Productize My Service with Tyler Gillespie

Hello Productizers,

Got a good one for you today.

There’s a bunch of swiss cheese information out there about how to grow your business with paid advertising — it’s got a lot of holes in it.

The “gurus” make it sound like there’s some magic targeting trick or ad template shortcut that will make you bucketloads of money.

There isn’t.

If you really want to grow your business with advertising there is a lot that you have to get right.

With me this week is advertising expert Brice Gump — founder and CEO of Major Impact Media. 

Over the last 5 years, Brice Gump and his agency have helped dozens of established online businesses acquire thousands of customers through effective advertising.

He shares his journey working with digital products & course creators and helping them to grow their sales with paid advertising on Facebook and YouTube.

Lots of insightful and inspiring stuff with Brice. Enjoy!

• 0.33 - The types of problems that people pay Brice and his agency to solve.
• 1:20 - How Brice started Major Impact Media, and his online background.
• 4:05 - How his business model is set up, how he charges, his team, and the number of clients.
• 5:20 - Best advice and tips for businesses that want to break into online advertising.
• 7:05 - The one thing you need to get right to increase traffic and lead flow.
• 8:52 - How much revenue Major Impact Media makes per month.
• 11:13 - Learn how to position yourself in the market, charge higher prices, and work with high-end businesses as a service-based business.
• 13:23 - How to get your first $1000 in revenue.
• 17:07 - Best go-to resources and people that have helped Brice grow Major Impact media.
• 19:32 - Get to know what would break if your business tripled overnight and how to fix it.
• 23:08 - How to grow your business using referrals.

1. Develop relationships with people and they’ll want to work with you and help you move your business forward. As a business owner, you should build professional relationships. Relationship building from a business standpoint can help you retain current customers, get new customers, and manage your reputation. You should also seek to build relationships with your employees and members of your community.

When starting a business, you’ll need to acquire a lot of skills at different times. One of the best things you could adopt is just-in-time learning. Learn what you need to learn when you need to learn it.

2. Build your company's knowledge Base. Build systems and processes to internally hire and train people.

Reports show that businesses that have implemented a knowledge base see increases in collaboration, productivity, and employee engagement. The benefits of a knowledge base have extensive effects. When your employees are empowered to do their jobs faster and more efficiently, your company’s customers and partners benefit as well.

3. You need to get testimonials and case studies within the first 60-90 days when they are very happy. Ask for testimonials when you’re getting great results for your clients. It’s not advisable to ask for a testimonial after you’ve lost that client.

Customer: Digital products and course creators + 

Mechanism: Paid advertising on Facebook, Instagram, Google, and YouTube = 

Results: Over $4,500,000 in digital products, online courses, and high-

Hey Productizers,

Today, I’m thrilled to have Jesse Forrest of Copywriting Crew as a guest. He has been a copywriter for over 16 years and has worked with some extremely high-profile clients around the world. Jesse breaks down what it takes to run a productized service as a professional copywriter and provides some really unique insights on networking.

Let’s get to it!

Golden Timestamps:

• 1:20 - Business owners know that they should publish content, but finding time is the challenge
• 3:23 - From a career in door-to-door sales to copywriting
• 4:47 - Copywriting is salesmanship in print
• 5:00 - Jesse’s early days as a copywriter to building a productized service
• 12:00 - How Copywriting Crew is set up - turning words into a product
• 16:21 - Combining copywriting and content writing into one business
• 18:22 - Building a lean, streamlined, and efficient team
• 20:37 - Picking a price point for productized content services
• 26:00 - What does ‘simple’ look like for you?
• 27:09 - Unlocking early revenue for Copywriting Crew through networking
• 28:00 - Conferences as an opportunity to network with future customers
• 33:19 - Pro-tip for introverts at a conference: 20 seconds of courage
• 36:00 - The biggest hurdle for Copywriting Crew
• 40:00 - Jesse’s superpower in running a productized service

Key Takeaways:

1. What does ‘simple’ look like? I love this question because it helps you hit the reset button and figure out the quickest, most efficient solution to your problem or challenge. Understanding the simplest way out of a situation was the key to boosting CopypwritingCrew’s business.
2. Networking is essential in a Productized Service business -- what it looks like today may be different, but don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, talk to people, attend conferences, and muster up those ‘20 seconds of courage that could transform your business.
3. Conferences or virtual events, communities, and business groups give you a chance to interact with potential clients or customers. Whether you consider yourself an extrovert or not, find opportunities to meet people in your industry. It goes a long way in your learning, growth, and success.

