Come What May

In 2008, Joseph Wirthlin, an American businessman, and the religious leader gave a sermon titled, “Come What May, and Love It.” In his sermon, he shared a simple, yet powerful message he learned from his mother. 

When Wirthlin was a young boy, he loved to play sports. After a tough loss during a football game, he came home feeling discouraged. His mother listened to his story and said, “Joseph, come what may, and love it.”

When we experience hardships and disappointments we have to learn how to pick ourselves back up and move on. While we can’t control what trials we encounter, we can control how to react to them. 

“[E]very life has peaks and shadows and times when it seems that the birds don’t sing and bells don’t ring,” Wirthlin said. “Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result.”

As entrepreneurs, we need to learn how to continue on after failures and adversity. There will be times when we lose an investment, a partner betrays us, or a client falls through. Yet despite these setbacks, we can find ways to smile and move forward.

How to Embrace Adversity 

As we experience adversity in our businesses, we can find ways to embrace it. 

Learn to Laugh

Wirthlin said the first thing we can do is learn to laugh. He asked, “Have you ever seen an angry driver who, when someone else makes a mistake, reacts as though that person has insulted his honor, his family, his dog, and his ancestors all the way back to Adam?” Instead of cursing at the world, we need to learn to laugh at these small hardships. 

Laughter can help reduce stress hormones, release tension in our muscles, increase endorphins to boost happiness levels and reset the brain to be more positive (Source: University of St. Augustine). As we laugh in our companies and stressful careers, we will actually improve our state of mind and enter into a better mindset to continue on despite adversity. 

“The next time you’re tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead,” Wirthlink said. “It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable.”

Having a sense of humor is a trait many great entrepreneurs have. For example, Elon Musk has a sense of humor about failure. When SpaceX finally reached one of their goals, they posted a blooper reel showcasing all the mistakes they made along the way, including failed engine sensors and a collapsed landing leg (Source: Entrepreneur). They even posted a video titled, “How Not to Land an Orbital Rocket Booster.”

When we have a sense of humor and learn to laugh, we will be encouraged to try again even after the most devastating failures. 

Keep the Big Picture in Mind 

Whenever we experience adversity, we should keep the big picture in mind. We may be stuck in a rut on the road to a much greater destination. Wirthlin calls this seeking for the eternal. 

“You may feel singled out when adversity enters your life,” Wirthlin said. “You shake your head and wonder, ‘Why me?’ But the dial on the wheel of sorrow eventually points to each of us. At one time or another, everyone must experience sorrow. No one is exempt.”

We need to understand that no one on earth has lived or will live a life without any pain, disappointment, or struggle. If we can remember this, it won’t feel like the end of the world when we hit a roadblock. Instead, it will feel like another hurdle we can jump over to continue on our journey.

“Learning to endure times of disappointment, suffering, and sorrow is part of our on-the-job training,” Wirthlin said. “These experiences, while often difficult to bear at the time, are precisely the kinds of experiences that stretch our understanding, build our character, and increase our compassion for others.”

As we keep the bigger picture in mind, we will recognize that adversity is only temporary. 

Trust in the Lord

Having faith and trust in the Lord will help us learn to accept and embrace adversity. We can know that the Lord would never give us a trial He knew we couldn’t handle. Each hardship in our lives has been given to us for a reason. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV) says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

As we trust in God, he will help direct our paths and bless us. 

Kenton Lee is the founder and inventor of the “shoe that grows.” He created a shoe that expands five sizes so that it can grow with an impoverished child for over five years. He has helped send more than 100,000 pairs of shoes to children in over 90 countries. However, this success didn’t come until after six years of adversity.  

“[W]hatever God was calling me to, I really felt like I could do it, but I knew it wasn’t going to happen overnight,” Lee said. He continued, “People often ask me, ‘Why didn’t you quit? Didn’t you get so discouraged during those six years trying to work on this idea?’ We had a lot of ups and downs and a lot of rejection and failure during those six years. As people asked me that, I kind of said I never got discouraged really because my expectation wasn’t that this was going to happen overnight.” (Source: Technology of Work)

Lee kept the bigger picture in mind over the six years and continued forward with trust in God. He believed that God would help direct him down the path he needed to take. Sometimes we just have to do the best we can and then leave the rest in God’s hands. 

Look Back at Our Accomplishments 

A great way to overcome adversity and keep a positive mindset is looking back at and express gratitude for our previous accomplishments. It may feel like we go through failure after failure when starting a new business, but if we look back at where we started we may be surprised to see how far we’ve come. 

Arthur Godfry, an American radio and television broadcaster and entrepreneur, was able to do this in his career. He said, “Looking back on my achievements, it is fair to say that I am extremely proud of what I have done and accomplished so far.”

Godfrey went through much adversity in his life. Early in his career, he suffered severe injuries in a car accident. While he was in the hospital, he listened to the radio hour after hour, and when he was released, he got into radio and eventually got his own morning show on CBS radio (Source: New York Times). Godfrey didn’t let his adversity stop him from progressing. He continued moving forward, looking back on his previous accomplishments, and being grateful for where he was. 

Refuse to Give Up

We shouldn’t give up just because we experience adversity. 

Soichiro Honda, the founder of Honda Motor Co., Ltd, said, “Success is 99% failure.” At 15 years old, Honda left high school to work in an auto repair shop. He eventually opened his own branch and while working at the shop, he created automotive parts for Toyota, but they were rejected (Source: Quality Logo Products). However, he didn’t let this rejection stop him.

When gas became scarce after World War II, he created a small 2-stroke motor that would need little gas to operate. Now, Honda is worth about $52 billion (Source: Macro Trends). 

As we go through adversity, we should find an opportunity for growth. 

“I do believe that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life,” Wirthlin said. “If we approach adversities wisely, our hardest times can be times of greatest growth, which in turn can lead toward times of greatest happiness.” 

