On this week’s P is for Profit, we speak with special guest, Michelle Vandepas. Michelle is an expert for entrepreneurs and personal development experts who want to share what they’ve learned with the world by publishing a book. She is the Co-Founder of GracePoint Matrix and GracePoint Publishing, the gold standard in concierge publishing. She is also an esteemed TEDx speaker and TEDx Speaker Coach.

“In the process of publishing and marketing my first book, I started talking to other people about the mistakes that they made and what I do differently. Before you know it, I was merging my marketing consulting with book consulting and over 20 years, that morphed into specializing in publishing books. Eventually, I became Co-Founder and owner of a book publishing company. So I really understand the whole process, how you use it to market a business, how you go about writing a book when you're not a writer, and all the way through to publishing and marketing. And that just comes from being years in the industry,” says Michelle.

We chat about Michelle’s journey to owning a publishing company, as well as:

• Why business owners should consider writing a book

• The importance of writing for your customers rather than for yourself

• The process of actually writing a book

• Common mistakes made by authors

• And more

Naira Perez, founder of SpringHill Digital is quite passionate about using digital marketing to help her clients meet their business goals. 

In fact, she gets quite upset when she sees companies not taking it seriously, wasting time and money on ineffectual marketing… and maybe even harming their brand… because they didn’t have a plan backed by research. They might have the wrong message or are reaching the wrong audience.

Naira says that with the right approach your online efforts can put you in front new qualified prospects… and bring you new customers on a predictable and sustainable basis.

We get detail on exactly how to do that, as well as…

• The 5+ deadliest mistakes companies make in digital campaigns
• How to build relationships through smart marketing 
• Creating a funnel that turns prospects into customers
• The biggest differences between paid and “free” marketing
• And more

In her work as a brand strategist, Susan Meier discovered early on that people form deep emotional connections with the brands they buy. Using her talent as a visual artist, Susan, founder of Susan Meier Studio, has been able to excel in a key part of branding – the design.

She also pays close attention to the other part of branding a business: your unique story and your values – who you are, in a nutshell. Plus, you must showcase what makes you different – and better – than the competition. Otherwise, you compete on price, which Susan says is a race to the bottom.

We take a deep dive into branding strategies any business can use, as well as…

• What small businesses can do to establish an effective brand

• The biggest myths about branding

• Making your business relevant to your target audience – and how to make sure they know

• Using branding to create a competitive advantage

• And more

On this week’s episode of P is for Profit, we speak with special guest Derick Van Ness. Derick is a wealth strategist and the Founder of Big Life Financial. They focus on removing the mystery and misinformation surrounding money and financial strategy so that business owners can live their biggest lives. This is done by helping business owners create financial systems to optimize the growth and the protection of their money.

“I've been a marketing consultant and a business consultant and different things, and I found that most people find that not having money is probably the biggest obstacle to them being who they want to be and living the life that they want to live. I'm really passionate about that for myself, so I decided to dive into and figure out what are the foundational models, what are the things that people can do? How do we wipe out most of the stuff that's holding people back in the simplest way possible? We've developed and learned a couple of models that really remove that for people,” says Derick.

We chat about the most common things that are holding people back from living their biggest lives, as well as:

• Systematizing your savings

• The downsides of investing in stocks and bonds

• Cash flow banking

• Common financial mistakes made by business owners

• And more

On this week’s episode of P Is For Profit, we speak about how your small or medium business can compete with large businesses with seemingly unlimited marketing budgets. We’re joined by special guest Arjun Rai, a marketing expert who’s using data science and artificial intelligence to help business owners grow their digital marketing presence. He is the Founder and CEO of Woofy, a platform developed to create a seamless, smarter, and innovative social media marketing experience while maximizing efficiencies.

“We wanted to support the underdogs to be able to have an unfair advantage when it came to social media marketing. We're using a lot of data science, making it truly beautiful on the front end, so that your 10-year-old influencer that's really struggling to launch campaigns, or even your new marketer to the scene, all of them could be able to use AI-driven decision making skills 24/7. It's like having an agency working for you, writing content for you, and suggesting content based on what's working and not working. It's truly your best friend,” says Arjun.