Business Model Breakdown:

Customer: Businesses, agencies, and entrepreneurs

Mechanism: A team of expert native English speakers

Result: Affordable and fast-turnaround writing services for businesses, agencies and entrepreneurs

Pain: Most business owners lack the time, skill, or confidence to handle regular content posting

Solution: Writing services as packaged products in a done-for-you model

Offer: Copywriting and content writing packages ranging from $49 to $195 per product

Courage is the fuel of your business

Big Idea: Changing professions takes courage, choosing to start a business takes courage, every big decision you make will require you to challenge the norm, and be courageous. 

Thinking Time + Action:

• When was the last time you did something that you were afraid of? Did you ramp up your courage to make a business-altering decision? List some potential goals that you find so audacious that they’re terrifying.
• What does s

Hello Productizers!

I have a treat for you - our guest for today is Brian Casel of AudienceOps.

Audience Ops is a content marketing business that offers a done-for-you blogging service. They’re focused on helping B2B online companies grow their audience and customer base. Brian is a serial-entrepreneur with great insight into running and scaling up a successful productized service business so there’s plenty for us to unpack!!

Exclusive Interview:

*I apologize in advance for my poor audio. This was recorded before I got my new mic.

Golden Timestamps:

• 1:13 - What problems does AudienceOps solve
• 11:26 - From selling a productized service to starting the next one!
• 13:00 - The benefits of a Done-For-You service
• 16:35 - Working with a 25-member remote team
• 17:10 - How to position your pricing
• 19:00 - You need a long-term strategy for content
• 21:00 - The biggest learning for AudienceOps
• 23:00 - A long-term mindset for your team is important too
• 26:00 - Early success for AudienceOps
• 30:00 - The trick to growing your network - community!
• 32:14 - You don’t need a lot to get a productized service business going
• 33:40 - The challenges in scaling up AudienceOps

Key Takeaways:

1. Think long-term: It’s important to think long-term and look at providing long-term value not just for your business, or your clients, but your employees too. This kind of mindset will carry you through seasons of unpredictability.
3. Everyone has a network: You may not be a pro at networking, you don’t necessarily have to be either. Reach out to those you know, the people that form your immediate network. Attend events, get facetime with people in your industry.
5. Getting off the ground is easier than you think in the productized service business: Unlike many other businesses that require a large amount of starting capital, research, and set-up costs, a productized service can get off the ground quite quickly and easily.

Business Model Breakdown:

Customer: Online businesses looking to grow their customer base

Mechanism: Done-for-you blog, podcasts, and case study content development

Result: Reach more customers, expand your business, grow your brand

Pain: Content marketing is a difficult space to navigate, it takes time, effort, and expertise.

Solution: End-to-end content planning, production, and distribution

Offer: Blogging services at $850 - $1700/month

Never underestimate your network

Big Idea: Your network is the first place to go to when refining your productized service business and getting it off the group - not just because they may be your potential customer base, but it provides an incredible opportunity to solicit honest, unencumbered feedback about what may work, where you can improve, and where your potential blind spots are. Leverage your network!

Thinking Time + Action:

• If this is your first productized service business, or if you’re currently building one -- what are some ways you can think long-term? What does that look like for you today? List out a few decisions you made in the last month that will provide long-term value.
<

Luiz Cent is the Head of Sales at Mailshake, a software company that provides businesses with the automated tools to optimize their cold email outreach process.

Luiz, as a sales and lead generation specialist, has incredible insight into how you can prioritize quality leads in today’s marketing environment.

Grab some popcorn and enjoy :)

--Tyler

Exclusive Masterclass:

Golden Timestamps:

• 1:50 - How Mailshake has functioned as a sales team to solopreneurs 
• 3:09 - The need for a multi-touch sales strategy
• 6:09 - The most efficient touchpoint sequence
• 6:58 - Examining your selling cycle to determine which touchpoints work
• 7:50 - Where to start your touchpoint sequence 
• 16:19 - How to organize and scale up your email outreach plan
• 18:00 - The most important change in email outreach
• 19:00 - A step-by-step plan to get your first set of leads
• 25:00 - How to conduct simple A/B testing to improve your outbound communication
• 26:00 - Potential email funnel sequences that work
• 28:45 - Things to absolutely not do when cold-emailing your leads
• 32:00 - Go for the ‘NO!’