Key Takeaways

Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. Let adversity come and choose to embrace it. 
2. We should learn to laugh. Laughter can reduce stress hormones, release tension, boost happiness levels, and reset the brain to be more positive.
3. Whenever we experience adversity, we should keep the big picture in mind. We may be stuck in a rut on the road to a much greater destination. 
4. As we trust in God, he will help direct our paths and bless us. 
5. A great way to overcome adversity and keep a positive mindset is looking back at our previous accomplishments. 
6. As we go through adversity, we should find an opportunity for growth. 

Join Entrepreneurs of Faith

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Relationship with Ourselves

To turn our business goals into a reality, we need to build a strong relationship with ourselves. Evan shared five areas that complete a whole person: personal, financial, spiritual, relational, and professional. As we focus our time, resources, and energy on improving ourselves in these five areas, we will begin to get into the right headspace for success. 

Personal: How do we feel about ourselves when the door closes and we’re alone? Our personal headspace and attitude about ourselves have a huge impact on the success of our businesses. If we aren’t confident and competent in who we are, our customers and employees won’t believe our value either. 

Financial: Inc. completed a study in 2016 that found people are willing to take as much as a 32% pay cut to be happier in their workplace (Source: Inc). “I believe that what you earn and how you earn it is just as important. You want to earn a million dollars, great, but how you get that money is just as important as the money that you actually receive,” Evan said. We need to focus on financial security while balancing our personal happiness. Where do we find fulfillment? How can we balance fulfillment with our financial needs?

Spiritual: We need to know what we believe in, what our morals are, and what we value. As we understand this, we should align our business values with our personal values. Otherwise, we can experience internal conflict that can have a large negative impact on our business.  

Relational: The relationships we build with those around us are key to the success of our businesses. We need the support of others in our lives for encouragement, strength, and motivation. “Relationships are some of the most important things that you can focus on at any stage of the business because the people close to you will be the reason you succeed,” Evan said. 

Professional: In our businesses, we should maintain a professional attitude with our business associates. We should also be professional in the way we set goals and use our resources to maximize profit in our businesses. “Your workplace needs to inspire, fascinate, and motivate,” Evan said. As we do this, our life should significantly improve because of the time and work we put in. 

Evan said, “Clarity doesn't come unless you look at those five areas and know how you're dividing your time.” He continued, “At a high level, I believe that these five areas, in particular, provide a fundamental framework for you to look at how you're spending your time. I recommend touching them on a weekly basis and saying, ‘Okay, I need to make sure that I'm spending time, that I'm investing energy and resources, in these five areas every single week to make sure that my life stays in a good flow of balance.’” 

Relationships with Our Customers

We need to focus on building relationships with our customers so they feel valued and appreciated. With Obsessed Academy, Evan focuses on helping his clients establish those customer relationships so they can find success in their businesses. 

A fundamental principle Evan believes and teaches is, “a transaction is a byproduct of a vested relationship and not the goal of a relationship.” Instead of focusing on a transaction, we should focus on connecting with our customers. As we build referral-rich relationships, our company will have greater success in scaling and becoming profitable. 

Our sales and goals are achieved by having a conversation without a motive. One of the mistakes professionals often make is focusing on their motives and forgetting to have a conversation. 

If we want to create a repeat customer, we need to focus on the relationship and the conversation. The relationship will not be built on transactional goals. “When you can just have a conversation, at some point a solution will arise, and at some point, there's an opportunity to dive deep into what you really need. And we can position our products or services as the solution. Then there's an opportunity to do business there,” Evan said. 

Relationships with Our Partners

We need to be cautious with the relationships we choose to build in our partnerships. Evan’s biggest setback stemmed from bad partnerships.

“I thought that I needed help. I thought I needed a partnership. It really stemmed from an insecurity, actually,” Evan said. “I wasn't confident so I got into these business partnerships with people where I would work very, very hard, and there would be disparagement in labor and results versus my partner who didn't share the same moral or work ethic.”

Sometimes we may enter into a partnership because we lack a good relationship with ourselves and feel the need to rely on someone else. This can cause major problems in the future. While partnerships can be beneficial, Evan encourages us to be very careful about the partnerships we choose to enter. If a partnership fails, we not only lose past opportunities we could have had if we weren’t in the partnership, we also lose time as it could take us one to two years to get back on our feet and adjust our businesses.  

“You have to be very hyper-aware and audit the relationships that you're working with. Just because somebody is excited to work with you doesn't mean that you're the right person. Sometimes you're looking for help when in reality you need time,” Evan said.  

I had made a similar mistake earlier in my career. I didn't believe in myself enough, and I thought I needed to hire people or bring on people to do things for me which resulted in a waste of energy and potential lost opportunities. We’ve got to realize as entrepreneurs that we have the capabilities to figure things out. We have to have faith in ourselves. 

While we can get help, it doesn’t mean we can’t do everything on our own. We shouldn’t have to give up equity in our business or hire someone to give them control of something that we are very capable of doing ourselves. 

“If you're looking at a partnership, [know] 50/50 partnerships never existed. They just don't exist,” Evan said. “There's always someone that's putting out more effort over here and driving more results. There's always a disparagement.”

If we choose to enter into a partnership, we need to remember that in reality, there is no such thing as a perfect partnership. Someone will always be giving a bit more than someone else. If we come to a disagreement, our entire business plan could fall apart. No two people are ever going to agree 100% of the time. Someone has to be able to step up and make that decision. Otherwise, the company is stuck in a state of paralysis. 

“You've got to have a leader. Every army has to have someone leading the charge forward,” Evan said. If we're looking at a partner, Evan recommends:

1. Do everything you can to not give up equity in your company. 
2. If you have to give away equity, do it in a way where you can still retain control. 
3. Have an exit strategy in mind and on paper in case things don’t go as well as we hoped. 

