104: Reggie Mckiver – Are You Standing In Your Own Way?
Today’s amazing guest is Reggie Mckiver. Reggie is a Holistic Intuitive & teacher who has a unique gift to be able to ignite instant life transformation by showing you how to clear the energy of your past; push through the obstacles of your present; and get you on the journey to your new reality of living the life that you want.
Reggie is also a successful Herbalist & Spiritual Mentor and entrepreneur and has served his global clientele for almost 20 years. He truly loves to give you the tools that will change your mindset so you can have the life that you deserve with ease & grace.
“There’s a higher consciousness behind everything, and there’s nothing new under the sun – all information is already here. We just need to align to the information.” – Reggie Mckiver
You might be thinking, “Whoa, Chris. What does higher consciousness have to do with sales?”
Click that play button to find out.
Today’s amazing guest is Reggie Mckiver. Reggie is a Holistic Intuitive & teacher who has a unique gift to be able to ignite instant life transformation by showing you how to clear the energy of your past; push through the obstacles of your present; and get you on the journey to your new reality of living the life that you want.
Reggie is also a successful Herbalist & Spiritual Mentor and entrepreneur and has served his global clientele for almost 20 years. He truly loves to give you the tools that will change your mindset so you can have the life that you deserve with ease & grace.
In this episode, we talk about:
coming into alignment,
being confident of and embracing your gifts,
the voice at the back of your head,
vision,
how to deal with self-doubt,
core beliefs,
mindset, and many more.
I was blown away by the wisdom that Reggie shared throughout the episode, so click that play button and listen until the end.
Coming Into Alignment
In life, people try so hard to find out what to do with their life.
“What to do?
What do I do?
How do I use it?”
Well, I teach coming to alignment because with every gift you were given in life, alignment is trying to find you.
Imagine taking the pressure off of yourself where you’re trying to figure out what to do next. My teaching is simply coming into alignment.
Are You Standing In Your Own Way?
You wouldn’t believe how many people are in their own way. If it’s marketing, if it’s sales – to me, salesmen are some of the greatest people on earth, because they have the chance to influence someone else’s mindset about something, that they may or may not know anything about.
“What do you see with most people? They come in and say, “Well, I have a problem with rejection. I have a problem with trying to sell people concepts.” They have all of these issues, but it’s their issues surrounded by a product that will work.”
And when you put your issues – I don’t care if it’s gold – if you put your issues on the selling of gold, someone will always outdo you even in selling something like gold.
“So what I teach people to do is this: either you’re going to stand in your way, or either you’re going to be successful.“
Everyone has a gift, and everyone fits into the universe. Every one of us, whether it’s communication, whether it’s knowing, whether it’s intuition, we all have gifts. For every gift that shows up in your life, there’s something negative that will equally challenge the gift that’s inside of you.
Most people, they look at the negative things that happen with that, and they take the negative everywhere they go, when they are gifted to do the job.
“A negative energy shows up to kill, steal and destroy. It is an age-old method. If you allow this form of thinking to overtake you, then it would do what it’s designed to do.”
But I always ask the question, “When will you allow your gift to speak for you? When will you move out of your way and allow the gifting to take over and do what it’s supposed to do?”
Genuine Confidence
I asked Reggie this question: “Do you struggle to put yourself out there confidently, knowing that the majority of the population think that what you’re talking about and what I’m talking about is quite “woo-woo”?”
No. Starting out, I did. Now, I realized, once you realize your place in the universe, nothing in the world can stop you. Because instead of looking at your obstacles, you look through your obstacles.
“If you are in the practice of raising the frequency and the vibration of everyone you come in contact with. There is no clearer thing in the universe or in the world than the day you discover your purpose. That day when you discover your purpose is simple. “
I teach people: People will always say what you say to yourself. And if you have a block in your subconscious mind that says, “They’re going to think that this is out of this world. They’re not going to believe me.”
“If that utters louder than your gift, then every time you open up with your gift, you will hear what you said in the back of your mind anyway.”
When I first started out, I would say, “Hey, I opened up an herbal store in a small town.” They said, “This business is not going to make it. People are not going to believe that. They need modern this, they need this.
And I said, “Well, I’m here because what you’re doing, I agree with totally. But it’s not working.
I heard you, I heard you said it wouldn’t last, but I’m going to show you.
And here’s the funny thing that happened with that: the same doctor, the same person who said I wouldn’t make it, after he saw the success of the business, he sent someone in the business to get something for him for an issue that he was having.
Mentions
Connect with Reggie on Facebook
Shoot him an email: reggie@reggiemckiver.com
Website: http://www.reggiemckiver.com
103: Heather Havenwood – Empathy and Authenticity in Sales
Today’s guest is Digital Marketing Sales Expert, Heather Havenwood. Heather mentors coaches, experts, & service providers how to get media exposure to make more money.
As a sales and marketing expert, she helps entrepreneurs define the messaging, the marketing, the positioning, the packaging, & the media that is best for their business & life.
“At the end of the day, we all want to be and feel perfect, but we don’t want to buy perfect – unless we’re buying a Mercedes.
Today’s guest is Digital Marketing Sales Expert, Heather Havenwood. Heather mentors coaches, experts, & service providers how to get media exposure to make more money.
As a sales and marketing expert, she helps entrepreneurs define the messaging, the marketing, the positioning, the packaging, & the media that is best for their business & life.
In this episode, we talk about:
her transition from being an employee to an entrepreneur,
the two things that people buy,
the two things entrepreneurs should focus on first before doing content marketing or Facebook ads,
moving the free line, and
empathy and being authentic.
I enjoyed every minute of our conversation and I hope you do too. Click that play button to listen!
Learning By Doing
I learned by doing; I didn’t really have a sales process. It wasn’t until years later that I started in the information marketing business and the seminar business, where I was traveling around the country doing 40-50 events every year, that I had to learn a process.
