Onward Nation

Ken Baker is currently serving as a member of Gensler's Board of Directors and the Gensler Management Committee. As a Co-Regional Managing Principal of Gensler's Southeast Region and past Co-Managing Principal of Gensler's UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Gulf Regions, Ken is a global expert on workplace design and planning, particularly for law firms. Ken frequently speaks about the power of design at industry events around the world and his focus on maintaining strong client relationships is a core tenant of his leadership philosophy and design strategy.

• Ken's background
• Why you should focus on developing a professional relationship with your clients
• Why you need to surround yourself with great, talented people
• Being on the lookout for the next generation of leaders and working to develop their skills
• Why you should rely on your team to build your business & make your clients happy
• Having a sense of urgency & being a good listener
• Helping your employees build their careers
• Knowing if you have the right people in place to get the work done

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.gensler.com
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kenneth-p-baker-7984996

Stephen is the CEO of Predictive ROI and the host of the Onward Nation podcast. He is the author of two bestselling books, speaker, trainer, and his digital marketing insights have been featured in SUCCESS, Entrepreneur, The Washington Post, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and other media.

Good Morning Onward Nation…I'm Stephen Woessner…and welcome to this week's solocast…Episode 450.

I am excited to be back here with you — because — when you apply the lessons we cover today — you will change the game for your business. I promise you — what you learn in this episode can be that impactful for you, your business, and your revenue.

I decided to record another revenue-focused solocast this week for several important reasons.

First…last week's solocast where we drilled deep into how to monetize a podcast was one of our highest downloaded solocasts – ever! Rock solid awesome and we received some wonderful feedback, Onward Nation – thank you for that.

I am so happy you found the strategies and step-by-step process within last week's monetization the lessons to be helpful.

And second…I have been giving a lot of thought recently to my life's purpose. I know – big topic. But I have been giving deep consider to what kind of problems I really enjoy solving – where do I really love creating impact – and what kind of impact do I find the most rewarding?

Just in full transparency, Onward Nation…I have done a lot of soul searching on these questions during the last several months…and have found some very powerful perspective and themes emerging and they really strike a cord with me.

For example, I realized that helping small business owners is not only something I enjoy doing and find super rewarding – but – I have been in the trenches…on the front lines helping small business owners grow their companies over the last 23-years.

Time flies when you're having fun.

When I took some time to think about some of those experiences – it brings a smile to my face.

But aside from the joy and personal satisfaction – I realized that my drive for helping small business owners goes deeper – like all the way to my DNA.

I have owned five small businesses, with Predictive ROI being my fifth company, but love of entrepreneurship is something I learned while growing up in my Aunt and Uncle's restaurants and my mom's bakery and catering business back in Canton, Ohio. Go Buckeyes! Had to sneak that in there.

But it goes even deeper still.

It goes back another generation to my grandfather who came to the United States from Istanbul, Turkey as a Greek immigrant who couldn't speak the language…he had no money…he didn't have a robust LinkedIn account…or a thriving YouTube channel…he had no social circle.

But what he did have was incredible work ethic, he had grit, and he had a truckload of tenacity.

And in 1926 – just six years after my grandfather arrived in the U.S…he had saved enough money working on the night shift at a downtown Canton, Ohio restaurant to be able to open his own place, which he called The Ideal.

Just two years before the Great Depression.

But, my Pop survived — our family survived – and helped his customers survive, too – by giving away more homemade soup than he ever sold. He believed so strongly in taking care of his customers because they would take care of him in return. And they did.

So, Onward Nation – the reason I love small business owners as much as I do is because I have tremendous respect for the 28 million owners in this country who are grinding it out, just like my Pop and my family did.

Owners who are working their guts out to make ends meet – who are making the sacrifices at their own dinner table so they can make sure they don't miss payroll for their employees.

I understand how hard it is – my family has been there – I have been there – and maybe you are part of the 43 percent of small business owners right now who consider growing revenue to be their top challenge they are facing.

And that 43 percent equates to 12 million business owners in this country who are challenged with growing revenue. My word.

Something needs to be done about that number, don't you think, Onward Nation. That's too many businesses and too many families who are risk.

I'm committed to driving this number down – it is a worthy goal and I am just now realizing that is has been my life's work – but – now that I am hyper focused on the problem – watch out. This is going to be awesome. I have discovered my "Why" – as Simon Sinek would say.

So this solocast is the first of a brand new 3-part series that I am dedicating to providing you will critical lessons and the practical and tactical tools you need to change the game for your business.

To grow revenue in unique and different ways. To give you a competitive advantage and distinctiveness like no other company in your industry.

So for today…I am going to share two lessons that I learned directly from my time with Christopher Lochhead, one of today's leading authorities on the topic of how companies can become what he calls a "Category King." Chris was my exceptional guest for Episode 448 of Onward Nation.