Instead of trying to split our business evenly, we need to have one person take charge. The split could be 60/40 or 80/20. Whatever the case, someone needs to own enough of the company to be CEO so when we have differing opinions on decisions, that person can make the final call. We should keep decision-making authority. 

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Evan for sharing your stories and insights with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. As we focus our time, resources, and energy on improving the personal, financial, professional, relational, and spiritual aspects of our lives, we will begin to get into the right headspace for success. 
2. A transaction is a byproduct of a vested relationship and not the goal of a relationship.
3. If we enter into a partnership, we should remember to do everything we can to avoid giving up equity in our company, stay in control, and have an exit strategy prepared in case things don’t go as we hoped. 

Connect with Evan

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Evan or connect with him, you can find him on LinkedIn or visit his website at evanstewart.co. You can also listen to his Obsessed Podcast for more insights from him. 

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

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Evan Stewart is the founder and chief evangelist for the Obsessed Academy and helps others build a life they can be obsessed with through private events, his Obsessed Conference, and his Obsessed Podcast. He has become a world-renowned life and business strategist who builds success by first losing money. 

In today’s episode, we’re going to discuss how we can build a successful business by focusing on quality before we focus on monetization. 

Evan’s Entrepreneurial Journey

Evan came from a family of entrepreneurs. When he was growing up, instead of wondering what type of job he would pursue a living, he thought about what service he could provide to others. 

In college, he jumped into real estate, had the opportunity to scale his business, and became the top 1% of realtors in Texas. His real estate company became his first step in learning and growing on his entrepreneurial journey. With so much success, he discovered a new passion: a passion to help others achieve that same success he did. He began to meet great people, build relationships, and eventually started Obsessed Academy where he helps consult entrepreneurs in building a successful business. 

“The core of everything I do comes down to this ideology that individuals deserve to be inspired, fascinated, and motivated by where they live, where they work, who they live and work with, and how they live and work,” Evan said. “We can all be the best version of ourselves. . . . People have so much potential in them to do incredible things to impact the world and make money around what they're doing.” 

From the examples of his parents, Evan learned that entrepreneurship is all about relationships and service. His parents helped teach him to recognize a healthy relationship with great communication and systems in place so that issues in one area don’t affect another area. Evan’s relationship with his parents helped him identify healthy relationships not just in his marriage but also with employees, partners, and customers. 

One of the greatest lessons he has learned throughout his journey is to focus on people. We shouldn’t be focused on money but on the relationships, we can build and the people we can serve. 

Don’t Focus on Monetization

Evan’s best monetization strategy is to not focus on monetization. 

“Don't focus on monetization,” Evan said. “I'm not saying don't be profitable. I'm not saying don't focus on sales or money, but I'm speaking specifically to those that are looking at building as much profit as possible in the early stages. [Instead] focus on quality first, and monetization second, and after your product becomes the market standard, switch.” 

Instead of only focusing on making a profit, we should focus on providing as much value as we can to our target audience and customers so we can build relationships and build our credibility. This strategy will help us achieve the greatest lifetime value out of our customers.

If we try to be profitable right off the bat, we likely won’t. Starting a business often requires risks and investments. We may have to spend three years building our business without any profit, but if we are focusing on quality, we will eventually see a great return on investment in the long run. 

Evan’s Obsessed Conference is not a profitable event. Yet. He mapped out a 10-year plan for his event to lose money in the beginning while they focus on the quality of the experience and relationships. They currently have an 85% audience retention rate because they are providing so much value to their customers with little cost. He does this with the long-term game in mind. Because he is building strong relationships with his customers now, later, when thousands of people attend his event, they will be more willing to spend money on an event they already know provides value. 

We can make a profit by losing money in the short term first. If we're in the business of positively impacting lives, we will be much more likely to monetize in the long run. “The best data [to look at] are . . . the businesses that have grown significantly because of your relationships together,” Evan said. 

Are we here for the short run or the long run? While some businesses can find success in the short-term run, most businesses find more success by making long-term goals. If we are aiming to be successful in the long run, Evan encourages us to ask ourselves, “How can we minimize profit right now to focus all our needs on the quality of our services and relationships with our customers?” 

Most companies make a goal to earn as much money as possible right off the bat, even before they have validity, history, credibility, following, and a customer base. Instead, we want to focus on building credibility, relationships, and quality first, before we focus on making a profit. When we do this, we are much more likely to see exponential growth down the road. 

If we look at some of the biggest and fastest-growing companies of our business careers, the Googles and the Amazons, we will find they followed a similar model: quality first, profit second. Google didn’t focus on monetizing for years, they built reach. Amazon did the same thing. They operated for years without making a profit. They focused on reinvesting back into their company to provide the highest quality and greatest value service they could. As a result, Google and Amazon are both in positions where they have tremendous value and influence.

“Look in the mirror and [ask], ‘Am I doing this for me and overcompensating for an insecurity, or am I doing this because this is a mission distribution method for achieving some type of greater mission?’ That's the question we need to be asking ourselves,” Evan said.

Charge What We’re Worth

After we have focused on building the quality of our products or services and establishing relationships with our customers, we need to determine what to charge. How do we set the price of our products?

Evan wrote an article, “How to Charge What You’re Worth Without Seeming Like a Jerk.” In it, he wrote, “There are two simple answers to this question: one, ensure you are up to date on industry standards and norms in your market. . . . Take some time to do your research so you’re aware of where you stand. Two, gather data every single time you win or lose a sale. . . . ‘Your market worth is what a buyer is willing to pay is common knowledge among sales professionals. Ensure you’re collecting this data.”

When we are determining our prices, we need to look at what our competitors are offering while also paying attention to the value our customers perceive our products or services to be worth. Evan recommended that when we choose our prices, we should really be competing for better quality over the lowest price.  If we try to have the lowest price, we will almost always be beaten.

“If you compete on price, you're going to constantly be shopped out to the lowest bidder. If you compete on quality, then you'll never have to justify your price,” Evan said. 