In that sales environment, I’m sitting in front of a room of strangers, and I had 90 minutes to get $3,000 out of their pockets. And if I didn’t get that money, we’re eating ramen noodles tonight. If we got that money, we’re eating Ruth’s Chris Steak. That was the choice I had.
That’s when I started to learn direct response copy, know, like and trust, connection, and how do you move someone in from the fence to closing the deal – all those little nuances got really fine-tuned there.
Two Things That People Buy
There are only two things that people buy: hope and confidence. It’s hope and confidence.
If you think about it, you’re sitting in a room, we say whatever we say, they give us three grand, and they walk out with a piece of paper, and they walk out with the potential in making money.
It’s the exact, same sales process that every university on the planet sells to the kids.
“If you go to our university, the potential of you coming out with a job, potentially, maybe, at $75,000/year, is higher than if you go to that university.”
Right? At the end of the day, a piece of paper.
Message, Market, Media
I work on three things with my clients: message, market, media.
The first thing is that message, which is all the sales side. And then who’s the market? Is the message and market matching? Where are they? Is it on Facebook ads? Maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s on a thing called a phone call. Don’t go crazy on me, but it could be on LinkedIn; it could not be. It could be at trade shows; it could not be.
Before we ever get to where they are, you’ve got to make sure of the message and market.I work on those first two, and sometimes we’re on those for a long time because they’re not matching.
I can work on those for a while, until we get to the media buying. You can’t really get to media buying, which is all that is – the funnel-making, the Facebook ads, the email marketing, podcast – all those things are media. All those are media; all those are tools.
Email marketing, podcasting, Facebook ads, YouTube ads – those are tools. But if you don’t have the message and market right, step 1 and 2, it doesn’t matter how much money you throw at it. It just doesn’t matter.
I work a lot on the first two, and then when they’re ready, I allow them to go to media buying.
Empathy
At the end of the day, we all want to be and feel perfect, but we don’t want to buy perfect – unless we’re buying a Mercedes.
If we’re hiring a coach or a consultant, we want to know that they’re going to give us the results, but we also want to know that they can understand our struggles and our concerns.
Mentions
Connect with Heather on LinkedIn and Facebook
Website: http://sexybossinc.com/
Sexy Boss – How Female Entrepreneurs Are Changing the Rule Book for Money, Success and Even Sex, and How You Can Too! by Heather Havenwood
Schedule a free 15-minute call with Heather here: https://callwithheather.com
102: Lisa Haydon – The Power of Building Offline Connections in the Digital Marketing Age
Today’s guest is Lisa Haydon. Lisa is the founder and President of Pivotal Coaching Inc. She is a leadership development consultant, executive coach, and mentor sought by business owners and corporations for help in achieving professional and business growth. The distinctive marker of her work is her growth mindset and execution focus. She leverages nearly 30 years’ corporate experience in business, finance, leadership, change and revenue growth for her clients’ success.
“Entrepreneurs can find success in online sales and marketing, but we should not forget about the more traditional methods.
When you connect with prospects face-to-face (networking), invite them for coffee, or send thank you notes through the mail, it sends a more powerful, more personal message than just connecting with them through chat. Whatever the case, if you want to be successful in sales, you need to start building and nurturing your relationships – online and offline.
Today’s guest is Lisa Haydon. Lisa is the founder and President of Pivotal Coaching Inc. She is a leadership development consultant, executive coach, and mentor sought by business owners and corporations for help in achieving professional and business growth. The distinctive marker of her work is her growth mindset and execution focus. She leverages nearly 30 years’ corporate experience in business, finance, leadership, change and revenue growth for her clients’ success.
In this episode, we talk about:
her approach to sales,
her networking philosophy,
building systems,
outsourcing
process mapping,
mentoring, and a lot more.
Click the play button to listen to this 30-minute episode. Enjoy!
The Value of Building Offline Connections
I’ve always done big, complex, B2B sales. As you well know, there are long sales cycles. They take a fair amount of resiliency; they ebb and flow.
The deals that I’ve done have never been easy, but it’s all I’ve known. I was comfortable in big, complex sales cycles.
In my own business, there’s a couple of things I would share. While the sales process was comfortable, the market and taking my own brand to market has been harder.
People have very distinctive views on the impact of executive coaching in the corporate world, so I have to overcome those perceptions. One of my big focuses is around using coaching programs to support the results for corporations, which is a little different.
Most times, for corporations, it would be a one-to-one. For example, you would hire me to work with one of your team, and I’m really trying to get a program approach. So it’s a different product that I’m taking to market, and that makes it a little harder.
I lean a lot on my relationships, so I have a good network. That’s been invaluable. Referrals are huge. The testaments of my work and the clients who have experienced my work are a big, important part.
I also do cold-calling. If I’m going to work with businesses and their leaders around true growth, as you well know, building existing relationships is more comfortable. Selling your products – when you do cold start to origination, that is a very distinct style. I do that as well because I think it’s good skills practice for both myself, but in the work that I provide my clients as well.
Getting In Touch With Your Prospects
I have a leads list, and I would say I’m a little more traditional.
There’s some people who use a lot of the digital marketing, and for me, in the big corporations that I’m cold-calling into, I still believe that you have to get in there on a personal basis.
Part of that is I know that if I can get that conversation, that’s going to be where the difference is made.
I do an email outreach, I do the phone call, I do the connection on LinkedIn. As you would well know, the success rate in working through a lead list is low, and it’s always hard on the ego, but there’s been some good conversations that have come out of that.
You just have to try; you just don’t know.
Turn “Maybe” Into A Definite “Yes” or “No”
The “maybe” place is really hard. When people drag out the maybe’s, it takes your energy and your effort from other things.
I’ve been calling on relationship-based opportunities, and because of that, some of my relationships don’t want to say ‘no’ to me and they feel like they’re going to hurt my feelings.
I’ve now gotten very direct and say,
“Look, please don’t feel like you have to say yes or maybe with me. If it’s a fit, great. If not, that’s okay. It doesn’t change our relationship; I get that. But don’t feel like you have to give me hope.”