But before diving into the category design and category kingship – let me first share some context about Chris and why the lessons you learn from him will be a game changer for your business.

Chris is co-author of the book, "Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets." Chris is also the host of the Legends & Losers podcast. Chris is a retired three time Silicon Valley public company CMO, entrepreneur and category designer.

I smiled when I learned that Fast Company Magazine calls Chris a, "Human exclamation point" and The Economist (my favorite magazine) calls him, "off-putting at times".

And because he is also passionate about entrepreneurship — he's a proud advisor to the non-profit "1Life Fully Lived."

When you listen to 448, you will get Chris's first-hand perspectives on grit, persistence, and the challenges he had to overcome on his path to success. He is remarkable and it was an honor to learn from him.

I also recommend you go to Amazon and pick up a copy of Chris's book because it is excellent. Plus, come on…any business book that also blends in something about pirates, well…I am totally game for that.

Okay, here's a quick, personal side note…you likely know that Disney World is my favorite place on Earth – and – yes, I actually do have a thing for pirates. Aye. So…if you want a good laugh…go to the show notes for this solocast and you will see what I mean. Yes, that is actually me in the photo.

That is all I am going to say right now about pirates. But feel free to hit me up on Facebook or Twitter and let me know how hard you laughed when you saw the photo!

Okay, back to today's lessons. Let's start off with some additional context about category design and kingship…so I am going to quote Chris and his co-authors when I say…

"In a well-honed category-driven strategy, the company designs the category, evangelizes the problem, offers its solution to the problem, and then the category makes the company its king. The greatest power comes from the people proclaiming their own king. A self-determined king that isn't made by the category is a hollow despot destined to be overthrown at the first sign of weakness."

So Onward Nation – when you focus on becoming the king of your category – or better still – creating a brand new category – you control the economics of your industry, your sales pipeline gets filled with so much opportunity it is difficult to contain, and you enjoy a market leadership position that gives you the power to price yourself how you want to price yourself.

Interested? Let's dig into the first lesson that I learned from Chris.

Lesson #1: You control the game when you are the Category King.

Onward Nation, we live in an increasingly winner-take-all kind of dynamic in business. For their book, "Play Bigger," Chris and his co-authors analyzed every tech company founded from 2000 through to 2015 that received venture capital funding.

They studied data around what happened to those companies. One of the questions they asked was, "What percentage of market cap goes to the leader in any given market category – or – to say that in another way – the Category King?"

They crunched the numbers, Onward Nation, and their findings were staggering. In the tech industry, 76 percent of the market cap, or the total value of all of the companies in a given category, is owned by the Category King.

Amazing!

But Chris and his co-authors also talked to a lot of other people outside of tech for the book, too, and as you might imagine, they told them that the winner-take-all dynamic they had uncovered in tech was happening everywhere.

So Onward Nation – the research Chris and his co-authors did showed with clarity that we as business owners must figure out how we can design and dominate our industry so that we become the Category King, not somebody else.

However, what Chris and team also found is that we as entrepreneurs tend to only pull two levers when building a company. We think, "Hey, I'm going to build what I hope is a legendary product or service, and then secondarily, I'm going to build what I hope is a legendary company to deliver that product or service."

And then whatever we face in the world, whether it's an opportunity or a threat, these are the only two levers we pull. That is our toolbox…that is our arsenal.

We essentially pile on more features…make a better product…make it faster…make it cheaper, etc.

We think scaling the company will do it. So we hire more sales people, it more geography…we apply a better business model…we sell on the Internet…we open more physical locations…we move our operation to virtual…we go digital.

But all of these variables are just components of the same two levers, Onward Nation. The product lever and the company lever.

What business owners often do is they make is an unconscious decision to put their new legendary product out in the world, and for the most part have what looks and sounds a lot like a product or features conversation with customers and prospects.

And those conversations sort of sound like, "Look at how awesome this new product is! It slices and it dices and it twirls and it spins," and it does all this stuff.

But, when you study what did Steve Jobs did, and what Mark Bennioff, the founder of Salesforce.com did, and what did Henry Ford did, and what did Clarence Birdseye did…as Chris and his team did…you begin to realize is they pulled three levers…not two.

Chris and his team uncovered how Jobs and Ford absolutely got legendary product and company down — but the third lever they pulled – was that they didn't do marketing in any traditional sense that most business owners would consider as marketing.

Instead…they sort of understood intuitively that they would need to condition the world or educate the world to think about a problem in a different way…and therefore…the world would demand a solution…that Jobs and Ford would then be happy to provide in the form of their product.

But right now – the problem we have in business today is that we have too many solutions without a problem…and the end result is…43 percent of small business owners are facing the same top challenge…how to grow revenue?