When we charge our customers based on high-quality services and products, we will be able to charge more since we are providing better value. It is worth it to reinvest in better customer service, get more team members, and pay for higher quality team members so we can provide better service to our customers. It's an ascending spiral. As we increase our value, our customers will be willing to spend more on our products, even over a cheaper price. 

“If you believe that quality is important, then charge what you're worth, and then prove that you're worth what you've changed through the experience with the customer,” Evan said. “You have to prove why you're charging that or the market is going to reject you.”

While making a profit is essential for business success, we should still focus on the customer’s needs. How can we build relationships? How can we provide value? When we prioritize quality and value over profit, monetization will come naturally. 

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Evan for sharing your stories and insights with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. Instead of making profit our number one priority, in the beginning, we should focus on providing value to our target audience first. We want to focus on building credibility, relationships, and quality first before we focus on monetization. 
2. When we are determining the prices of our products and services, we should look at what our competitors are charging while also paying attention to the value our customers perceive our products or services to be worth.
3. As we increase our value, consumers will be willing to spend more on our products, even over a competitor with a cheaper price. 
4. When we prioritize quality and value over profit, monetization will most likely come naturally. 

Connect with Evan

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Evan or connect with him, you can find him on LinkedIn or visit his website at evanstewart.co. You can also listen to his Obsessed Podcast for more insights from him. 

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

Please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content:

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

How do you provide high value and great service to your customers? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/141-how-to-make-a-profit-by-losing-money/ 

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Welcome back to another episode with Ali Schwanke. In the last episode, we talked about taking the path of the most resistance along with Ali’s entrepreneurial journey, B2B vs B2C content marketing, and quick wins. In today’s episode, we’ll discuss why content marketing is so powerful and Ali’s tips for successful content marketing.

Why is content marketing so powerful?

Content marketing equips customers with the power to make what they feel is their own buying decision. Ali gave an example through real estate and buying a car. She said, “I was never a home buyer in the days when you didn't have access to the MLS listings. I was never a home buyer where I had to go to the office and have someone sit down and put house offerings in front of me. I've always been in the age where I go online, and I look at the neighborhood that I want, and the realtor to me just feels like a person that I have to go through to get to the house.” 

“Content marketing is the same way. Every industry now feels like that. I can go buy a car, but how much do I know what I'm doing when I buy that car? That's where content comes in. So if I feel like you've educated me to the point where I feel like I know enough that . . . I'm not being tricked or duped in the sales process, then I'm [going to] have a good buying experience, and that's what content facilitates.”

Top Content Marketing Strategies

Here are some of Ali’s top content marketing strategies.

• Focus on Thought Leadership or Search-Driven Blogging

Ali was working with a company that was doing strategic planning. They were writing articles that were very interesting to their audience, but they weren't getting much traffic from a search engine perspective. Ali said, “The tip that I often tell people is there are two different types of blogging. Most companies don't know that they're actually doing one or the other, and they don't really know what camp they're in and why.”

Ali explained that a search-driven or SEO-driven headline for a blog might say, “5 Ways to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile.” To find this blog post, someone might type in “how do I optimize my LinkedIn profile” and that blog would come up as an answer. 

In contrast, Ali said the thought leadership version of that title might be “5 Ways You Bombed Your Last Interview Because Your LinkedIn Profile Sucks.” She explained, “No one's gonna search for why your LinkedIn profile sucks, but they might stumble upon that on social or if that's in an email newsletter.” When they do, they’re going to ask, “Did I really bomb that interview because my LinkedIn profile is so awful?” and then read the article.

“When it comes to deploying written content you have to understand which camp you're in because each one of those has different strategies.” Ali told the company she was working with that “the only way they're going to get more traffic with sexy thought leadership-driven content is to find other audiences to leverage.”

• Be Consistent

To get into the baseball Hall of Fame, a player’s average needs to be about .300, which is three out of 10 bats. If you think about it, that’s not very high. But it is the consistency of showing up to play the game that matters. 

“I think a lot of times,” Ali said, “companies or marketing directors will look for the home run type of content, saying, ‘The last few blogs that we wrote didn't go over really well,’ but some of the success of what you're going to see is simply by showing up every single week.”

In addition, she said, “When you stop publishing content, people start asking questions. And when people ask questions and you're not there to answer the questions, they make up their own stories.”

• Focus on the Customer

In order for us to have content success, we need to use the words our customers use and write about the things they face—not the things we want to talk about. “There's this Venn diagram of . . . the things the customer cares about and . . . the things that your product or service can solve for them.” 

“Where those two meet together is where your content should be, because if it's not if you write just about what they're having problems with, you'll get a lot of traffic and not a lot of conversions. If you just write about what your product is you [won’t get] a lot of traffic.”

“Those two together are the hard part because sometimes the CEO or the product team will say we should write about this, and the marketing team has to be able to say, this is where we stay if you want content marketing to actually pay off.”

• Promote, Promote, Promote

Ali said, “It is equally important to promote as it is to create.” She explained, “If you were going to err on the side of consistency and you can't keep up with every week, I would much rather see you publish a one really great piece of content a month and promote the heck out of it. That means your one piece of content might be a really great guide, a really good blog post, or [a] really good video, and it's reshared on social, it’s put over on Medium, it's shared over on Buzzsumo, it's put out as an infographic, etc. You've repurposed it and reshared it so that you have all of this kind of groundswell. It's not just like a new thing every week.”

• Customize Our Webchat

Webchat can be complicated. “If you have a software company or a solution that has more of a self-guided journey [for the customer] to [make a] purchase, there is a need for a chat to be part of that. But I see too many companies that have a one-size-fits-all chat solution like, ‘hey, here I am, chat with me,’ whereas chats are really supposed to be the place where you think ahead of the questions that someone would have relative to the information that they're viewing.”