Key Takeaways:

1. Details matter: In the world of lead generation, putting in the extra work can have massive long-term dividends. This may be as easy as writing a personal intro line, making the email subject more engaging, or hiring someone else to save you the effort - paying attention to the details makes all the difference.
2. Test, test, test: Test everything. Test the length of your email, test which touchpoint works best, test which opening lines have the highest success. There is no substitute for statistically-proven results. It can take over 1000 emails to get there, but do it!
3. Quality over quantity: Gone are the days when you could send thousands of standardized emails a day and expect a success rate that will meet your targets. People have gotten smarter, email platforms have gotten sharper -- the only way to guarantee a good conversion rate is by carefully listing out quality leads, even if it’s just 50-100. 

Business Model Breakdown:

Customer: Sales professionals, entrepreneurs, content marketers, and anyone looking to earn leads via cold outreach

Mechanism: Done-for-you sales engagement tool

Result: Scale your customer outreach with intuitive, personalized campaigns

Pain: Setting up a sales team is challenging when you’re a lean startup

Solution: Automated, personalized cold email engagement sequences on one dashboard.

Offer: Email outreach at $59/month per user, sales engagement at $99/month per user with a 30-day guarantee

Modern outreach requires razor-sharp focus and rigorous testing

Big Idea: Quality over quantity, it’s better to focus and build a well-curated list of potential leads that you KNOW will be likely to convert. The time for shooting in the dark is over -- if you’re looking to run a successful productized service, put your efforts into deep research, knowing your customers, and tailoring your offering to serve them better.

Thinking Time + Action:

• Can you list two or three areas where you can personaliz

Hi Productizers, 

Today, we have Jake Jorgovan, serial entrepreneur, author, podcaster, and business advisor, talking to us about the one subject every single person looking to run a productized service NEEDS to hear: How to succeed in your next hire and bring on a-players in your business

Jake is also the founder of Lead Cookie and Content Allies, and runs both companies with minimum involvement - a testament to his excellent processes, both hiring and otherwise. Through these companies, he has generated $40M+ in sales for his customers.

Today, he shares with us the secret to turning every hire into a success. This was a special Masterclass presentation that goes deep into hiring strategies. Grab your notepad and let’s build some leverage in your service business.

Tyler

Exclusive Masterclass:

Golden Timestamps:

• 7:44 - The top hiring mistakes that people make
• 9:14 - Find out why hiring someone for sales can sometimes be a mistake
• 10:25 - How to find out who you need to hire
• 13:50 - Someone else will love the work that you hate
• 27:45 - How to set up a new hire for success
• 29:00 - Breaking down the four phases of success for a new hire
• 32:00 - When someone fails to deliver, look at the manager (AKA - you!)
• 36:00 - The phases of leadership that people usually hire for
• 41:09 - How to determine pay for contract and full-time hires
• 46:04 - Should you work with contractors or full-time resources?
• 49:04 - What you can do as a founder if you don’t have the time to interview people
• 58:55 - When is the right time to make your first hire

Key Takeaways:

1. Pay attention to where you are becoming a bottleneck to your own business. Entrepreneurs are best used when they’re doing the work that nobody else can, so look out for moments where you may be limiting the growth or sustainability of your company.
2. Set your new hire up for success. It’s important to be clear about expectations, consistent with constructive feedback, and chart out what success looks like for your new hire’s first quarter.
3. Ensure that you carve out a very specific role for a new hire. Don’t expect them to be a version of you, instead, map out the tasks they need to do, and the skills they need to succeed. This will reduce the likelihood of frustration for both you, and the new hire.

Lead Cookie Business Model Breakdown:

Customer: Small B2B businesses

Mechanism: Outbound LinkedIn efforts by optimizing, engaging, and converting leads

Result: Generate qu

I’m really excited to introduce today’s guest - Clayton Johnson. He’s the Chief Marketing Officer of The HOTH, a systems genius, and a personal friend of mine. It has been incredible to witness The HOTH’s success, and the investment that Clayton has made in getting the company to where it is today.

The HOTH - which, by the way, stands for ‘Hittem Over the Head’, meaning to go above and beyond in getting things done, is a complete package of products and solutions for all things SEO and online marketing.

Find out what sets The HOTH apart in the competitive world of SEO, and how a systems mindset can help build an exceptional, scalable productized service.

Let’s dive in!