For example…in 2001 Microsoft launched the Tablet PC. Microsoft was the first big company to launch a tablet computer. But, it didn't go anywhere because for the most part Microsoft had a features discussion and the world didn't understand what problem those features solved.

But, when Apple launched the iPad, Steve Jobs stood up on stage, at the big Mac Developer Conference and he puts up a slide that on one hand has a picture of the iPhone and the other has a picture of the iMac, and then there's a hole in the middle.

Jobs literally said, "We believe there's room for a third category of device. Now let me tell you why."

Then he begins to paint a picture with something you could call a point-of-view about how the PC and the phone are actually not great for consuming rich content, and they're not great communication platforms for the new social, mobile world.

That argument opens our minds up to thinking about the possibility of a third device…the iPad. Boom – a category is created and Apple is its King…because the market demands that of them.

The Chris shared another example with me. This time, he chose Sara Blakely…the founder of Spanx.

Spanx has become an incredibly successful company and product line because Sara made a very important decision. When Sara launched Spanx she did not tell the world that what she was selling was underwear.

And, she didn't call it a "Girdle 2.0", either.

www.inc.com/sara-blakely/how-spanx-founder-turned-5000-dollars-into-a-billion-dollar-undergarment-business.html

Instead, she said, "It's a new kind of under garment called shape wear." In so doing, she distinguished the difference between all that had come before her and her innovation because she understood that if I don't explain to the world what problem this solves – and why that problem matters – they're not going to want my solution.

When she had no money, she no relationships…she cold called buyers…but she had grit. So she designed that first, initial prototype and she wore it to meetings to try to get buyers interested and then holy bananas, she wound up on Oprah after gritting it out, but yet she didn't tell anybody in Oprah's network that she was going to have to make them, pack them, ship them all out of her apartment. How in the world was she going to be able to meet the demand?

But she found a way.

And now she's a billionaire.

She created a category and then worked her guts out to make her dream a reality.

Here's key point that I learned from Chris, Onward Nation — "Legends teach the world to think differently about a problem, and therefore a solution. And when we accept their definition of the problem, we want the solution, and we literally line up in front of their store to get the new version when it comes out."

The magic thing that Sara, Steve Jobs, or any other Category King did successfully is that prosecuted the magic triangle, using Chris's words.

That is to say, they get product, category, and company right.

On the category side, I'm sure you've heard that famous quote from Victor Hugo, "Not even all the armies of the world can stop an idea whose time has come."

That leaves us with the question, Onward Nation, "How do I make it my time?" So let's move on to Lesson #2.

Lesson #2: Position yourself or be positioned.

This lesson is what category design is fundamentally about. For a tangible example…let's take a look at Muhammad Ali. He brilliantly controlled the positioning of his own brand.

Ali said many famous things, of course, but one of Chris's favorite quotes was when Ali said, "If I don't tell them I'm the greatest, how are they going to know?"

We knew he was the greatest – because Ali wasn't afraid to tell us what category he was in.

It was the category of "The Greatest" and it was a category of ONE. And because he WAS the category – he controlled the economics of that category and everyone else was simply an inferior competitor.

The categorization of companies and brands is a continuous thing. We as humans put everything, products, companies, services, and even other human beings into buckets in our head.

Buckets like "must have," "nice to have," or maybe "I don't care."

But then some marketers and business owners say, "We've got to figure out how to make people believe we're a vitamin, not an aspirin."

But, as Chris taught me, what they're really saying is, "Our category has to be urgent and important and worthy of investment."

Chris then shared a very tangible example with me. In 1999, Michael Dell was one of the most celebrated entrepreneurs on planet Earth. He was running an incredible company called Dell Computer. He was on the cover of Fortune Magazine and Multi billionaire, etc. You probably know the story, Onward Nation.

However, if you roll the clock forward today, Michael Dell could walk through Times Square in New York City and go unrecognized yet he still runs the same company and he still sells the same kind of products that he sold back then. But now the company is in a lot of trouble. Had to do some horrible reverse engineering and merge with other companies and it was really fighting for its life.

Onward Nation, we might ask, "But what changed?"

Same guy, same products, same company, what changed is what Chris and his team call "Category violence."

The cloud, virtualization, social, mobile and all the things that we today take for granted came along, and made laptops, desktops, storage and servers not that important.

In other words, the market shifted from where Dell was to where it is today, and that's what legendary category designers do. They take a different approach to educating the world, to shift the world from the way it is to the way they want it to be. In so doing they open the world to a new problem and a new solution.

When that happens a new category emerges, and if you prosecute the magic triangle, as Chris likes to say, you can get two-thirds of the economics in your space.

When that happens you get to hang out with Sara Blakely.

Even companies that we think of as exceptional marketers, like Disney, struggle in getting category right. For years, and still to some degree today, is struggling with how to position Animal Kingdom.