For example, if someone’s on a software company’s pricing page, the chat might say, “Do you have any questions about pricing?” Ali said, “Those [customized chats] are typically things you need to develop from looking at your analytics, looking at what people are asking you, [and] using that data side to really inform the creative. But chat is powerful. . . . You don't need to throw it on every page of your website.”

• Have a Customer-Centric Marketing Strategy

A customer-centric marketing strategy assumes that we're going to find out what's most important in the customer’s mind. Sometimes we assume we know a lot about our audience. For example, we might ask customers, “how did you hear about us?” They might respond with “a friend told me” or something like that. 

But what if we asked, “what was happening in your life at the time that you found our solution?” They might say they just moved or got married or the license expired for the software they were using before. With this kind of question, we can understand what's happening in our customers’ lives and find out how to help them better.

• Repurpose Content

Ali had a client who sells services to dealerships do some original research. “One of our clients had done a research report, which is a powerful strategy, but it's one that's definitely a lot more uphill than it is downhill.”

“They surveyed everybody there in the dealership . . . and came out with some findings and actually created this . . . [about] 30-page report. Out of it, they produced infographics, produced videos, [and] were able to link it to case studies.” 

Ali said, “What that created is this evergreen opportunity to get mentions and guest publications and raise the level of their thought leadership. It's been continually producing leads for them since we created it. So I think back to that idea of [how] one powerful piece of content has paid dividends, [and] all of their blog content then is being derived from this one piece. So it's really powerful when you do it the right way.”

• Use Content as a Relationship Builder

Ali has another client who is producing a podcast as a way to build relationships in their industry. She compared it to real estate, saying, “If you're a real estate agent, and you know that title companies, lawyers, attorneys, estate planners, [etc.] they all work with people who may need new house options for buying and selling.” 

“So in a sense,” she continued, “what they're doing is creating a podcast for those folks to build a relationship. So they're using the podcast as a relationship-building tool to then drive them into the funnel to learn more about what their company does. So I think content can also be a really good relationship builder, as well as a content engine.”

• Be Creative to Make B2B Video Marketing More Interesting

We might be thinking how do we make B2B video marketing less boring? Well, Ali gave us some examples and ideas. 

She described a company that did a video explaining the concept of video marketing. “They were comparing it to baking a cake,” she said. “And it was so well done, and so I think it sticks with me to this day because it was using an analogy that everyone is familiar with.”

We can lean on popular concepts or pop culture and have fun with our videos. We can also study things from other industries like documentaries or shows and movies that seem like they would be boring and see how they made them exciting.

• Bridge the Creative and Analytical

Ali described two groups in marketing. The first might say, “I'm just gonna pitch really crazy ideas and see if the client likes them.” And the second might say, “I use data to make decisions, and there is little room for creativity. I have to do what the data tells me.” 

“I firmly believe there's an intersection between the two of those,” Ali said. She gave an example of going after the search “how to monetize my business.” 

“Let's say that it's dominated already by companies that have really good content. So, you could either attack it from a, ‘I'm going to make much better content than them,’ and better is going to mean an emphasis on better questions, [going] further in-depth, [having] visuals, [etc.]. Or [saying], ‘What are the other ways I could attack this from a data perspective? It looks like they're not ranking over on YouTube, or they don't have any content on social [media] about this.’ So using that analytical mind to find the gaps that you can dig into. And then the creative pieces: ‘How do I not only answer that question but I also entertain them?’”

“Look at what's happening outside your industry. Don't look for examples in your industry. Go see what's happening. . . . I'm sure there's a lot that you can learn from looking at what's happening in manufacturing and how they do it on Nickelodeon that you could pull into your creative process to really bridge that gap.”

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Ali for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. Content marketing allows customers to be informed about their purchase decisions.
2. Choose to focus on thought leadership or search-driven blogging, so we can know how to promote our content.
3. Be consistent. Sometimes showing up to play the game is the most important thing with content.
4. In our content, we should focus on what the customer cares about and how our product or service can help them with that.
5. Regardless of how much content we’re putting out, we need to make sure we promote, promote, promote.
6. Our web chat should be tailored to the specific pages it’s on; it doesn’t need to be on every page of our website.
7. To understand what's happening in our customers’ lives and find out how to help them better, we should have a customer-centric marketing strategy.
8. We can make good use of our content by repurposing it.
9. We can use our content to build relationships with our audience.
10. B2B video marketing can be fun and creative when we draw on popular concepts, pop culture, and more.
11. Use both data and creativity to inform our content marketing decisions.

Connect with Ali

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Ali or connect with her, you can find her on LinkedIn or Twitter. You can also check out Hubspot Hacks on YouTube or visit her website, SimpleStat.com. 

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

Did you like today’s episode? Then please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content:

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

Have you used any of these content marketing strategies? If so, how did it go? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/140-10-content-marketing-strategies-to-up-our-content-game/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sometimes in our business, we might be tempted to take the well-traveled road, the road everyone else is taking. We may not want to put in the effort that taking the harder path requires. In today’s episode, Ali Schwanke and I will discuss how doing video may be harder but worth it. We’ll also discuss Ali’s entrepreneurial journey, content marketing, and quick wins.

Ali Schwanke is the CEO and founder of Simple Strat, a boutique agency that simplifies content marketing for B2B technology companies worldwide. She has more than 15 years of marketing experience ranging from an in-house marketing agency to sales and entrepreneurship. She brings a practical and data-driven perspective to the practice of content marketing. She's also the co-host of the popular YouTube series HubSpot Hacks.

The Path of Most Resistance

When I asked Ali what the greatest home run of her career is she said the most recent one is the YouTube series Hubspot Hacks. This series has generated over 3 million impressions on YouTube. The channel has almost 9,000 subscribers, and it has generated over 500 different top-of-funnel leads. Hubspot Hacks has also made well over six figures in revenue. “The reason that it's a home run is,” she explained, “it's one of those projects that came out of an inclination from a customer experience.”