101: Rich Brooks – How to Set Up Successful Online and In-Person Events
Our guest for today is Rich Brooks, author of The Lead Machine and Founder of flyte new media & The Agents of Change. His company works with SMBs and nonprofits to help them increase their online visibility, drive more qualified traffic to their sites, and convert that traffic into leads and business.
“Do you ever wonder what it takes to create your own event – a webinar, seminar, or conference – where you can position yourself as a thought leader as well as meet hundreds or thousands of potential clients?
Our guest for today is Rich Brooks, author of The Lead Machine and Founder of flyte new media & The Agents of Change. His company works with SMBs and nonprofits to help them increase their online visibility, drive more qualified traffic to their sites, and convert that traffic into leads and business.
In this episode, we talk about sales and personal growth, the importance of having a working website, and leveraging events – what makes a successful event, how to set it up, how to make sure people come – and a lot more.
There’s a lot to learn in this episode so click that play button to listen. Enjoy!
What Do You Do When Somebody Says ‘No’?
Rich actually had a background in sales. His previous job was selling products to nursing homes, and he did that for four years. And those were probably the most important four years of his life.
I was a very shy person; I had very little self-confidence.
My boss liked me and took me on the road, taught me a little bit about sales, I listened to all those sales tips and stuff like that. And so I learned a lot about sales, and also the process of not taking it personally.
I learned that just because somebody says ‘No’, it’s not a reflection necessarily on you. There’s a million reasons they might say no.
That was actually a huge part of my growth as a human being. I would say my sales job was possibly more important than me going to college. That’s how much of an impact it had on my life.
The Evolution of Sales
When Rich started out, he literally opened up the Yellow Pages and went down the Graphic Designers list. When he moved to Maine a couple of years later, he did the same thing. He called up each graphic designer on the list and found the ones that were looking to do more websites but didn’t know how to do it and developed a relationship with them.
That was an early way in which he grew.
These days, a lot of our sales comes through inbound marketing, which is what we do for a lot of our clients.
We do things like search engine optimization, paid search, Facebook ads, a lot of content marketing – that sort of stuff. That’s been a big component that’s really grown over the years.
And then the third leg I guess would be putting on events. Small events that take place in our office, sometimes we do these masterclasses and we limit it to six people.
On the other side of the spectrum, we put on this event called Agents of Change, which brings in 400 people, and then maybe another 100-200 people who buy virtual passes.
Work on Your Website
Everybody’s an armchair detective. Everybody’s already done a lot of the research online.
If you’re not putting out on your website all the information they need to make a decision, then they’re gonna go to your competitor’s website to get that same information.
I’m all about putting out that content. I try and share as much as I possibly can.
Mentions
100: Kevin Eikenberry – The Future of Leadership
Our guest for today is Kevin Eikenberry, Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. He helps organizations, leaders and individuals reach their potential through remarkable learning approaches.
“It’s Time to Sell’s 100th episode is here! I am so grateful to everyone who continues to listen to the podcast. Do you have ideas on how we can make this show better? I’d love to hear it in the comments!
Our guest for today is Kevin Eikenberry, Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. He helps organizations, leaders and individuals reach their potential through remarkable learning approaches.
He is a world-renowned leadership expert, a two-time bestselling author, speaker, consultant, trainer, coach, leader, learner, husband and father (not necessarily in that order). Kevin’s specialties include leadership, teams and teamwork, organizational culture, facilitating change, organizational learning and more.
He is the bestselling author of Remarkable Leadership: Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One Skill at a Time (Jossey-Bass Publishing 2007), a leadership primer designed to help you learn and master the 13 competencies of remarkable leaders; and Vantagepoints on Learning and Life (Dog Ear Publishing 2006), a collection of his email essays on learning from everyday experiences. His other books include #LeadershipTweet: 140 Bite Sized Ideas to Help You Become the Leader You Were Born to Be (Happy About, 2009), and the co-author of From Bud to Boss: Secrets to a Successful Transition to Remarkable Leadership (Jossey-Bass, 2011).
In this episode, we talk about the importance of having a sales mindset when running a business, how his company has grown, the future of leadership, and more.
There’s a lot to learn in this episode so click that play button to listen. Enjoy!
If You Have a Business, You Have to Have a Sales Mindset
When it comes to running a business, it’s not about having the best product, or having a world-changing product – it’s about selling it to those who need it.
We have to have a sales mindset because it’s not about the best product – really.
You’ve got a good enough product, and you may have a great product, and you may have a world-changing product, but it doesn’t mean people are just going to show up. I don’t know if I embodied it, but I certainly understood it.
There are people that would probably say, “Well, Kevin, you’re naturally good at that” – which I think is silly; I don’t think anyone is.
To anyone who’s here who say, “Well, that’s not my natural gift,” I say, “So what? You ride a bicycle. You weren’t born being able to ride it; you learned how to ride it by putting your butt in the seat.”
You’re not going to grow your business without it and you can’t delegate all of it.
Kevin’s Journey
If we were to go back, I would say it was just me for probably the first 10-ish, 8-ish years. It was just me, and I worked for some folks on a subcontractor basis.
It started about 15 years ago, I started having team members and for a long time, there was just one. Or one in a day, or one intern in the summer kind of a thing.
But Chris, our team now is 14 or 15 folks spread out across the United States, not counting subcontractors that do coaching and training for us as well.
There is a transition. I think it’s a really important one for the people listening if you’re in that spot where Chris is. But you want to be in a place where you have a broader team, for whatever reasons.
Long-Distance Leadership
Kevin and I also talked about his newest book, The Long-Distance Leader. He shares that this book is all about where the world is and where it’s going in terms of leadership, which is more and more leaders are leading more and more folks who aren’t down the hall.
If you look at my team, I’ve got some people in the building today. I’ve got some people who work and could’ve driven here today but didn’t, or don’t. And I’ve got people spread out literally across the United States, nearly from sea to shining sea.
