The Pollinator Podcast

How do go from a stressed-out math tutor making just a bit more than a math teacher to charging $250 an hour?  Don't be afraid to grow.    Renan De Souza is an Ivy League grad that took a detour to become a math teacher.  Then a math tutor.    He was doing well, working 80 hours a week.  Now he has a team of tutors and leads classes of 70+ students - and helps them CRUSH the SAT math with average score improvements of 100+ points.  We discuss several of the key lessons he's had to learn over the last two years, and how he had to get over some of the most common fears small business owners have when growing: -Focusing on a niche -Bringing on team members -Automating processes -Closing sales  If you want to take away some key lessons on growing your business, make sure you check this episode out.    Connect with Renan here www.peaceofpilearning.com  You can find him on Instagram as @peaceofpilearning  Or you can send him an email to [email protected]  #clientcultivation #pollinatorpodcast #sales #marketing #strategy #clientcultivationcycle #plantheharvest #harvestthesale

Is your business like a girl penguin or a boy penguin?  

If you don't know the difference between the two, just consider that there's a good chance people can't tell the difference between your business (your offer, the value you provide) and your competitors.  

But your story?  

That can be all the difference in the world.  

Jennifer Filzen is a musician turned marketer that literally became a rock star in India and Grammy-qualified by "marketing the crap" out of her music.  

Now she uses those skills to help small business owners tell their stories and stand out amongst the competition.  

We discuss some very practical things like:  

Three things about you to build your stories around (and that everyone can be unique in):

Where the divide in marketing and sales starts, and how to reconcile it.

The Three-E framework for creating content that connects with your audience.

Where people go wrong in telling their stories (hint:  Your story is actually not about you).  

A fantastic and fun episode, chock full of practical tips to help you get your hands dirty and grow something great.  

Connect with Jennifer here: 

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

Check out her website here: 

https://www.jenniferfilzen.com/ 

And visit Rockstar Marketing's website here 

https://rock-star-mktg.com/ 

#clientcultivation #pollinatorpodcast #preparethesoil #cultivate #sales #marketing #strategy #clientcultivationcycle #salesprocess

You can always make more money, but you can never get more time. Unless...  You start delegating.  No, there will always be 24 hours in a day, but what if you got rid of an hour's worth of monotony and routine tasks?    What would you do with that newfound hour?  Enrique Fernandez is an Air Force Veteran turned Real Estate Attorney that found himself running out of time.  So he tapped into his global experience and started hiring off-shore talent to help him free up his time and focus on the most important things in his business and personal life.  But then, that shifted into helping other attorneys and professionals get staffed up and freeing up their time.  And so Get Staffed Up was born.  We go in-depth too.  

Connect with Enrique here https://www.linkedin.com/in/enriquejfernandez

and here https://www.linkedin.com/company/getstaffedup/ 

If you're interested in getting staffed up visit their website https://getstaffedup.com/salespartners 

#clientcultivation #pollinatorpodcast #sales #marketing #strategy #clientcultivationcycle #plantheharvest

.Folks are familiar with ROI - Return on Investment, but ROAS - Return on Ad Spend - is a little more nuanced.

Emilio Yepez has spent years working with huge companies and huge marketing budgets (like 7 and 8 figure marketing budgets) and now works with small and medium-sized companies using those same insights.

And one of the things that makes him a true professional - being able and willing to say, "I don't know yet."

Specifically, that's the answer to, "What should my ad budget be?"

And that's because this man tests everything.   Let's not throw your whole ad budget at some ads "we" think are nice.

Let's take a small fraction of that to test what's working, and then scale it up.

This is good practice for the "Big Boys," but absolutely crucial for small businesses.

But the real crux of our conversations was on the difference between ROI and ROAS.

ROI can be measured in the short term - You spent $100 on ads and generated $1000 in sales for example.

But ROAS goes a lot deeper:

We get into what percentage of sales and margins should be dedicated to advertising, concentrating spend vs spreading it out, "theory" vs practice, and how to tell if you're talking to a true professional in this space vs somebody that just took an ads course online and is using their budget to test their ideas.

Truly one of the most value-packed episodes of the Pollinator Podcast we've had.

