaher Edge, Dr. Laura Gallaher shares the importance of paying attention to our people and how they are developing, and how that can be connected to the needs of the business and actually benefit it.

To WIN the marketing game, there are 4 elements we need to have in our New Media Machine. How do these 4 things boost our credibility, chip away at limiting beliefs in the minds of our prospects, and draw attention to everything we have to offer? Why is it so critical to speak directly to our tribe, deliver our Point of View, and convert them to our beliefs? How do we avoid getting distracted by shiny new tactics? On this episode, I continue talking about the New Media Machine, this time focusing on the 4 content and platforms we need to have in our strategy to beat out the competition.

The problem with marketing is that it’s not always easy to know if a strategy is influencing revenue when there’s so much tech in the mix. How does an operational skill set help solve this problem, and provide some much needed structure to figure out the key metric that needs to be tracked? How does it help clients zone in on the action that will have the most impact on their business? How do we drill down to the real reason our clients are buying from us? On this episode, CEO and owner of Measured Results Marketing (MRM), Christopher Antonopoulos, talks about why we shouldn’t let TECH get in the way of good marketing, and how his team manages a Demand Generation Ecosystem.

The challenge for small business owners to create an engaging course today is quite significant. What factors have made it much harder than it used to be? If we can’t differentiate on audio and video quality what can we differentiate on? How do we make a course that more closely mirrors what we could do if we were taking that person through the material in a classroom or one-on-one setting? What purpose does an online summit serve in our businesses? On this episode, I talk to, AVADO’s head of digital marketing courses, David Bain about trends and changes he’s seeing in digital marketing as it relates to courses, turning a course into a virtual summit, and the best way to sell our expertise with courses. He also shares a step-by-step process of going from audio podcast to virtual summit.

Many people who do creative or professional service work struggle with paying to attention to who our competition and where we sit in the landscape. How does positioning create a cascading effect on how well we do? What are the smaller pieces of achievement that build toward profitability, and how does positioning fit into that? How can we build up the skill of learning a new industry very quickly? What are the 4 key questions that helps agencies zero in on their position in the marketplace? On this episode, agency growth consultant, Kelly Campbell shares on how she helps agencies position themselves to become irreplaceable to ideal clients, worthy of charging premiums and profitable.

The thing we lose track of the fastest is the customer and their change in taste and how that drives what our businesses should look like. How do we keep ourselves on the pulse of the winds of change to get a sense of changing needs and desires in our customers and clients? Under what conditions can we consider diversifying our business? What challenges come with taking the same product or service into a new market? On this episode, marketing expert and author of Corporate Diversification: Opportunities Created by the Winds of Change, Brooks Fenno shares insights on how we should think about change in our businesses.

In the Game to get to number 1 in the mind of our prospect, the kind of content we create can be the difference between breaking through the noise or not being seen at all. What are two different approaches we can take to promote our business? Which media influencers epitomize these two content marketing strategies? Is it possible to be emotionally compelling and intellectually interesting with our content? On the other end, how can we break down people’s defenses by simply showing up more often that our competitors? On this episode, I continue in our series on The New Media Machine and the future of content marketing, talking about two content marketing strategies we can employ to win the Game.