That’s where the world is and that’s where the world is going.
Leadership doesn’t change, but how we do it in some ways does need to change, and those changes are nuanced and small, but super important. You know, small hinges swing big doors.
We believe this book finds a place in the marketplace that hasn’t been served, and it’s going to help a whole lot of leaders who maybe even – and our research for the book even says that a lot of leaders say, “I think I’m holding it together and doing this pretty well” but they’re not sure, and what a lot of them are doing is just paddling harder.
Mentions
Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn and Twitter
Website: https://www.kevineikenberry.com/
Kevin Eikenberry’s blog: https://blog.kevineikenberry.com/
Remarkable Leadership by Kevin Eikenberry
Check out his newest book, The Long-Distance Leader: Rules for Remarkable Remote Leadership
099: Shirlene Reeves – Focus on Relationships and Sell Through your Heart
Our guest for today is Shirlene Reeves. Shirlene is a Business Success Coach, Massive Visibility Media™ Trainer, Certified Financial Educator®, International Speaker and Media Show Host. She supports business owners to create properly priced programs that sell easily and make money, and works with her clients to define their target market, create programs based on client requests and then designs an easy-to-follow Million Dollar Business Plan on a budget.
“When attending networking events, do you just go from one person to another, introduce yourself, then pitch your services?
Or do you get there without any expectations other than getting to know other entrepreneurs and the interesting things they do?
Our guest for today is Shirlene Reeves. Shirlene is a Business Success Coach, Massive Visibility Media™ Trainer, Certified Financial Educator®, International Speaker and Media Show Host. She supports business owners to create properly priced programs that sell easily and make money, and works with her clients to define their target market, create programs based on client requests and then designs an easy-to-follow Million Dollar Business Plan on a budget.
In this episode, we talk about focusing on your target market, making relationships a priority, and effective networking tips that are so simple, you’d wonder why you haven’t thought of them.
Our conversation got cut off as I was asking Shirlene where people can find her online, but you can find all of that information below.
Enjoy the episode!
“I Had to Do Sales, or My Business Wouldn’t Survive”
Shirlene had this business that she bootstrapped from zero to multimillions, and she was definitely down the rabbit hole. Her clients were CEOs at Wells-Fargo, CEOs and Vice Presidents at Bank of America – all these really, really big companies – and she thought, “How in the world am I going to sell to these people? I’m not anybody.”
Most of us feel that way in the beginning, right? You’re not anybody and how are they going to respect you and feel strongly that you are the person that can provide the best service for you.
Have you ever felt that way?
So it was really, really difficult. I knew, at the time, that I had to do sales or my business wouldn’t survive. And I found out that building relationships first is what created all the sales for me, and that’s how I increased that specific business to multimillions, and I had 23,000 working under me at that time.
I had to feed those families, so if I didn’t know how to get the sale, I could never feed all those families.
Relationship First, Sales Second
You have to build a relationship first, and let them get to know you, that you do have integrity, you do show up on time – and that is huge, showing up on time – and that you will do what you say you’re going to do. Those are the three things I always honor. That’s how I created my business.
Networking Tips
When attending networking events, Shirlene’s favorite question to ask is, “Tell me about your business.” That’s it. Then the other person launches into three minutes of explanation.
Now if you’re in a networking group, that’s all you have time for, nothing more.
So if that’s all you have time for and all you’ve done is pitch yourself and hand somebody a business card, it’s going to go in the trash.
But if you meet someone and you have a genuine interest in who they are, and your heart is open to listening and not jumping in and barreling in on your own comments and your own reasons for how you can help them, then they will keep your card because you’ve touched their heart.
It makes a big difference.
Mentions
Connect with Shirlene through LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook
Check out her website at https://maximizeyourwealthnow.com/
Selling Through Your Heart: Empowering You To Build Relationships For Financial Freedom by Shirlene Reeves, CFEd
098: Justin Bariso – Communicate with Intent and Become a Better Writer
Our guest for today is Justin Bariso, Author at EQ Applied, Management Thinker and Doer, and Inc and Time Contributor. He is passionate about the topic of Emotional Intelligence and writes about how it works in the real world, and how to make emotions work for you instead of against you.
Today we are going to talk about writing and emotional intelligence: two things that we can master through consistency, and with a lot of practice.
Our guest for today is Justin Bariso, Author at EQ Applied, Management Thinker and Doer, and Inc and Time Contributor. He is passionate about the topic of Emotional Intelligence and writes about how it works in the real world, and how to make emotions work for you instead of against you.
In this episode, we talk about Justin’s book, and how becoming a better writer can benefit your business, your brand, and your personal life.
Click on the play button above to listen to this episode!
Start Writing Today
Justin says,
I recommend writing to anyone, even if you don’t necessarily feel like you’re a great writer. None of us feel that way in the beginning.
Even if you are talented at it…you’re still going to make all kinds of mistakes in the beginning. That’s how you get better.
It’s not just about writing to get better; writing does so much for clarifying your thinking. It helps you to be able to really see your own goals and visions and to be able to articulate those so much better.
What Makes You a Better Writer
The answer is: consistency.
I just barely passed university English, so I’m no writer. But because I decided to jump into this journey and just start writing, I’d say I’ve improved as a writer even without the intent of improving as a writer.
I’ve actually leveled up in my ability to communicate with intent and purpose from a business perspective.
In my consulting engagements, I help some of my local clients build out their sales culture for them.
In some cases, I’m working with the CEO who’s going into meetings and taking notes, and then they have to follow up with an email. I’m actually doing a little bit of reviewing their emails and within 30 seconds I can change up their formatting, change a few words, and I would argue that I’m able to make that email at least 80-90% more impactful. And all of this is a result of this writing journey that I went through.
Emotional Intelligence
What I haven’t seen a lot of people write about over the years with Emotional Intelligence is the ability for it to go bad.