You can connect with Emilio here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilio-yepez-50a32612/

You can also send him an email to [email protected]

Visit his website here: http://www.lighthouseinternetmedia.com/

#clientcultivation #pollinatorpodcast #cultivate #sales #marketing #strategy #clientcultivationcycle #salesprocess #planttheseed

Everyone has repetitive tasks in their businesses that suck hours of potentially productive time out every week.  Fortunately, tools to automate those tasks have become prevalent and inexpensive...  Unfortunately, it can be overwhelming, especially for the small business owner that is already drowning in those tasks.    But Carlos Vasquez, The Miami Marketer, is an expert in setting up automation systems.   Just a sample of the things we talked about: -The first three things you should automate in your business. -How he got his start in marketing by prank calling Cuban Dictator Fidel Castro live on the Radio. -How to use automation not to replace the personal human touch, but to facilitate it -How to avoid getting sucked into the "black holes" of all the different automation systems out there -The differences in "systems" and "processes" and why that difference is CRITICAL before you invest in a software solution  Automation can save you a ton of time and money, but you have to come into with a plan.  Connect with Carlos here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlosvazquezsr/  #clientcultivation #pollinatorpodcast #cultivate #sales #marketing #strategy #clientcultivationcycle #salesprocess #cultivatethesale

Maybe you should give up your expectations.

Kevin Tacher, The Title King, is a former firefighter that went from being $750,000 in debt to owning one of the largest title companies in Florida.

One of his key strategies?

Networking.

But not regular networking.

Networking with the intention of giving without expectations.

That is something that is often talked about but not often executed, so we get into a lot of the nuances that are often overlooked.

A great discussion on how to give in a way that makes reciprocation likely, even if it's not expected.

Connect with Kevin here https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevintacher/ and here https://www.linkedin.com/company/independence-title-inc/

Visit his company's website https://titlerate.com/

Check Kevin's social media accounts  

Facebook: 

https://www.facebook.com/kevintacher 

https://www.facebook.com/titlerate 

Instagram: 

https://instagram.com/independencetitlefl/ 

https://instagram.com/kevintacher/ 

Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/kevintacher 

#clientcultivation #pollinatorpodcast #preparethesoil #cultivate #sales #marketing #strategy #clientcultivationcycle #salesprocess

Video is NOT an option.

Not any more.

But good grief.

It's a lot.

And it's easy for business owners to get caught up and overwhelmed with things like the production quality, technology, and tools, and "looking good" on-camera... and then completely miss the most important aspects.

Jimbo Marshall is a fellow former school teacher turned video producer that has helped thousands of business owners create video content that actually works.

He shares the most important things to keep in mind when you're producing video content so that it actually resonates with your target audience and moves the conversation forward.

And none of them have to do with the lens you pick for your camera.

Connect with Jimbo here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimbo-marshall-23b48a3/

You can check out their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/thatvideothing

Get your free video training and complimentary video session with Jimbo here: www.thatvideothing.com 

#clientcultivation #pollinatorpodcast #preparethesoil #cultivate #sales #marketing #strategy #clientcultivationcycle #salesprocess

Diane Snider brings a true artist's perspective to digital marketing.

We dove into a lot of topics, like what to expect with fast and cheap marketing, what marketing always costs, the value of a team, and how to avoid getting ripped off by a marketer. An awesome conversation!

Connect with Diane here:

LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/diane-snider-b73322122/

Instagram -www.instagram.com/diane.snider.miami/

Facebook - www.facebook.com/diane.snider

#clientcultivation #pollinatorpodcast #propagatethesale #cultivate #sales #marketing #strategy #clientcultivationcycle #planttheseed

There are companies out there that put more effort into their marketing and sales than they do in the delivery of the promises they make through those processes.

This is ultimately unsustainable because EVERYTHING affects revenue.   

Jose Palomino has worked with companies of all sizes, and some of the most profound things he has helped them do to turn things around and get on a growth track are so mind-blowingly simple.

And they have nothing to do with tweaking your SEO or Facebook Ads.

A fantastic conversation around looking for and finding revenue opportunities in the places you may not be looking.

Connect with Jose here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josepalomino/

#clientcultivation #pollinatorpodcast #propagatethesale #cultivate #sales #marketing #strategy #clientcultivationcycle #salesprocess

Jessica Stellwagen and I started with SalesPartners around the same time over 11 years ago.  

Her journey has taken her down different paths, from working with attorneys with a former mentor to the point that she now co-owns —with her sister— Bodify, the #1 Cool Sculpting center in Arizona, and the #4 in all of the US.   

Her secret?  Mastering the Mundane.  

We primarily discuss the sales process and how mindset, coupled with a replicable difference, is the key, especially for service providers and folks who "feel dirty" about doing sales.  

If you've ever been frustrated around sales, or, like a lot of lawyers, didn't understand why folks would walk out of your consultations not buying when you knew you were the perfect fit, this episode is filled with a bucket of golden nuggets.  

Connect with Jessica here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicaleejohnson/ 

#clientcultivation #pollinatorpodcast #harvestthesale #cultivate #sales #marketing #strategy #clientcultivationcycle #salesprocess