One of the things that drives Disney crazy is when people refer to Animal Kingdom as a zoo, and their defense back has been, "It's not a zoo," and they're trying to make it not a zoo, and now they're finally getting traction, and that park is well over a decade old.

So, Onward Nation, if you don't tell people what you are then they're going to apply whatever filter – or bucket — to what you do.

And they're going to make that up.

Chris has discussions with entrepreneurs all the time and he asks, "Tell me about your business." It's my favorite opening question to ask, and often what I hear is similar to Disney's Animal Kingdom, "Well, we're sort of like this, but we're not really like that. We do kind of this, but we're a new version of that."

Then there's this sort of discussion about all the things that they're not, and so they go on for ten minutes trying to convince Chris they're not a zoo. But guess what Chris is left with in his mind after all that convincing? That Animal Kingdom is a freaking zoo!

Or you're a Zoo 2.0.

"2.0" is the word we put after things we don't know.

If you want to stand alone, and declare your product, your service as a true innovation then by definition it's got to be a new category.

Onward Nation, we accept other people's thinking about the world, about our business, about our life. Category design really is trying to say to the entrepreneurs and the innovators in the world, every market or category got designed by somebody, either intentionally or on purpose, and the minute you position yourself, your company, your product inside an existing category, you are playing their game.

In other words, you are living in somebody else's thinking about how the world should perceive the value you provide — and particularly — the problem that you are solving and why solving that problem matters.

What Chris and his team know is legends don't live inside other people's thinking. Legends ask themselves the questions, "How do I want this market to behave? Why is it the rules are this way?"

Another example is Netflix vs. Blockbuster.

Reed Hastings says it's ridiculous that customers had to go to a video store, they don't have the video that you want, you pay a late fee, etc. And instead asks the question, "Wouldn't it be awesome if you could just go to a website, type in all your favorite movies and they magically show up in your mailbox?"

In so doing Reed hacks the future, he changes the future, he creates by reimagining the problem called how do I get video into the home, and teaching us to think about how he thinks about it we all accept his problem definition, and therefore his solution.

Conversely, Blockbuster went bankrupt because they couldn't solve the problem and now Reed Hastings is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the consumer Internet today.

Our job as leaders, as entrepreneurs, is to create the future of our choosing and not to accept somebody else's definition for how things should be.

Legendary innovators do not leave their market category to chance. They don't do marketing. They don't do traditional marketing, Onward Nation.

They articulate a point-of-view, and that point-of-view evangelizes a problem, and when that resonates with customers and it resonates with people at scale…everything changes.

Once the world sees the problem the same way you want them to, Onward Nation, they cannot un-see it. Then they have to have YOUR solution. You become KING.

Well, that's what Henry Ford did.

Legendary category designers understand that on the one hand you've got to meet the market where it is because if he had said the word "automobile" the world would not have understood. It's shapeware vs. girdle. And we wouldn't know who Henry Ford is. But, he was a category designer.

He found a way to meet the world where it was and to use language in a very powerful way…a new language.

He created a new language to take the world from where they were to where he wanted them to be. So he called his product the horseless carriage.

And in so doing everybody understood what a horse and buggy was, right? Then you say horseless carriage and you go "Oh!" and the world stops.

So take this lesson from Chris — think about what are things called and why are they called that, Onward Nation.

When what today we call smartphones first came out, for a long time they were called, "Wireless phones." They were in the context of what they're not. Today they're beginning to be described more like what they are…smartphones.

And fully loaded iPhone 7 Plus, out the door is $1,000, and the reason Apple is able to do that is because we don't think it's a phone anymore.

So, Onward Nation — pay attention to what things are named.

When you position yourself inside of somebody else's category, you are letting somebody else designed the game.

And when that happens, you're probably not in the position to take two-thirds of the economics and be the category king.

Instead, Onward Nation…be intentional about category and follow Chris' advice for prosecuting the magic triangle…and pull three levers…not the typical tow.

When you do that…you will be in a position to command the economics in your category – because you will likely have created a brand new category just like Sara Blakely.

With that said…I want to say thank you for being here today. I always appreciate your time and feedback.

I also encourage you to download next week's solocast – part two in our Grow Revenue series. We will dig deep into tools and the precise steps you can apply in order to fill your sales pipeline like a pro.

Why is that important?

Because like we discussed at the onset of today's conversation…nearly 12 million business owners cite "Growing Revenue" as their top challenge.

They are indeed feeling category pressure – and – these owners are searching for answers on how to generate the right number of leads, from the right type of prospects, to buy the right service, at the right margin.

So, I am focusing next week's solocast on providing you with the right tools and insights you need to solve those challenges.