What I mean by that is you see right now, there’s a lot of people using emotions in a way to manipulate others; we’ve seen it in the course of fake news, where news that is not really accurate, spreads. A few people are spreading it on purpose to try to get those seeds sown, and the next thing you know, it just organically grows like wildfire.
That’s one of the things that this book gets into that not a lot of people have written about before.
Many people have spoken about emotional intelligence like it’s the end-all solution to a lot of problems. It is a solution to many problems, but the thing is, it’s a tool that you can use. Someone can use their intelligence to do lots of good and become a lifesaver, like a life-saving surgeon, or do lots of harm and be a master criminal.
It’s the same thing with emotional intelligence. You can use the ability to reach others at an emotional level to do really good things, or you can use it to spread deceit, anger and fear.
One of the things that we get into the book is how to protect yourself from that, and how to be able to see through how others are trying to manipulate you.
Mentions
Connect with Justin on LinkedIn and Twitter
Get the Book: EQ, APPLIED: The Real-World Guide to Emotional Intelligence
097 – Benjamin Walker: Focus on What You’re Good At
Today on the podcast we have Benjamin Walker, Founder and CEO at Transcription Outsourcing, LLC. They work with government agencies, single practice attorneys, physicians, as well as entire university systems to provide fast, accurate and reliable transcription services.
“The way people buy is very different nowadays, and it seems like you need to be in multiple places at once.
You need to be offline, servicing clients well and picking up referrals, and at the same time, be online so people find you when they search for you.
Today on the podcast we have Benjamin Walker, Founder and CEO at Transcription Outsourcing, LLC. They work with government agencies, single practice attorneys, physicians, as well as entire university systems to provide fast, accurate and reliable transcription services.
In this short episode, we talk about the evolution of sales, the importance of an online presence, and being the face of your company.
Click on the play button below to listen to this episode!
The Evolution of Sales
Sales did not come naturally for Ben. He realized he wasn’t very good at it, but he forced himself to do it.
Sales was easier when he first started out, especially in the medical industry because back then his was the only transcription company that would go to medical events, so they didn’t have a lot of choices.
Once you get in with a few people, the word spreads. It was easier then.
Now, seven and a half, eight years later, everyone Googles it before they even pick up the phone or look at your business card again.
It’s different.
Professional Branding
It fell into place when he first met John White at Social Marketing Solutions. John always popped up on his LinkedIn feed and so one day he sent him a message, asking to meet up.
I’ve used this PR company and I’m not sure it’s working the way I had hoped.
He went through all my stuff and said, “Well it’s because you’re not the face of the company. You’re trying to make Transcription Outsourcing in your logo the face of the company – it needs to be you.”
So we talked about that and he said, “Ben, no one’s going to promote your company for you; you have to do it yourself.”
Focus on What You’re Good At
If you’re an entrepreneur, there will come a time when you just can’t do everything. You will have to focus on what you’re good that, and hire other people for things that are not within your zone of genius.
I came to the realization two, two and half years ago that my employees were better at closing prospects than I was.
Now when I get calls or emails for transcription services, I forward it to the appropriate person that runs that team, and then I let them run with the lead. They close more than me.
096 – Jennifer Trask: Be Ready for Business Growth and Success
Today on the podcast we have Mindset Coach and Business Advisor, Jennifer Trask. Jennifer helps coaches and healers build profitable, sustainable and fun businesses since late 2012. She runs a full-time coaching business, helping coaches from around the world build their businesses to fit their lifestyles and dreams.
When your business isn’t where you want it to be, it’s very easy to exchange your email for the “10x Your Business Blueprint” or “6 Steps to 6 Figures Video Series”.
Some of us think that the key to escaping business plateau is in the next free program. There’s a ton of FREE information on the internet, and some of them are useful. But have you ever stopped to think that maybe what you need isn’t more information?
Today on the podcast we have Mindset Coach and Business Advisor, Jennifer Trask. Jennifer helps coaches and healers build profitable, sustainable and fun businesses since late 2012. She runs a full-time coaching business, helping coaches from around the world build their businesses to fit their lifestyles and dreams.
In this episode, we talk about the importance of being ready for business growth, how to build your self-worth, what to look for in a coach and starting where you are.
Click on the play button below to listen to this lighthearted and wisdom-filled episode!
“If there’s something that’s not in your business yet, it’s because you’re not ready for it.”
“Over the years, I started creating programs – I have six products now, and I just let it all unfold at a pace that felt good for me.
In the beginning, I was like, “I’m going to make one million dollars in my first year!” and what I’ve really learned is the journey to becoming someone who can bring in seven and eight figures is a process.
There is so much to learn. What I learned partly kicking and screaming was that I decided I wanted to just let the business evolve at a pace that felt good for me so that I could enjoy my life as well as grow the business, and do it on my terms.
It’s very easy to get tempted into all the messaging that is in the industry, especially if you’re trying to grow from an online marketing perspective, to trying to have these six-figure launches and this and that.
One of the things that I’ve learned is if there’s something that’s not in your business yet, it’s because you’re not ready for it. And so your job is to be ready, and then when you’re ready, the opportunity will present itself, and it will flourish, and it will be much easier than trying to do something before you’re really ready for it.”
“Owning a business has been the best developer of self – of me, of almost anything I’ve been through – because it just forces you to look at yourself from so many angles.”
Hire someone you connect with
Business is just like dating. If you have 10 potential coaches in front of you, choosing the “right” person for you depends on where you’re at in your business, and what you need.
Sometimes you don’t even know what you need, so you should go interview different people who you think can help you and find out how they can help you and how they see the problem.
“If you’ve got 10 suitors in front of you, and on paper they’re all perfect for you, but you go on one date with each person, you’re going to be lucky if you have a connection with even one.
I think there are a lot of great coaches out there, but the key is you have to find the person you connect with.”
There’s nothing wrong with being new
“When I was new, what I would tell people is, “These are the concepts. Let me explain to you how it can work.” And I would say to them, “I’m working on getting case studies and I’m priced that way. Do you want to be one?”