Ali explained how Hubspot is a marketing technology platform that was originally created to help people automate their marketing activity, but it’s grown into more than that now. “It's so big now that people don't really know what to do,” Ali said. “They end up looking for how to do these very tiny things.”

“HubSpot has a lot of different knowledge center articles: ‘here's how to set up your users,’ ‘here's how to use video,’ [etc.]. But people were saying, ‘Show me, show me, I still don't get it.’ [We knew] that people were using platforms like TikTok and . . . Instagram videos were really hot, and so people just wanted to see it.”

“We recorded some screencast videos,” Ali said. “It was literally: I record my screen. My face is on the lower left-hand side, I'm wearing a t-shirt, and we're just walking through this screen share. We did it for a couple of things like ‘how do I do a workflow,’ ‘how do I do a landing page,’ and discovered that those got thousands and thousands of hits. People started asking us additional questions, and we thought, ‘Whoa, what's going on here? Why isn't this content anywhere else?’”

“So we decided to spin that off into a separate series and use that as a lead generator for our agency. We did that, and about six months into it, re-optimized based on what we knew about YouTube SEO at that time. It just took off, and then the pandemic happened and it really took off.”

“Even if there's a type of content right now from your competition that already exists, people learn in different forms. Video is still one of the hottest places to get some traction because it's hard [to do]. [But first] you have to be okay with being on video. Yes, you look like that, and yes, you sound like that, so stop freaking out about it. Secondly, you can't edit a video the way you edit a blog . . . because you have to be a lot more thoughtful when you record it. That scares a lot of people away.”

Hubspot Hacks has been so successful because they gave value away for free to their target audience, and as a result of giving it away for free, they gained credibility and reach. Revenue came as a natural result of that, but it all came from providing value first.

Another reason they’ve been successful is because of the bigger barrier for entry. Video is harder for competitors, so there's not as much competition there. Sometimes, as water looks for the downhill path and follows the path of least resistance, businesses look for the path of least resistance too. 

Often, we should be heading in the opposite direction of the water because most of our competitors are going down the path of least resistance; they're going to do the easiest thing. If we want to differentiate ourselves, set ourselves apart, and provide something unique, one of the easiest ways to do that is to take the harder path. Video is harder to do; not as many people are doing it, but it presents a great opportunity to position ourselves in the number two search engine in the world, YouTube.

“People forget that YouTube is a place,” Ali said. “It is home to a lot of people who [create] content: Red Bull videos, skateboard videos, cooking videos. But there's an equal amount of people that are looking for business-to-business how-tos. I know I've used YouTube when it comes to ‘how do I do something in Evernote?’ ‘How do I set up something in QuickBooks?’ I've ended up on YouTube, and most of the time people don't think about the journey someone takes after they've watched the video. That journey is how inbound marketing actually works. So putting some thought into the journey is important upfront.”

Ali’s Journey

Ali's entrepreneurial journey actually started in photography. She explained, “I wanted to rid the world of stock photography, knowing that the same four to five people seem like they work everywhere, because they're in the cooking ads, they're in the home ads, they're in the B2B ads. That was several years ago, and at that time, not a lot of companies wanted to pay me.”

“So, I ended up building a business around weddings, babies, so on and so forth. But I still, at the end of the day, really wanted to use this authentic visual perspective to help drive better business marketing decisions.”

As her career progressed, Ali got lots of questions such as how to build a website, which she learned how to do. “Over the course of my career, I learned a lot about marketing from working for both myself and other people.”

She continued, “Where I ended up now is in a world where everybody wants the answer to something before they talk to a salesperson, and that is the role of content. That's ultimately what I do today, and I love it. I find myself just being consumed by media, by podcasting, by videos, by written content and how it leads someone to make a purchase that they feel good about and solve the problem in their career.”

Content Marketing for B2B vs B2C

Ali’s company used to have a mixture of customers in B2B and B2C. They eventually decided to focus solely on B2B. “As you look at both marketing disciplines, B2C tends to have a very low price point, [and] a lot of one to one decision making.” 

“For example, if I go and buy a pair of shoes, that involves me with a lot of different options, [but] at the end of the day it's my decision. It's usually not a committee. There's usually not the need to read about how the shoe functions when I run [or] read about all the different ways that it's made. You just buy a shoe because you want it, it looks nice, and you thought about it.”

In contrast, B2B is much more complex. “[It] tends to have committees of people that make decisions together. There tend to be larger budgets. There tends to be a lot of complexity involved in the sale. Sometimes [it takes] 12, 18, 24 months. [There’s a] need to continually nurture someone along that buying journey.”

“We found,” Ali explained, “that was so different that we decided to make that shift and focus solely on B2B, which then lends itself to content that attracts them to the website [and] gets them to learn what their problem is.”

They’ll find the solution to their problem, a solution they didn’t even know existed. “It's almost like it's their idea that they want to buy that thing, and then they feel like they had a hand in that buying experience.”

Focus on the Quick Wins First

Ali explained that when we’re starting out, we often don’t realize what we can sell. “People will pay money for things that we might otherwise take for granted. You can make money teaching anybody anything. Even if it's easy for you, it might not be as easy for them.”

We can start with the things we know how to do well. We don’t have to build our business on something complicated that we don’t even understand yet. “People sometimes think ‘I'm gonna make $5 million,’ [but] you don't make $5 million before you make $5. So, what is the first easiest thing that you already know that you can package and systematize and then turn around to the market?”

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Ali for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. Giving away something of value for free can be a great lead generator. 
2. Many of our competitors are taking an easier path. We can get ahead by taking the harder path that most people aren’t doing.
3. B2B can often lend itself better to content marketing because its purchase decisions are often more complex.
4. When we’re starting out, we can focus on the first easiest thing that we already know.

Connect with Ali

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Ali or connect with her, you can find her on LinkedIn or Twitter, check out Hubspot Hacks on YouTube, or visit her website SimpleStat.com. 