In the meantime, you should also visit OnwardNation.com/webinar and register for the free workshop I am teaching on March 23rd that will take a deep dive into how you can harness the power of LinkedIn to generate a steady stream of well-prepared prospects flowing into your business.

Again, that's OnwardNation.com/webinar.

Until then…Onward with gusto!

John Pollock doesn't just talk about entrepreneurship — he lives it. As the CEO of Financial Gravity, John has grown his business from the dining room table to a national organization of 25 employees and led his company to 700% growth in one year. John is also disrupting industry standards for the better. After seeing the lack of integrated advice for business owners across tax planning, financial services, and business strategy, he created the first national tax firm specifically designed to help entrepreneurs reduce their personal tax liability by an average of $21,000. He is also a frequent contributor to various media outlets, including Fox Radio Network, Forbes, and Amex OPEN Forum.

• How a reverse merger works
• How drive itself drives John
• How lack of focus can be a gift
• How you could benefit from going to conferences that are not related to your industry
• Why process has to be built into everything that you do
• Why success is not a destination, it's a journey
• Why there is more skill than luck involved in business
• The three questions that you have to ask yourself

• Website: lowertaxhigherprofit.com
• Website: financialgravity.com
• Website: www.johnpollockinc.com
• eBook: Bust the 10 Tax Myths Sabotaging Your Small Business Growth

Christopher Lochhead is co-author of the book "Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets" and Christopher is also the host of the "Legends and Losers" podcast. Christopher is a retired three-time, Silicon Valley, public company CMO, entrepreneur and category designer. Fast Company Magazine calls him a "Human Exclamation Point" and The Economist calls him "off-putting to some". He can recite much of The Big Lebowski, but can't remember his wife's phone number. He's also an acclaimed public speaker and proud advisor to non-profit "1 Life Fully Lived."

• Chris' background
• Why you need to figure out how to design & dominate your own space
• The two levers that all high-level entrepreneurs want to pull to be successful
• Why, today, there are too many solutions without a problem
• Why it's key to create a new category and become the 'category king'
• Why it's so important to be self-actualized and self-aware
• Why you need to be able to explain what problem you solve & why your product is different
• Why you need to create by reimagining the problem
• Creating the future of our choosing and not accepting somebody else's definition of how something should be
• How to determine the value of your company

• Website: www.legendsandlosers.com
• Book: "Play Bigger" on Amazon & Audible

He has a background in accounting that he gained from a variety of other business ventures. Apex Fun Run's passion is to help teachers, students, and schools. His company partners with schools to raise funds for equipment and other campus needs through a two-week character-building and leadership program that culminates with a student "run" to raise donations for schools. Students ask people they know to pledge money for each completed lap. Apex Fun Run raises more money for schools than any other fundraiser, averaging about $23,000.

• Jeremy's background
• Jeremy's fundraising program: Apex Fun Run
• Why Jeremy believes in having a daily, top 5 priority list
• Why Jeremy takes every day as a challenge to do his best
• The huge impact that Apex Fun Run has had on kids nationwide
• Why you can't do it all as an entrepreneur — and why that's okay
• Why Jeremy believes delegation is so critical to success
• Why failure and making mistakes is not always a bad thing
• Focusing on something that you are passionate about that has a demand
• Why you need to go "all in"

• Website: apexfunrun.com

Gordon Tredgold is a business and IT transformation expert who has successfully delivered $100 million programs, run $300 million departments, and led teams of 1000 staff for Fortune 100 companies. Gordon is the author of the critically acclaimed book "FAST" and works with enterprises on implementing results-based leadership initiatives to rapidly accelerate the organization's growth.

• Gordon's background
• Why you must be able to influence people, not just direct them
• Why you need to aim high, start small, celebrate, and keep going
• Why persistency and consistency are the keys to success
• Why you need to write for the benefit of your audience
• Leading with integrity and love
• How your job as a leader is to serve and protect your team
• How the more recognition you give out, the more success you will have

• Website: gordontredgold.com
• Twitter: @gordontredgold
• Book: FAST: 4 Principles Every Business Needs to Achieve Success and Drive

Stephen is the CEO of Predictive ROI and the host of the Onward Nation podcast. He is the author of two bestselling books, speaker, trainer, and his digital marketing insights have been featured in SUCCESS, Entrepreneur, The Washington Post, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and other media.

Good Morning Onward Nation…I'm Stephen Woessner and welcome to this week's solocast…Episode 445.

During last week's solocast — we tackled two of three most frequently asked questions I hear from business owners when they are considering having a podcast…which are 1) "Stephen, how much time is this going to take me?", and 2) "How am I going to get great guests to come onto the show — especially when I am just starting out?"

I appreciate all of the feedback from last week — I'm glad you found the strategies helpful. I also received some feedback letting me know that the monetization topic — which was one of the three FAQs that I skipped last week but promised to share in a future solocast — was a really important topic.