Exclusive Interview:

Golden Timestamps:

• 3:23 - The one trait you need to have as an entrepreneur
• 5:56 - How The HOTH went from a one-product service with just a post and a PayPal link to a multimillion-dollar business
• 10:10 - The need for systems was discovered while Clayton worked in a T-shirt printing shop
• 12:15 - The game-changer step to taking your business to the next level (Founders - this one's for you!)
• 15:00 - Growing The HOTH’s revenue from 100k to 2 million in 5 years
• 18:55 - Why you need to think beyond your one service or product
• 32:05 - The sweet spot in choosing your margins for your productized service
• 37:00 - Finding the best product-market fit to land your first few clients
• 39:22 - For successful marketing, you need a systems mindset and approach
• 43:05 - Why marketing is your growth engine in building a large, sustainable business 
• 48:06 - Building assets that are your marketing soldiers (must listen!)
• 58:14 - The best productivity hack: Ruthlessly eliminate all distractions!
• 1:04:30 - The 50-50 split that will help prevent burnout as a business owner

Key Takeaways:

1. Systems don’t need to be complicated. When you’re starting out, keep it simple and build on the basics. As your productized business grows, your processes will be able to sustain and support you to maximize your growth.
2. There are no magic beans or shortcuts to success. If you want to see sustainable growth, focus on the ‘boring’ stuff: Build an email list, focus on growing your email subscriber base, and sending them great content.
3. Think beyond the one productized service and study the needs of your client base, you’re likely to find a few other products that will deliver more value to them. Think BIG.

Business Model Breakdown:

Customer: Agencies, in-house SEO, and affiliates

Mechanism: An expertly crafted suite of 15+ pr

Hi Productizers,

Today, we’re fortunate to have Brett Williams as our special guest this week. Brett is the founder of Designjoy.co, a productized service that is carving out a niche for itself in the competitive design world - guaranteeing exceptional quality design, delivered at super-fast speed. While focusing on websites and apps specifically, DesignJoy strives to make modern design accessible to everyone. As of today doing $26k MRR as a one-man operation.

In this podcast, Brett shares the incredible story behind how he built Designjoy.co and continues to run the highly successful venture solo.

T

Exclusive Interview:

Golden Timestamps:

• 3:25 - The problem that Designjoy.co is looking to solve for its clients
• 5:47 - How Brett packaged his unique skills into a productized service
• 7:18 - The inspiration for Designjoy.co in filling a gap in web and app design
• 10:10 - How the current landscape resulted in Designjoy.co increasing their monthly recurring revenue by 5x!
• 14:51 - A description of Brett’s dream employee and the qualities they need to have
• 21:34 - Unlocking Designjoy.co’s first customers and early success
• 23:25 - How Designjoy.co reaches its clients without spending any marketing dollars 
• 24:35 - Unusual places and platforms that Designjoy.co has found clients
• 28:35 - Pro-tip from a designer to other designers: Pay extra attention to your website landing page
• 29:57 - Brett’s advice on the best place to get answers, learn, and grow his business
• 36:25 - The bottlenecks to further growth at Designjoy.co
• 38:30 - The biggest learning in building Designjoy.co and running it as the sole employee

Key Takeaways:

1. Figuring out your unique skill set is key. There are many ways to build a productized service, but one of the most sure-fire ways to go about it is to figure out your skills, and learn how you can package them up to deliver exceptional results.
2. There is no ‘correct’ approach to finding your clients. Building a loyal client base does not always mean having to spend on ads or marketing. There are ways to position yourself and network with potential clients in ways that allow you to grow without having to invest in promotion.
3. Growth takes time. And by this, I mean it means spending time on it too. The process of hiring and training a capable team takes deliberate effort and time.

Business Model Breakdown:

Customer: Small businesses and startups

Mechanism: Affordable, high-quality UX/UI design delivered at high-spe

Hi Productizers,

Glad to have you here!

One of the big challenges in reaching sustainable growth is connecting with the right prospects, and getting that sales pipeline from cold to piping hot on a consistent basis

Today’s guest, Bruce Merrill, is helping B2B service providers solve that problem by tapping into the lead-generation wonder that is LinkedIn. The company he co-founded, Cleverly, is a LinkedIn lead generation service that helps small businesses crack the code of lead generation on LinkedIn.

Bruce and his team know who they’re after, and they pursue them with razor-sharp focus. While there are a lot of agencies on the market, what sets Cleverly apart is their end-to-end service and precise targeting.

In his first podcast ever, Bruce shares the incredible story behind Cleverly, their journey to success, and the inner-workings of a successful B2B operation built entirely from the ground up to now flirting with hitting $450-500k MRR.

This is a special “Breakdown” episode. Alongside the interview, you will find a more in-depth analysis of my experience as a customer buying and using the service below.