I never embellished where I was, I always embraced where I was, and that’s perfect because there are people who only have the budget for someone who’s newer. And that’s fine. Start where you are.”
095 – Greg Jeffries: Simple, Scalable, Sustainable SEO
Today on the podcast we have SEO Expert, Greg Jeffries. Greg is a designer, entrepreneur and an internet marketer. He is passionate about online marketing and his top strengths include: creating strategies and organizing information and complex workflows into simple processes, search engine optimization, and developing various design and creative solutions.
For those just starting out on their entrepreneurial journey online, hearing “SEO” and “Affiliate marketing” may seem daunting. Our guest today, however, makes it all easy to understand.
Today on the podcast we have SEO Expert, Greg Jeffries. Greg is a designer, entrepreneur and an internet marketer. He is passionate about online marketing and his top strengths include: creating strategies and organizing information and complex workflows into simple processes, search engine optimization, and developing various design and creative solutions.
In this episode, we talk about how he got started in affiliate marketing and SEO consulting, the tools he recommends and strategies and tactics that you can apply to your own business.
If you’re an entrepreneur, or if you want to make a mark online, click on the play button below to listen to the rest of the episode.
Reach out to people who know what they’re doing
Like many online entrepreneurs, I tried figuring things out and doing things on my own. I did that for a while, and it was a hit-and-miss. So I’ve learned to ask help where I need it most. I sought out coaches, took courses, and hired people who are skilled in doing things that are not the focus of my business.
“The live events for affiliate and internet marketing – that’s where you meet people that are hopefully crushing it, and if they’re not, at least the caliber of people that show up to these events are ones that are hopefully serious because they’ve forked out a couple thousand dollars to be there.
That was a big turning point for me when I finally got out of my comfort zone and stopped trying to figure it out on my own.
All these people in the planet, they’re already doing the things that you probably want to do and making the money that you want. So just go and try to find these people. A lot of times you’re not going to get access to those people online, unfortunately.”
SEO and affiliate marketing tactics
“I just create a bunch of content, videos and blog posts with long-tail keywords revolving around ClickFunnels and related software. I just provide value and solutions in exchange for that.
To promote ClickFunnels – and this applies to any product or service – I don’t try to just promote ClickFunnels by itself and say things like, “You should get ClickFunnel, it’s a great tool! Oh and by the way, I get a commission.”
I try to build ClickFunnels into some sort of a system and be like, “Here’s how to x, y and z. You’re gonna need this tool, you’re gonna need this traffic source, you’re gonna need this – and once you put them all together, you get this result.”
And so it just becomes natural to be like, “Okay, the first step is to get ClickFunnels. It’s part of the system.” Instead of just saying, “ClickFunnels is a great tool! If you want to make money online, it’s a sales funnel builder tool! Just point and click and you’re going to be making money!”
I like to give people some sort of a blueprint. The people that are already marketers, they know what it does and they may or may not buy under your affiliate link. But I try to position the offer towards complete beginners, generally.”
The 3 S’s
Simple, scalable, sustainable – Greg’s approach to SEO meets all those criteria.
“Simple. You can get as detailed and as elaborate with SEO as you want, but that was what held me back with SEO. I was trying to be the smartest guy in the room, and it just crippled me. I had to dumb it down so I can understand it.
Scalable. I mostly focus on long-tail keywords instead of shorter ones, like “ClickFunnels Review”. I’ll focus on something like “ClickFunnels Mailchimp integration,” something longer and more specific.
The reason I do that because long-tail keywords are less competitive and they have more buyer intent behind them, so they’re easier to rank for. There’s more people typing in long-tail keywords. There may be more traffic for shorter keywords, but there’s either equal to or greater traffic for long-tail keywords and there’s a lot more combinations of long-tail stuff.
Most people, when you go to buying something online, or if you’re interested in buying something, you don’t just type “shoes”. Nobody does that. If you want a “red Nike men’s running shoes,” that’s what you type in because you want to narrow down the options.
There’s tools like keywordtool.io that you can start with a root keyword and it will just spit out thousands of recommendations, and then I just take that list and create content around that.”
094 – Philip Singleton: How to Stand Out in a Review-Based Economy
Today my special guest is Philip Singleton, CEO of Kansas City Web Design & SEO. Philip works in the web development space where he helps companies convert their static websites into lead-generating marketing platforms.
Today my special guest is Philip Singleton, CEO of Kansas City Web Design & SEO. Philip works in the web development space where he helps companies convert their static websites into lead-generating marketing platforms.
He has since written several award-winning and best-selling books on lead generation, search engine optimization and web design. His book, SEO for Growth, was named be Forbes as the #1 SEO book to read for entrepreneurs. It has been endorsed by over 50 of the world’s top marketing experts, and listed as a top marketing book by Inc., Mashable, Oracle and The Huffington Post.
In this episode, we talk about his entrepreneurial journey towards becoming THE SEO expert, launch tactics he used on his best-selling book, working on your online reputation, the power of reviews, and a lot more.
If you’re an entrepreneur, or if you want to make a mark online, click on that play button below to listen to the rest of the episode.
Book launch tactics and endorsements – more than just “book bling”
One of the things that Philip did during the launch of SEO for Growth was to work as many influencers as he could in the book, so that they will have a reason to link bank to it, talk about it and maybe even help him promote the book.
“It got 50 endorsements. We purposely sided over 200 different digital marketers in the book and footnoted them and we also named 16 experts, so there was a specific expert with at least a one-page write-up at the end of every chapter.
They basically became part of this book project, and in fact, the 16 authors that we had, we actually sent them their bios and then in every case, they actually edited it and gave us some feedback and kind of tweaked their chapter.
So they became part of the project and invested in it, because we were saying, “In terms of this chapter we’re writing about, you should follow this expert because they’re at the top of their game in this chapter that we’re covering.”
What we did when the book launch came out is we notified every single person in the book that had some kind of part. They became willing to help us in a lot of cases – not all of them, but a good percentage of them actually helped us market the book.
