State Of Client Acquisition

A real treat. Anric Blatt is one of my favorite people on LinkedIn. He's funny, knowledgeable, and a real force of nature, churning out supportive comments by the truckload with a dazzling array of fonts, emojis and personalized GIFs.

He and I have a bit of a running joke on LinkedIn where I post some rant against "vulnerability" on LinkedIn and he reminds me that we need to be authentic and include our whole personality into our LinkedIn presence. And he enjoys painting me as the "BUSINESS ONLY" thought police on LinkedIn who yells at people "This is not Facebook!"

So one day we decided to battle it out and ran a zoom call with a select crowd of participants. We covered what I now in retrospect call Toxic Vulnerability on Social Media, Anric explains his model of the funnel he helps his clients with, we discuss tons of concepts like Respectful Authenticity, "Swinging the Monkey", and towards the end he even gives me some tough love on my content.

You'll enjoy this one.

Time Stamps:

2:30 Banter & Intros

11:50 Anric's concept of Respectful Authenticity

13:40 My presentation on To Be Or Not To Be Vulnerable on LinkedIn

19:20 Anric's take: Good and bad examples of Authenticity on LinkedIn

25:40 Andy Smith - one guy who gets it 100% right according to Anric

33:00 Andrew Pancholi deep dive: The most interesting man in the world underselling his interesting-ness.

38:00 The one-sentence persuasion course by Blair Warren - the Core of Anric's LinkedIn Strategy

46:00 Anric's Funnel

51:30 Excellent hack to ignite relationships with new LinkedIn connections

55:30 Is it ok to admit to your faults on LinkedIn?

58:00 Michal's Funnel & Pot Methodology

1:03:30 Anric's Authenticity share - what he REALLY hates doing

1:07:00 No two funnels should be the same

1:08:30 Anric giving me a teardown of my content

1:19:00 Wrapup

1:22:15 Q&A - On Funnel Lubricants and Automation

1:23:50 Swinging The Monkey

You can find Anric Blatt on LinkedIn Here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anricblatt/

Here is my Burned Toast post Anric referenced:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mbohanes_foodwaste-itgetsbutter-activity-6853968657207373824-YnVK

Listen to The State Of Client Acquisition Podcast and ask any question!

Sign up & submit questions: www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com

Watch the episode here: https://youtu.be/HLd9xdRIaQ4

My client Richard had a few questions on the topic of hiring freelancers & video editors, and he was kind enough to ask them via a LinkedIn Live.

In our conversation I present my approach, the salient points of which are:

* Audit your time - what are you spending time on that someone else could do? (download the free template to track your time - see link below)

* Create a landing page with a video where you introduce yourself to the candidates - always nicer to put a face to the person you'll be working for.

* Sell yourself and the company. You want the best people, so make sure you present yourself in the best light

* Do a paid trial run with 3-5 people at the same time. Based on their performance, hire the best among them.

That and much more in the video.

Time Stamps:

0:00 Intro

1:00 Welcome

3:00 Work buckets that can be outsourced

5:18 Conduct a time audit

6:25 The hiring process

20:00 Questions I received beforehand

25:30 Q&A

Download the Time Block Planner template which can double as a tracking device for your time audit here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/13WTRpuS_5vD7NKO9KgT-0KCh3nv-OuZREidm_GaN-4s/edit#slide=id.gb608267269_0_35

Richard's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardarussell/

Richard's website: https://richardrussell.co/

Watch Richard's testimonial on our work: www.michalbohanes.com/richard

Listen to The State Of Client Acquisition Podcast and ask any question!

Sign up & submit questions: www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com

Watch our conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XFJA-7C89GY

Parasocial Interaction is the feeling of knowing someone well who doesn't know us. It's what stalkers feel with pop stars. And it's woefully underused in B2B where only a handful of influencers have deliberately worked towards building a high level of familiarity with their audience.

In this episode, marketer David Rapalski and I discuss the phenomenon of Parasocial Interaction, why it's particularly strong in Live Streaming... and what you, as a solopreneur or small B2B company leader can do to leverage it.

Time Stamps

0:00 Intro

1:25 Who is David Rapalski?

2:45 Parasocial Interaction

5:00 What's special about Live Streaming?

9:35 Why aren't there more people Live Streaming in B2B?

16:20 Best practices for B2B Live Streamers

19:05 Who are good B2B Live Streamers?

23:00 How can Solopreneurs or Small B2B Companies get started with Live Streaming?

28:00 Invest time in building your community

Btw - You need to apply for Live Streaming on LinkedIn. Do so here: https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/ask/lv-app

Find out more about David Rapalski here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-rapalski-841353b0/

www.followthecrown.net

Listen to The State Of Client Acquisition Podcast and ask any question!

Sign up & submit questions: www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com

Watch this episode here: 

https://youtu.be/XuD7gW56Dyo 

A consulting call with Jonathan who runs a 700k+ / year consultancy. He's not doing much in terms of content and DemandGen and was curious what he could do with a very limited time budget.