Tyler

Founder: Bruce Merrill

Website: https://www.cleverly.co/

Age: 3 years as an agency and 1.5 years as a productized service

Size: 25+/- people & 100% remote

Company Email: [email protected]

Company Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cleverlyyy

Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucemerrill/

Bootstrapped: YES

Estimated Traffic: 60k visits per month +/-

Industry Focus: Small Businesses & Agencies

Interviewed: Yes

Irresistible Offer: First month is just $397/month + $400 Setup fee (waived) and double the leads 500 X 2 = 1,000the first month

Location: California

MRR: $450-500k MRR

• 15% Whitelabel
• 85% Direct to Customer

Service Type: Linkedin Lead Generation

Starting Price: $297/month + $400 setup fee

Short Description: Cleverly writes tested outreach copy and sends thousands of personalized messages to your dream clients on LinkedIn — getting positive responses s

Hi Productizers!

If you had to sell your business today, how much would you be able to get? Who would you sell it to, and how close to your asking price would it get in its current state?”

Not sure about your answers? Our guest today will help you get a lot more clarity around those questions, and share the tools he’s used to buy and sell more than 50 businesses per year.

On today’s podcast, Ace Chapman of AceChapman.com will teach you how to prepare for your exit and the most common pitfalls to avoid prior to and during the exit process.

Let’s dive in!

Exclusive Interview:

Golden Timestamps:

• 03:33 - How Ace started, his brief background, and what he does on a day to day basis.
• 06:05 - How many deals Ace looks at per month and how many has he closed so far.
• 08:48 - What to look for when looking for a business to invest in.
• 11:22 - How productized business owners can make their service business more valuable.
• 15:10 - Where to start when it comes to creating your SOP assets.
• 15:47 - The single question that you need to ask potential buyers that will increase your business value.
• 17:20 - Create value out of nowhere by including these pointers in your SOP.
• 17:50 - Think through your business and build the systems around it.
• 21:11 - The biggest mistake that service businesses make.
• 22:00 - What things business owners should think about that will create more value when they exit.

Key Takeaways:

1. Think of your service business as a product and as a product, you should always find ways to position it better with your target audience and make it more attractive to potential investors.
2. Understand all your business assets - good and bad. Make good-performing assets more valuable by turning them into a stand-alone business and find ways to transform expenses into assets.
3. Exits are one of the biggest sources of wealth creation which is why it’s important to have a solid exit plan even if you don’t intend to sell it right away.

Ace’s Business Model Breakdown:

Big Idea: Plan now because the

Hey Productizers!

We know that sales are the lifeblood of every productized service business, but what do you do when you don’t have any sales experience? And where do you start? How can you close more of the calls you do have?

Today, Brock Schadler will take us through the exact same process and sales script that he has been using to generate more than $10 million (and counting) in sales for one of Australia's fastest-growing digital agencies, King Kong. 

We are also going to learn how to develop what Brock refers to as the “Golden Sales Mindset” that will help conquer your fear and close more deals, even if you have zero experience in sales!

This was actually a Masterclass Brock ran for my premium subscribers. Also, enjoy the live Q&A after his presentation + the sales script below.

Let’s get started!

Exclusive Masterclass:

Golden Timestamps:

• 02:42 - The system that you need to set up, to never run out of leads for your business
• 04:55 - How to conquer your fear, crush neediness, and detach from the outcome of your sale.
• 07:30 - Brock’s $10 million sales script.
• 08:42 - How to prepare and research before hopping on a call with a prospective client
• 30:40 - Why we all need a sales coach, where to find them, and how much they cost.
• 32:40 - Why you should record your sales calls and have someone review them.
• 34:40 - Payment options to offer and when to offer them.
• 36:58 - Best practices for finding people to work with you.
• 40:03 - Salary vs commission: which one should you use when hiring salespeople?
• 41:24 - How to manage your sales script during calls for maximum effect.
• 46:16 - How to get in touch with Brock for coaching help.

Key Takeaways:

1. Reverse engineer your dreams. Determine where you want to go, what you want to achieve, and when you want to achieve it. This way you can create your own clear steps and actions that will lead you to your success 
2. Overthinking keeps us stuck. Find a proven sales process and start putting it into action consistently, don’t wait till everything is perfect. Just trust the process and keep working towards your goals until you have gathered sufficient data.
3. A coach can help push you beyond your current sticking points. They show us the weaknesses we don’t see and point out the parts of our business that need improvement. A good coach will also help you avoid the mistakes that they’ve made on their journey to success.

Brocks Business Model Breakdown:

Big Idea: Trust the process