Just a tweet from somebody like Larry Kim – Hubspot helped us market to some degree to their group because we had Brian Halligan who’s a co-founder of Hubspot – that was one of the things we worked in was to keep an SEO mindset and try to keep your web presence more of the book and drop more Easter eggs in there, so that you can get more benefit.”
Most people think of endorsements as just “book bling” or to give it credibility, but it’s actually a way for you to propel the sales. We actually sold a lot of books and got best-seller status on Amazon for longer than I’ve ever had any book on it, because other people endorsed it and also helped us market it.”
Your website is more than a digital brochure
“I think the biggest mistake to me is that people still look at their website as a digital brochure. The reality is, these days, we are all internet companies because there’s no way to avoid some type of a followup search online.
Unless you’ve got a website that you treat as a marketing platform that’s a referral source for the stuff that you’re doing, where you’re documenting your work and your testimonials and whatever types of things you have about you that get people to know, like and trust you and build that credibility, it has to be documented there so people can look at it.
We have people call us up all the time, they don’t understand why when they invested in print, or TV or radio in the past, they got a predictable amount of sales, and they say, “We don’t think it’s working anymore”.
It’s probably working really well, but the thing is that they’re going back to the internet to follow up on it and you’re losing to people that are working on their SEO and their online reputation and their social media presence.
This happens all the time; we get people who invest in TV here locally and when you go look them up online, they have two one-star reviews. You just lost 90% of your TV demand that you created because the guy that’s above you that has 20 five-star reviews just got your TV advertising money.”
Your online reputation is important
We’ve become a review-based economy. Everybody almost looks up everything and everybody’s looking for social proof. If you don’t make trying to collect some client reviews and document that and republish on your website, making sure that it’s on the key places that you need it to be like Google, then you’re losing a huge opportunity because more and more people are looking for that evidence online to choose you.
In fact, they’re not looking for a solution to a problem; they’re looking for THE solution to a problem.
If your website kicks butt and if you have more reviews than anybody else, all of a sudden you’ve warmed up and now that sale becomes really easy because they come to you so warm that they’re almost hot.
093 – Moran Pober: The Investor Mindset
Today my special guest is Moran Pober. Moran is an Israeli businessman and investor. He is the Founder of ABD Assets, a leading international investment group.
Today my special guest is Moran Pober. Moran is an Israeli businessman and investor. He is the Founder of ABD Assets, a leading international investment group.
He has also carried out extensive consulting assignments with many companies, and he’s now on the hunt for acquisitions of companies he can help turnaround, merge or help grow towards exit/IPO.
Moran brings a whole new element of business to the show. He is all about leveraging your time, getting out there and investing in other businesses.
In this episode, we talk about his journey from a day-to-day business manager to investor, his approach to sales, vision for the future and a lot more.
Click on that play button below to listen to the rest of the episode.
“I don’t like to be the day-to-day manager of businesses.”
“I remember running my own business day-to-day and thinking, “I don’t want to do this.” I made a lot of money but I realized I don’t care how much money I’m making from my business – I just don’t enjoy my day-to-day.
I remember looking at a TV show like Shark Tank and just thinking, “Hey, that’s exactly what I want to do. I want to be the main shareholder, I want to share my advice and knowledge, but I don’t want to deal with the day-to-day tasks. I want to call the big shots, the over all strategy of the business.”
Moran’s advice for solopreneurs
Most people just focus on one business – it has become their whole life. But the truth is, you’ll never know when your business is going to go up or down. If you’re in the business for 10, 20 years, something is bound to happen that will be out of your control.
So Moran’s advice is instead of investing the money you’ve made back into your business, go invest it somewhere else. As one of his mentors always said, “You only build wealth by having equity in multiple transactions.”
Approach to sales
“Something that I’ve learned over the years is that the best way to get a deal going or to close a sale is just by figuring out the other side, making sure you understand what their needs are, what their problems are, and finding a way to give them good answers to those problems and challenges.
The only way to get a deal going is to have a win-win scenario.”
092 –Marianne Hartley: Healing, Design and Branding
Today on the podcast I chat with Marianne Hartley, Creative Director and Founder at Hartley & Soul Ltd, a branding design company. They create irresistable brands that reveal the life force of your business.
Many people think that branding is all about the logo. Although the logo is a central component of your brand, it is not the only thing that makes a brand.
Today on the podcast I chat with Marianne Hartley, Creative Director and Founder at Hartley & Soul Ltd, a branding design company. They create irresistable brands that reveal the life force of your business.
With over 20 years experience in corporate branding and design, Marianne has worked for The Queens Diamond Jubilee Pageant, Intercontinental Hotels, Bacardi, Toyota, Luxury brands, start-ups and visionary entrepreneurs.
In this episode, we talk about healing design, the elements that make up a brand, tips how to find your brand and the shift in her mindset when it comes to sales.
If you’re an entrepreneur who wants to learn more about branding, I invite you to click on that play button to tune in.
Design + Mind, Body and Spirit
Marianne set up Hartley & Soul five years ago now to bring two of her passions together – healing and design.
“I’ve had a passion for design for over 20 years and I’ve been working in branding for that amount of time. At the same time, I’ve had a raw interest and passion for the mind, body, spirit aspect and how what we surround ourselves with impacts how we feel and also how we are and how well we work in our business.
When we are looking at something beautiful, whether it’s art in nature, or our favorite painting, or the smile of a baby, we feel really instantly much more at ease and reconnected to ourselves.
This is such a powerful and beautiful energy that exist in the brands that I design, at the core of their beings. When their customers and employees connect with their brand, they have this instant connection with their values, what they stand for, and why they do what they do in their business.”
What makes a brand?
Marianne shares that a brand is made up of many elements. Your logo is very much at the heart of your brand, but the colors that you use, the fonts, the images, the words that you use, are all part of “your brand.