So, based on your feedback, I moved monetization up in our airing schedule and that is what we will focus on today.

I always appreciate your thoughts and suggestions, Onward Nation — thank you!

In today's solocast…I will share several practical and tactical strategies you can take and apply that will help you monetize your podcast — which is a trendy way to say — "How your podcast will generate revenue" — or grow revenue for your business.

If you have been listening to Onward Nation for a while — you know that I like sharing strategies along with all of their tactical step-by-step processes that help business owners create predictable, measurable, and repeatable success for themselves and their teams.

Today's solocast will be no different.

Here's the reality…when it comes to generating revenue for your business as a result of your podcast…there are significant challenges. It is not as simple as turning on the microphone, recording a conversation with a guest, sharing it on iTunes, and then all of a sudden — you have thousands of people beating down your door to do business with you. There is so much marketing hyperbole circulating around the web and social platforms — and it makes business owners think there is some sort of "pot of gold" at the end of their podcast rainbow.

But…are there business owners whose podcasts are generating hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars a year in revenue for their core business?

Absolutely. But this doesn't happen by accident.

It takes intention. It is the result of a lot of hard work, decades of subject matter expertise within their core business, a commitment to creating content with excellence, a heart that wants to give way more than ever asking, and ultimately, a smart strategy that ties their podcast into their core business.

There is no such thing as an overnight success, Onward Nation.

To help give you as much context and share as much value as I can…I am going to give you another sneak peek from Chapter 4 of my upcoming book, Profitable Podcasting.

We are going to drill into this chapter because I use it to focus attention on the recipe — the practical and tactical steps — any business owner can apply to craft the right monetization strategy behind their podcast.

And after our dive into strategy…we will go deeper still.

I will share a recent interview that my good friend, Mitch Stephen, fellow business owner and podcaster, and I did on his show, Real Estate Investor Summit. During the show, Mitch shared his story about how his podcast had driven over $60,000 in new revenue into his business within the last 90-days.

I say HAD driven — because I had a quick call with Mitch last week — and he let me know that his podcast has generated another $30,000 in revenue the day before.

I want you to hear Mitch's story in his own words. It is inspiring and tactical, which is always a great combination.

So here we go, Onward Nation — let's answer the question — "How can my podcast generate revenue for my business?"

When executed properly, your podcast will be uniquely suited to accomplish three vital priorities:

1. Expand your platform or extend your thought leadership.
2. Build a nation of true fans.
3. And…grow your business revenue.

And…your opportunity to grow revenue will likely fit into three primary categories:

1. Offering premium priced services to the business owners who have appeared as guests on your show.
2. Offering less expensive, entry-level programs to your concentric circles of lesser fans, which I cover in chapter 6 of the book.
3. Attract the right sponsorships to boost revenue and credibility with your listeners, which I cover in chapter 17 of the book.

In my opinion, you will have a healthy and stable core business when you sell your services directly to your guests — and — this represents the majority of your podcast-related revenue.

This sales strategy will ensure there is ample revenue flowing into your core business to cover overhead, generate profit, provide ample funds to reinvest and further expand by introducing new services to continue the life cycle of a balanced business.

It is important for your podcast to feed your core business, Onward Nation.

It is also important for you not to become distracted with creating a passive revenue income as your first step. Passive revenue streams can be helpful and provide high-margin sources of revenue.

However, it can sometimes be tempting to want to create a passive revenue stream first because it feels less like selling. Wouldn't it be wonderful to wake up each morning and see all of the successful credit card transaction receipts in your inbox?

Of course it would.

But not at the expense of your core team not having enough work to do. If you pursue the goal of creating a passive revenue stream for your business — before you address the lead gen and revenue needs of your core business — you run the very real risk of losing valuable time, getting sidetracked, and going out of business.

And that is expensive.

So let's focus our attention on your guests.

You will maximize your revenue opportunity, and ensure the health of your core business if you quickly begin using your podcast as what I like to call your "Trojan Horse of Selling."

Selling directly to your guests represents your lowest hanging fruit, your shortest path to revenue, and it is not a complex sales strategy. It could be as simple as sharing ideas with a guest following your interview, in an informal manner, looping back to them after you flesh out the ideas further, and then asking for their permission to proceed.

Lee Caraher, host of the "Focus Is Your Friend" podcast, shared her sales strategy with me.

She said to me…

"Stephen, there's usually 15-minutes before we start the interview where I say, 'Oh my gosh, Hi. Blah, blah, blah.' Then afterwards, I am sharing with them, 'I have an idea for you', which is where I'm really good. That's one of my strengths. 'Oh, here's an idea! Or, here's a different idea!' I share the ideas after the interview is over. Depending on how my guest reacts, if they say, 'Oh that'd be a great idea. How do I do that?' Then I say, "Let me think about it some more.'