We chat about data science and artificial intelligence, as well as:

• How Woofy uses data science to curate social media content, saving time for small business owners

• Research showing that the use of emojis in social media marketing actually increases uplift and purchase intent

• How to make your offline approach work swimmingly with your digital marketing

• The most common mistakes made in digital marketing

• And more

Sam Schutte, founder of Unstoppable Software, and his team create custom software applications for healthcare, manufacturing, and engineering businesses. 

Sam says software like this isn’t a “nice to have”… it’s key to your business’s growth.

The impact more efficient, software-driven operations can have on your business is tremendous, helping you reduce costs, be more innovative, and be more profitable.

Sam shares some unexpected ways the right software can radically improve your operations, customer service, sales, inventory tracking, and more… as well as real-life examples of custom solutions in action. 

Tune in to find out…

• When off-the-shelf software works – and when it doesn’t

• The types of problems best solved by custom software

• Why the right solution can bring in an ROI of 300% to 800%
   
• How to cut one of the biggest expenses in your business

• And more

On this week’s episode of P is for Profit, we speak with Ryan Englin, CEO of Core Matters, and one half of The Blue Collar Culture Podcast. Ryan is a strategic marketing consultant and recruiting marketing expert whose aim is to help businesses recruit more efficiently in order to create the ultimate employee experience. 

“So often HR is the one that takes over the recruiting process because it's people-related, but I believe that recruiting is actually a marketing activity. You're promoting your company, you're promoting the positions, and you're essentially attracting people to your business, just like you would a customer. It's just the sales process here is whether or not you want to hire them and have them join your team,” says Ryan.

We chat about the biggest myths surrounding recruitment, as well as:

• Marketing as a recruitment tool

• The most common reasons employees will stay at or leave their jobs

• Recruiting for blue collar vs. white collar businesses

• The Core Fit hiring system

• And more

Using neuro-linguistic program and other strategies, Erik Luhrs targets marketing efforts to your prospects’ subconscious mind to generate more qualified leads. He says most marketing is too “logical,” which makes little sense because people take action based on emotion.

But before he gets to that point, he recommends that companies start with a very fundamental element. Something that is required to build a solid foundation. Their brand and positioning. 

That’s not about logos or slogans… you have to truly and very distinctly set yourself apart from the competition. But figuring out what makes you, your business, and your offering unique – and valuable – isn’t as easy as you might think.

We get into the heart of that, as well as…

• The easiest way to sabotage your sales (and how to avoid it)

• The biggest myths about addressing your prospects’ pain points in your marketing

• Why you shouldn’t “close deals” in sales

• How to set up valuable post-sale relationships

• And more 

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a must-have for any business with a website – and these days that’s just about every business. Stephan Spencer helps clients bring massive traffic (i.e. leads) to their sites using cutting-edge SEO tools and strategies.

It’s all about getting on page 1 of the Google results, and that means having the right keywords in place. Exactly how to do that is always changing based on Google’s algorithm. Stephan shares how he stays one step ahead of the game.

The next step: converting those leads into customers with marketing messages and web content that compels people to take action. We talk about how to make that happen, as well as...

• “Trick questions” you can use to hire the right SEO provider

• The danger of “tone-deaf” website content

• Why you shouldn’t be a “hero” to your prospects

• The 3 steps to determining the right messaging for your target market

• And more

Since the Internet has come on the scene, sales strategies have changed drastically. You need a totally new approach to how you speak to prospects, says Liz J. Simpson, founder of Stimulyst. 

You must use digital marketing to establish authority in your niche and spur business development that creates high-value relationships.

Liz’s passion is helping small business owners become thought leaders in their niche… which helps them bring in a steady flow of high-paying clients almost automatically – no old school outbound sales needed… so they can experience steady revenue and predictable growth. 

That structure means less stress and more money… and more freedom.

We talk about the components of a digitally- driven thought leadership-based business development system in your business and how to implement it, as well as…

• How to “educate” your prospect into buying from you

• What you must know about a buyer – it will inform your marketing, sales approach, and more 

• Why you must “niche down” if you want your business to survive in 2020

• The only thing customers care about

• And more