When all these elements work together in a congruent way, you get across a very powerful message that your audience can connect with and either associate with or not.
It’s actually when your brand is used in a consistent way that you attract the right people to you. You attract the right people to work with and the right people that want to be a part of your tribe.
Offer your solution
“For a long time, sales was something that I didn’t want to be associated with. I love working with people, but I don’t want to sell.
One lady helped me completely change and transform my mindset around selling. Her whole approach is that selling is simply offering solutions to a problem, and you never try to push or force anything on to anybody else, which is what I felt in the past. I didn’t want to impose anything; I just didn’t like being sold to, so I didn’t want to sell.
But now, I see it now as a much more positive thing.”
091 – Gavin Zuchlinski: How to Run an Efficient and Productive Business
Today on the podcast I chat with Gavin Zuchlinski, Founder of Acuity Scheduling. He shares with us the inspiration and intention behind the product, how he developed and improved it, his insights on sales and working with a virtual team, and a lot more.
Managing appointments can be very stressful. As a business owner, you would rather spend most of your time working on your business, instead of going back and forth between clients, trying to figure out schedules and time zones.
Enter Acuity Scheduling.
Acuity Scheduling is an online tool that helps small businesses offer and manage appointments online. If you haven’t heard of it yet, I invite you to check it out.
Today on the podcast I chat with Gavin Zuchlinski, Founder of Acuity Scheduling. He shares with us the inspiration and intention behind the product, how he developed and improved it, his insights on sales and working with a virtual team, and a lot more.
It’s a short and fun episode, so click on that play button now to tune in.
“I originally created it for my mom.”
Gavin’s mom was a massage therapist, and he noticed how she kept on going back and forth with clients, struggling to listen to all their crazy excuses as to why they had to cancel their appointments. He felt like there had to be a better way to simplify that, and that’s how Acuity was born.
“I didn’t really know about the lean startup idea at the time, but once I did, it completely resonated with me.”
“When you’re working on something part-time, by necessity, you have to be very lean, you have to listen to your customers and be very efficient in what you work on and not go off on giant projects with wild guesses because you’ll be dead by the time you actually get around to that.”
Selling your idea
According to Gavin, “there was a real disconnect between the quality of the product itself and the absolutely amateurish and ugly, marketing side of the site.”
So when he decided to take it full time, the biggest thing he did was amp up marketing and sales.
He believes that Acuity is the best thing available out there, so he wanted more people to realize that and not get turned away just because the marketing side of the site wasn’t that great.
When they first started out, they pretty much grew organically through referrals. But by 2013, they really focused on improving the storefront side, which is basically just design changes and tightening up the copy.
Now they’re trying to increase traffic to their website and just get the word out about their product. In the last year, he’s been doing interviews so people understand Acuity more, as well as the personality behind it. They’re also doing more online marketing like Facebook ads, but still trying to keep it as self-serviced as possible and let the product just speak for itself.
Mentions
Connect with Gavin on LinkedIn
Exclusive for Podcast Listeners: Get your EXTENDED 45-Day TRIAL here
Episode 2 - Selling Professional Services can be more Art than Science with Dorie Clark
Money is an Amplifier of Life not an Equator of Success with Richard Brooke of Life Shotz
If your client’s values don’t match what you are selling, don’t sell it.
Chris talks with author and entrepreneur Dorie Clark. Dorie has two successful motivational books and an e-book in the works. She overcame the hurdles of believing it was ok to market herself and that it is ok to ask for money. She calls asking for an hourly raise a fool’s errand and shares how she handled early career “no’s”. Find out what Dorie thinks are latest and greatest tools to become more efficient in your work life and books that influenced her.
Tweetables:
“Asking for an hourly rate is a fool’s errand. It’s not how you should be charging.” Click to Tweet
How to make inbound inquiries a larger share of your business. Click to Tweet
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
[3:05] Dorie’s story
[6:20] Learning to ask for money
[8:20] Committing to your own raise
[11:35] Diagnosing the “no”
[13:22] Embrace account relationship management
[15:02] Inbound Inquiries
[16:38] Consumers are far more educated
[17:41] About the Stand Out book
[19:08] A life hack from Dorie
[21:50] Amazon affiliate links
[22:12] Influence by Robert Cialdini
[22:51] Never eat alone – Keith Ferrazzi
[23:49] Tools Dorie uses
[26:35] Free workbook version
[28:15] A new networking e-book
MENTIONS:
Reinventing You – Define your brand, Imagine your future
Stand Out: How to Find Your Breakthrough Idea and Build a Following Around It
Episode 1 - Money is an Amplifier of Life not an Equator of Success with Richard Brooke of Life Shotz
Money is an Amplifier of Life not an Equator of Success with Richard Brooke of Life Shotz
If your client’s values don’t match what you are selling, don’t sell it.
Money is an Amplifier of Life not an Equator of Success with Richard Brooke of Life Shotz
If your client’s values don’t match what you are selling, don’t sell it.
Chris speaks with Richard Brooke, who never thought he would be a salesperson. In fact, he was an introvert that didn’t like anything about the sales process. He says that if you let it happen naturally if you are truly curious about the other person and listen when the other person speaks you will succeed. And working backward can help you to achieve your goals. Figure out your daily ratios so you know how you should be spending your time and how many conversations you need to have in a day.
Key Takeaways
[2:35] Richard’s big change
[6:18] Someone showed interest when I was ready to listen
[7:50] I hated sales and the sales process
[9:50] The biggest mistake was pushing people around
[11:17] Tai chi approach to selling
[13:22] The breakthrough
[16:28] If they don’t buy, I’m a failure
[18:55] Extraordinary memories will be our reflections
[24:44] What does selling look like on a daily basis?
[28:20] Humans are driven by ego’s
[30:12] Curiosity is listening and asking questions
[35:00] Strategies for maintaining focus
[35:14] Create a connection
[38:48] Baby steps
[43:23] All things Seth Godin
Mentions:
Mach II with your Hair on Fire