"A week or two later, I'll noodle on the idea a little more. Then I'll email them with, "You know, I thought about that idea. Here is how I think you could implement it. Here is what I think the lift will be. Here is what I think the cost will be. We can't do that for you — or — we can do that for you.' Of that, 25 percent of the time the ideas are coming back to us in some sort of project. Our podcast has been super helpful in growing revenue for Double Forte."

So Onward Nation…here is the first ingredient to consider as part of your monetization strategy. I call it "The Campfire Pitch."

Lee developed a straightforward sales strategy. Her podcast opened the door with the right decision-maker, she conducted a rock solid interview, and then she enthusiastically shared ideas with her guest.

This The Campfire Pitch…here's why.

When you were a kid, did you ever go camping with family or friends, or have a bonfire in your backyard?

Maybe you were sitting around the fire, feeling warm, and sharing stories with your friends. The energy of the group was awesome. But then the party was over, it was time for bed, and when you woke up the next morning, the same people were with you but the energy of the moment was gone.

That's what entrepreneur and brand expert Chris Smith calls the Campfire Effect.

It happens in business — after a great interview, for example — and it happens in social situations.

Lee knows this and has astutely aligned her sales strategy to the Campfire Effect. When the energy of the interview has climaxed, she smartly shares an idea or two.

The prospective client (her guest) on the other end of the Skype connection is receptive to the ideas, because of several key ingredients:

For one thing, Lee is brilliant at what she does, and she is sharing excellent ideas. Also, the guest is receptive because of the Campfire Effect and the value Lee has just shared by inviting them onto her show.

Lee is airing approximately 50 to 70 guest interviews per year — so if her team continues to close 25 percent of the opportunities, then her podcast will help Double Forte onboard approximately 15 new projects every 12-months.

Think about that in the terms of your core business and revenue model, Onward Nation.

If you could take on 15 new projects from clients within the next 12-months, how would your business change?

No doubt the change would be substantial.

One of the reasons Lee has been successful with her Campfire Pitch sales strategy is because she doesn't approach the conversations with her guests as selling at all.

She enthusiastically shares ideas with the goal of delivering value. One Onward Nation guest told me, "Selling is simply the transference of your enthusiasm over to your prospect."

Lee has mastered this principle. Her guests don't feel "sold." In fact, the exact opposite happens: They feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to be a guest on her show.

Lee's ideas were a value-added bonus.

Now let's move to the second ingredient in a proper monetization strategy. I call it the Social Media Warm-up.

The Campfire Pitch Lee Caraher uses is masterful. But, I also realize it might not be for everyone because not everyone will feel comfortable to share ideas and sell so early in the relationship. I respect that.

So the Social Media Warm-up sales strategy is already baked into the overall recipe of your Profitable Podcast. In Chapter 12 of my book, you will learn how to promote the airing of each of your guest's episodes via social media using two key ingredients — but — I am going to share some highlights right now. The two ingredients are:

• First, promote the airing of each episode and the wisdom shared by your guest to your social media community
• Then, tag your guests in each post whenever possible so they are nudged to share and retweet your content. This helps build your nation of true fans by exposing their community to your content.

But in addition — your social media strategy does more than help you promote your episodes and build your nation.

By highlighting your guest's wisdom in each tweet, and by tagging the guest, you are continually reminding your guests of the value they shared with your community.

This makes your guests feel good – and rightly so.

After all, they delivered massive value – you recognized that – and you are now shouting it from the rooftops. By doing so, you are continually stoking the Campfire Effect with each of your guests.

With some of your guests, the fire will begin burning hot so that when you reach back out to them to discuss how your core business might be able to help their business, one of the first things they may say to you at the onset of the call is, "Thanks for all of the tweets!"

Then you will know that your social media warm-up opened the door exactly as you intended.

You will smile when it happens — trust me — it's rock solid awesome!

Okay…now let's switch gears and really cement this monetization strategy into place by listening to Mitch Stephen — and yours truly — share specific examples about how a podcast has generated revenue for Mitch and his company.

Here's Mitch Stephen, host of the Real Estate Investor Summit Podcast…

reinvestorsummit.com/stephen-woessner

Okay, welcome back, Onward Nation.

My guess is Onward Nation, that the success Mitch Stephen has achieved through his hard work and having the right monetization and business development strategy behind his podcast has been inspiring and maybe helped you think about new directions and maybe some next steps.

But I want to take it deeper still. If you go to today's show notes…you will find a recent video we received from Drew McLellan, top dog at the Agency Management Institute, where in less than 2-minutes, he describes why he wanted to start a podcast, some of the obstacles that held him back, and how the podcast has generated over $200,000 in revenue for his business in the 18-months that it has been live.