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

Did you like today’s episode? Then please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content:

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

How have you found success in taking a harder path? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/how-taking-the-path-of-more-resistance-led-to-more-than-6-figures-in-revenue/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today’s episode, Monica and I are going to walk through the details of her membership site, courses, and coaching. We’ll also discuss her passion, journey to entrepreneurship, and more.

Monica’s Membership Site, Courses, and Coaching

Monica’s membership site is called Decide To Move Academy. Every month they release a new course, product, service, or training. Members have access to their own private Facebook group. Monica does one coaching session with the members as well. 

“It's really just about being a value. . . . I'm just one that I like a lot of times to over-deliver because I know what it's like to have people under deliver.”

Monica has about 50 members in her community. “I try to keep them kind of small so I can give them a lot more support, compared to me being so big that [I can’t keep up]. I still work in the service, and so I want to make sure that I'm not overwhelming myself.”

Monica also has a lot of different courses. Her courses are taught outside the membership portal, but clients can upgrade to include group coaching in the course.  

“Because I'm a therapist, I'm able to really help people with their mindset. I'm also certified as a hypnotherapist, so there are [things] like meditation, and going from a deeper level than just surface-level stuff. I also do visualizations. So, I have different modalities that people can go in, based on what's comfortable for them. We also do stuff around confidence levels . . . from a social standpoint. So, I have courses that address those issues and concerns as well.”

To power her online courses, Monica uses LearnDash, which she highly recommends. “It's so easy to use, and they're constantly updating their . . . plugins, and their plugins are free. . . . It's easy for me to even update it. Sometimes I don't even wait for my VA. I just do it myself because I'm a techie person too. . . . It allows you to just click a button to determine what assets people have whether it's a course or . . . membership. So, it's great. I absolutely love it.”

Her coaching offers two packages: one for six months or one for a year. “We both know for a fact that a person doing one-on-one coaching for a month is not going to get what they need,” she said. “The leverage is not going to be the same.”

With her one-on-one coaching, her clients have access to the whole membership and are also able to select one of her big-ticket courses. If they want to start their own podcast, they have access to the podcast course. If they want to start their own online program, they have that course in there as well. Monica will be adding media publication training to her coaching next year. She also plans to add a SaaS product in the future.

Monica’s Passion: Life

Monica is passionate about life. She said, “Just based on my own experiences, I came from a life filled with abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, homelessness, teen [motherhood], etc. I've had people that know who I am now [say] ‘What? You actually went through all that?’ and I'm like ‘Yeah, that's what makes me who I am because I know what a rough start looks like.’”

“I spend a lot of time making sure people understand that your past doesn't have to be your future. It doesn't have to be what defines you. You make that decision yourself,” she said. “[So] I'm truly passionate about life and helping people grow.”

Monica’s Journey

Monica had never thought about being an entrepreneur. She had a difficult childhood, moving around about 20 times before she was 18 years old. “I just knew that I had a passion and a heart to help other people, [but] I didn't know what that looked like.” She thought maybe she could be a counselor or a therapist.

Monica started dispatching for 911, working in the emergency department. She saw people come in and have different stories. “People would just gravitate to me without realizing why and so I ended up going to school, getting my degree as a therapist.”

She found out about business coaching and learned it was another way to help people. “I went to school, got certified as a master level coach, and I started my own business. I loved it because I was like, ‘Wow, I can actually help people and also work for myself at the same time.’”

Monica had to put her business on hold when the Lord told her she needed to go into the military. “I literally had an argument with the Lord . . . [but] I finally said okay, let me just do what I'm supposed to do.” 

“I was working with a lot of military active duty as well as their families,” Monica explained. “I was finding that I would help them get to a certain point because my specialty is trauma in the military, so I was helping them get to the point where they're ready to live their lives, they're transitioning out of the military, [and] I would take off my therapy hat and put on my business coaching hat. Once I left South Korea and came back to the States, I was like, ‘I'm going to start my coaching business again.’ That way I can help people from both ends, from the mental health side of the house, but also the business side of the house.”

Don’t Put All the Eggs in One Basket

When I asked Monica what her best monetization strategy is, she said, “I actually have several different avenues. I don't put all my eggs in one basket, and I believe in laying the foundation and building on top of it.”

She said she has a podcast course, online courses, and a membership site. She’s also on social media, but she doesn’t do Facebook ads or Facebook lives because it’s not her thing. She also works with newspapers and magazines, and she’s on lots of summits, getting asked to speak at a lot of different events. She also said, “Networking and collaborating [are] huge things for me, making sure that I'm around like-minded and like-hearted people, and then the money will come.”

“I provide value, and people automatically start messaging me and asking me [if] they can set up a consultation call. They ultimately end up becoming either a client or signing up for one of my programs. I'm not a salesy person; I'm just willing to be authentic, and I think that really helps people feel comfortable.”

Clubhouse

Monica talked with me about one tectonic shift that is a big one: social media. The latest social media statistics in 2021 show that the average person spends two hours and 25 minutes per day on social media (Source: Oberlo.com). As with other tectonic shifts, we can leverage the time people spend on social media.

Monica and I talked specifically about Clubhouse, which is an invitation-only social media app where users can communicate in voice chat rooms that accommodate groups of up to 5,000 people. The audio-only app hosts live discussions with opportunities for users to participate through speaking and listening (Source: Wikipedia.org).

Monica co-moderates several chat rooms in Clubhouse, and she is seeing how it is shifting how people do business. “You have high influence entrepreneurs that are seven-, eight-, nine-figure, even some 10-figure entrepreneurs that are on Clubhouse. They actually provide strategies and . . . value to people who follow them. They learn different things about them. They're providing free coaching. People are [direct messaging] them and connecting with them, signing up for their products and services.”