We're drilling down into his main sources of revenue,

Time Stamps:

0' - 28' Gathering information

0:00 Introduction

5:05 Jonathan's history

10:50 Typical Clients, Business Model, Products & Revenue Origin Pie Chart

19:50 Pain points & time budget & Jonathan's other businesses

25:00 Deep dive into time budget

28' - 59' Advice

28:00 Creating a content ecosystem & the ethos of the Pot 🍲 what specific content routine to create.

35:00 Sources for great content (incl. anti-vulnerability rant)

41:50 Content is a C-level activity (it's gotta be YOU doing it)

46:45 Time block planning your day

49:10 Stay on brand when commenting & my high clients-per-likes addiction

53:00 How clients work with Michal

You can find Jonathan and learn more about his business here:

www.linkedin.com/in/gehrig3

The State Of Client Acquisition (www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com) covers the fascinating world of transforming strangers into clients. Our audience are Small B2B leaders and solopreneurs. We focus on the whole process - Strategy - Positioning - Content - Prospecting - Selling. Got a question you want me to cover? Submit it on www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com.

Listen to the podcast here:

https://open.spotify.com/show/73OtLbvg3fIzJybFUWGsHG

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-client-acquisition/id1576487184

Watch the free Alpha Lead Academy Training on how to win clients on LinkedIn: https://www.michalbohanes.com/webinar-lp

It's easy to set quarterly targets. But identifying specific tasks that will get you to those goals and ensuring you execute daily on these tasks?

That's a whole different kettle of fish.

I haven't met anyone who's doing this well. Connecting the long term goals with daily execution.

So I decided to do something about it and create a system.

In this video, I walk you through my entire planning process,

from

"I want to make $XXX, live in my dream house..." etc

to

"From 10-10:30 on Monday, I do this."

Enjoy! (btw this podcast may be better to WATCH since I'm showing a few spreadsheets and other templates. You can do so here: https://youtu.be/c1sJN6V8Sy0

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Listen to The State Of Client Acquisition Podcast and ask any question!

Sign up & submit questions: www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com

Listen to the podcast here:

https://open.spotify.com/show/73OtLbvg3fIzJybFUWGsHG

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-client-acquisition/id1576487184

A deep dive into Realism and how this Philosophy can advance your business journey.

Realism forces you to look at the world how it is and adjust to it.

The antithesis would be Idealism where you imagine the world as it should be and then trying to mould the world in this image.

Evan Thomsen (www.evanthomsen.com) is a firm believer that the first way is far superior and allows you to build a business much more effectively.

In this sweeping conversation, Evan takes us through a history of Realism, covering philosophers such as Thucydides, Thomas Hobbes, Machiavelli, Edmund Burke and other beacons of Realism such as the Federalist papers. But we don't stop there - in every section, we discuss each lesson's applicability to business.

Time stamps:

5:40 - Our recent sales call with a prospect where the difference between Realism vs Idealism became apparent

14:50 - Nothing is more perilous than leading change (Machiavelli)

23:55 - The Foundations of Realism: The Melian Dialogue by Thucydides - The Oldest Mic Drop In the Book

42:50 - Liberty and Chaos - Thomas Hobbes

56:40 - Limiting the Power of Factions - Alexander Hamilton and the Federalist Paper #10

1:01:30 - The State as a Tree - Edmund Burke & WB Yates

1:09:00 - The Consequence of a Weak State - Burke cont'd

1:16:40 - The Virtue of... Virtue - Machiavelli

1:35:50 - How NOT maximizing profit is anti-Realism

Learn more about Evan at www.evanthomsen.com

Listen to The State Of Client Acquisition Podcast and ask any question!

Sign up & submit questions: www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com

Listen to the podcast here:

https://open.spotify.com/show/73OtLbvg3fIzJybFUWGsHG

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-client-acquisition/id1576487184

One of the tasks I'd been putting off because it was important but not urgent. I forced myself to do it by scheduling a LinkedIn Live on the topic.

In this episode, I'm refining my own company strategy for Q4 2021 and 2022. The structure is:

1) Set a quantifiable goal

2) Analyse the current situation. External and internal, my own strengths and weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

3) Identify specific high-priority gaps that need to be fixed

4) Name specific actions I will take (quantified and time-bound) that have the highest likelihood of filling the gaps and getting me to the goal.

Find my long-form strategy document here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mZO9VWhyCI8fr-5ojhxEDuSdFRad-tYNrIDyeo2nFSY/edit#

And the resulting 1-pager which i've printed out and hung on my wall is here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ksk0q3ZzG0szb176TVOsjTNuy0evJd1LpkVqtOTxOEI/edit

The State Of Client Acquisition (www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com) is an Ask-Me-Anything style podcast that covers all aspects of client acquisition for coaches, consultants and small B2B. We focus on the whole process - from positioning to content to prospecting to closing on the phone. Got a question you want me to cover? Submit a question on www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com.