Committing to investing a few hours per week, for 18-months, to generate $200,000 in revenue is fantastic ROI, Onward Nation.

Don't let the fears, or the imposter syndrome, well up inside and rob you of your destiny — your exceptional opportunity to be more — to share more — to deliver more — to create more impact.

Is having a podcast scary? Heck yes, it is — at first.

But as Dr. Marcie Beigel encouraged us in Episode 144… "Onward Nation…you need to be scared and do it anyway."

Les Brown once said, "Unless you attempt to do something beyond what you have already mastered — you will never grow."

Your podcast represents an exceptional opportunity for you to grow your business revenue, Onward Nation — and — it represents an exceptional opportunity for you to grow as a person…as a thought leader…and as someone who your nation of true fans will love and respect.

So with that said…

I want to say thank you for taking the time to be here with me today. It is an honor to have you here — thank you for tuning in — your time is sacred and I am delighted you chose this episode to be what you listen to, study, and take with you on your morning run, or maybe Onward Nation has become part of your daily commute, or in some other way has become part of your morning routine.

However our daily podcast fits into your daily routine — I want you to know how much I appreciate you sharing some of your invaluable 86,400 seconds you have in your day with me and the strategies we learn and share each day from today's top business owners.

And please continue to let me know what you think of Onward Nation…good or bad…I always want your feedback. My direct email address is [email protected] — and yes — that is my actual Inbox. No fancy filters or filing system and I read and reply to every single email.

So please let me know how you think we are doing. I look forward to hearing from you.

We will be back tomorrow with Gordon Tredgold in Episode 446. Gordon shares his thoughts on why as leaders we need to serve and protect our teams — not the other way around. You will not want to miss Gordon — he is rock solid awesome, Onward Nation.

Until then, onward with gusto!

Before starting InsightBee in 2014, Manoj worked with Evalueserve for over a decade in several roles and led the creation of industry-focused business research teams at the firm. He served as the global head of operations for corporate and professional services verticals and was responsible for a global team of over 700 professionals serving clients across technology, energy, chemicals, consumer goods, transportation, manufacturing and professional services. Manoj has also served as a management consultant with Accenture's consulting practice in Asia and spent about 50% of his time serving clients across Middle East, Europe and South East Asia in a variety of assignments spanning from devising the go-to-market strategy for a B2B e-commerce platform to optimizing the distribution network of global companies.

• Manoj's background
• Manoj's time-saving secret recipe for success
• Why Manoj believes that you need to go slow to go fast
• Why you should be focusing on the customer experience
• Why resilience is such a critical skill to master
• The benefits of jumping into the unknown
• Why you need to make sure that your service mindset doesn't get diluted
• Using the lean startup approach

• Website: www.insightbee.com
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/manojmadhusudanan
• Free Resource: resources.insightbee.com/top-global-technology-trends-2017

Gene Hammett helps leaders go from status quo to exceptional to accelerate their business growth. Gene has been a business leader for over 20 years. He has started and ran multiple million dollar companies. He has succeeded, failed, reinvented himself, and succeeded again. On his podcast, "Leaders in the Trenches", Gene has interviewed hundreds of thought leaders and best-selling New York Times authors. Gene is honored to have shared the platform with the legendary Jack Canfield and has been featured in Forbes, NBC, SUCCESS Magazine, and Huffington Post. Gene is also a regular contributor for Entrepreneur.com.

• Gene's background
• Why you need to have a platform
• Why you need to ask yourself who you're here to serve
• Why you need to be THE choice, not just A choice
• Why you need to have "what can I do for you?" conversations
• The importance of being thoughtful and provocative
• Being intentional about what you want
• Building your dream list
• Why you shouldn't wait to be discovered

• Website: leadersinthetrenches.com
• Website: leadersinthetrenches.com/onward
• Website: thetrapofsuccess.com
• Twitter: @genehammett

Susan Friedmann is known as The NichePreneur Coach. She is an internationally recognized niche marketing expert and "how-to" coach. She's worked with hundreds of companies representing more than 30 different industries in the North and South America, Europe, and South East Asia. She is a prolific author, having written 14 books including her bestsellers, "Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies," and "Riches in Niches: How to Make it BIG in a small Market," plus many other titles. She's appeared on a variety of radio talk shows and as a guest expert on CNN's Financial Network and Bloomberg's Small Business.

• Susan's background
• Making it big in a small market
• Why Susan makes a 2-hour appointment with herself every morning
• Stream-of-consciousness writing exercise
• Why Susan believes that mindset is critical to success
• Why taking action in the right direction warrants a higher likelihood for success
• Why you need to know how to ask for help
• Not allowing yourself the fear of failing or being successful
• Taking charge of procrastination & perfectionism

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 518-523-1320