Watch the free Alpha Lead Academy Training on how to win clients on LinkedIn: https://www.michalbohanes.com/webinar-lp

This is from a LinkedIn Live in September 2021.

We're all seeing the writing on the wall. Solopreneurs are already doing it en masse. But small B2B companies are slow to catch on.

This is the first time I crystallized the new world of client acquisition in a coherent narrative. I'm sure further iterations will follow. But I hope that this presentation will help small B2B companies to realize what's in front of them and execute a considerable DNA change inside the company and reshuffle their C-level priorities.

In a nutshell, the Funnel and the Pot methodology requires you to do this:

* Understand where & how buying decisions get made - in the Dark Funnel

* Build separate paths for high-intent leads vs low/no-intent audience

* Optimize the sales path with great conversion-oriented content (funnel)

* Nurture the audience with quality content (pot) & build relationships at scale

* Abandon high-volume lead collection (MQLs)

* Treat cold outbound as a transition until brand equity drives sufficient momentum

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Listen to The State Of Client Acquisition Podcast and ask any question!

Sign up & submit questions: www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com

Listen to the podcast here:

https://open.spotify.com/show/73OtLbvg3fIzJybFUWGsHG

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-client-acquisition/id1576487184

Watch the free Alpha Lead Academy Training on how to win clients on LinkedIn: https://www.michalbohanes.com/webinar-lp

We're back for Season 2, and open it with a BANG!

This is a a sweeping tour de force with someone I've had the privilege to meet only two months ago.

Evan Thomsen describes himself as the Machiavelli of Business. He has created a unique kind of consulting career for himself.

See, most consultants have a specialization that they then sell. However, Evan is not particularly specialized. Instead, he weaves himself into the fabric of the company so profoundly that he becomes a close confidant to the CEO. And as such, he is able to command superior compensation and gets fascinating insights into how his clients run his companies.

An unapologetic admirer of Machiavelli's realism, Evan is a well-read and erudite thinker whose musings could engage and inspire a crowd of intellectuals as much as business leaders looking for a strategic competitive advantage.

Evan has published a book about his career choices under the evocative name "Don't Chase The Dream Job - Build It", available on Amazon around the world:

https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Chase-Dream-Build-unconventional-ebook/dp/B091F3WPK8

Miss this episode at your peril.

Time Stamps:

0-5:30 intro and how we met

5:30 – 9:45 Evan the shoe salesman

9:45 – 13:15 Evan the choir director

13:15 – 18:30 How Evan gets and works with his clients

18:30 – 28:45 How Evan gets paid and weaves himself into the fabric of the company

28:45 - 43:20 How Evan learns useful skills very fast - a value-add model for consultants that’s very different from hyper-specialization or productization

43:30 - 59:45 Evan’s summary of his book “Don’t Chase The Dream Job - Build It”. A new career model.

59:45 - 1:16:30 How the personal and professional are intertwined, and how limiting your professional potential also limits your personal life.

1:16:30 - 1:26:20 Why WHO you work with matters much more than WHAT you do.

1:26:30 - 1:33:00 Nassim Taleb, Jordan Peterson and Moana - Evan’s intellectual heroes. The line where the sky meets the sea.

1:33:00 - 1:56:00 How Machiavelli is applicable to business

Listen to The State Of Client Acquisition Podcast and ask any question!

Sign up & submit questions: www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/WsHlCUL5sgc

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-client-acquisition/id1576487184

Michael Barris is a public speaking coach who helps professionals gain more confidence in front of the camera. He’s also written a book “How to become a SuperSpeaker”

I was intrigued by his instructional video (link below) where he suggests to become better at public speaking is to practice speaking twice as fast.

In our conversation, we cover the magic of a great delivery, what you need to do more and let go of when public speaking.

To me, the most eye-opening moment (7:00) was when Michael mentioned the Dr. Fox experiment, where an actor delivered a gibberish lecture in a lively and engaging way and still got positive reviews from a knowledgeable audience.

In the second half of our conversation, we discuss client acquisition and, specifically, my theory of the Wider Field Of Concern which matters a lot when outbound prospecting - you don’t want to immediately ask questions such as “so, have you considered launching a podcast” when you’re selling podcasting services. What to do instead? —> 32:30

Learn more about Michael Barris here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelbarris/

Website: https://mikebarris.com/

His excellent video that got me interested: https://bit.ly/3hjsqCR

His video The 4 Phases of Delivering a Great Speech: https://bit.ly/3hjsqCR

His book: https://www.amazon.com/How-Become-Super-Speaker-Principles/dp/1674459793/

And here’s the link to the Dr. Fox experiment we discussed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Fox_effect

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The State Of Client Acquisition (www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com) is an Ask-Me-Anything style podcast that covers all aspects of client acquisition for coaches, consultants and small B2B. We focus on the whole process - from positioning to content to prospecting to closing on the phone. Got a question you want me to cover? —> Submit a question on www.StateOfClientAcquisition.com.

Watch the free Alpha Lead Academy Training on how to win clients on LinkedIn: https://www.michalbohanes.com/webinar-lp