“Since I've been on Clubhouse,” Monica said, “I've gotten six high-end clients just from me having a room, and talking, and providing value. . . . In fact, before this podcast interview, I had somebody message me and ask me if I would be interested in being their coach. So they signed up for a consultation call for [the next day].” 

“So, that's the kind of thing that I'm seeing happen in the business world: that people want to actually . . . know, like, and trust you, not just through email, but also just hearing you. That's what's great about Clubhouse; people can actually hear what you do. . . . I see Facebook ads kind of fading away. . . . On Clubhouse they actually get to hear you talk and hear your value based on the questions that they ask you, so people are already coming in with the mindset that they want to work with you.”

Helping Someone Sleep

Monica also shared a simple but meaningful story from her career. She had one of her high achiever clients reach out to her. This client wasn’t very sure what she wanted to do, and she was under a lot of stress. She hadn’t slept in over 38 hours because she was in her head and feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. 

She got on a coaching session with Monica and told her about her frustration. “I'm smart,” she said. “I've owned a business before, and I know that I'm supposed to be a coach. This is my purpose. I just don't know what to do.”

By the time she got off the phone with Monica, she was feeling much better. She had a clear direction and a step-by-step strategy. She posted on Facebook that when she got off the phone with Monica, she was able to sleep like a baby.

“So, that was, to me, one of my favorite things that happened when she tagged me on Facebook,” Monica said. “It was just something as simple as . . . helping someone be able to sleep.”

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Monica for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. In our membership sites, courses, and coaching, we should be providing continual value. We can also overdeliver as Monica does.
2. Our past doesn’t have to define us. We can decide that for ourselves.
3. We should diversify our monetization strategy and not put all our eggs in one basket.
4. Apps like Clubhouse are causing tectonic shifts in how we do business. People want to hear from us through these kinds of apps.

Connect with Monica

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Monica or connect with her, you can find her on LinkedIn or visit her website at decidetomove.com.

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

Did you like today’s episode? Then please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content:

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

Do you have a membership site or course? If so, what strategies do you use to monetize them? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/membership-sites-courses-and-coaching/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeff Mendelson is the host of the One Big Tip podcast. He runs a full-service digital marketing agency where he works with developing comprehensive digital marketing campaigns for startups to establish businesses. He focuses on lead generation and ROI-based initiatives. 

Jeff is based in Miami, Florida but works worldwide. He helps entrepreneurs conceptualize, develop, and then execute all-encompassing digital marketing strategies, sales funnels, paid campaigns, and getting the right people and disciplines in place. With over 15 years of continuous digital marketing experience in all formats, Jeff has a wealth of information on what works and what doesn't in the digital marketing space.

How Jeff’s Podcast Changed His Life

Jeff started his podcast in December 2019, taking the advice of Steve Larson to publish every day for a year and then see the change. “That's what I've been doing, and it's just been taking me in all kinds of great directions, [and I’ve had] all kinds of new revelations. I guess the biggest thing is that I'm just mad I didn't do this like five or 10 years ago, but I was just like, ‘Why do I need a podcast?’ . . . Now I'm all about it, and I'm ready to kill it and really help other people to do it as well.”

Benefits of a Podcast

Jeff explained that having a podcast is a great way to network. “There is no better networking tool, COVID-19 or not COVID-19,” Jeff said. With the many communication tools we have—Zoom, Microsoft teams, WhatsApp—the world is so small, and having a podcast is one way to find and connect with people all over the world using those communication tools.

Jeff said he was interviewed by a British guy located in Doha, Qatar, and they had a great interview. “I never would have met these people without [my podcast],” Jeff said.

A podcast can be a great way for people to thrive in a situation they can control. “I'm an introvert already,” Jeff explained. “I'm a wallflower at conventions. . . . but once I get in front of [the camera] . . . [I] can talk about this all day.”

Jeff also said podcasting is a great way to establish and control the conversation. It becomes a no-pressure invitation to speak with really interesting people we might not have spoken with otherwise. If we see someone at a shopping mall and try to talk to them, they might just ignore us, but most of the time people are a lot more willing to have a conversation with us if it is in a setting like a podcast.

When we invite someone to our show, we provide them with value. They get positive exposure to our audience with good reciprocity.

We can also have fun conversations. Jeff used the example of his video background, which has a lightsaber and some Star Wars figures on a shelf. He doesn’t mention it, but people often bring it up and they get to talk about Star Wars for a few minutes. “It's just a great connection tool,” Jeff said. We need to find ways to build connections with our guests and listeners. Personally, I wear shirts for some of my favorite movies and shows, some of my favorite sports teams, and some companies I have worked for in the past to help build connections. 

Podcasts can also help you make higher connections. “Being a guest and also hosting people, you have a direct connection to the top. You interview the CEO of the company. You bypass all the gatekeepers, you bypass all the VPs, or directors, or whoever it is. You talk to the source of the information, and now you're connected with that person who knows you on a first-name basis. And that for me is mind-blowing.”

Tips for Effectively Working with a Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant (VA) is an independent contractor who provides administrative services to clients while operating outside of the client's office. They typically operate from a home office but can access necessary files and documents remotely (Source: Investopedia).

I've been working with a team in India for more than 20 years and I love it. It's nice to be able to leave for the day and they work on it during the night. We usually overlap for an hour or two in the morning, and it's very effective. I love the work ethic, and I find that I can keep people on the team longer. These are just some of the benefits of having those remote teams.

Jeff has also worked with VAs for most of his career. “It's a little bit of a mindset shift,” Jeff said. “[But] it's really quite simple. I don't care whether you're across the street or halfway around the world, you are remote to me.” He views everyone as remote because, at the end of the day, they are all a four-inch square on a screen, and that's all he has to connect with them.

“When you lose that ability to have coffee with somebody . . . you need to be super clear. Overcommunicate. You just need to make sure that whatever it is going on in your head, whatever your wants and desires [are], . . . you have to be able to communicate it, and that does not matter whether you're working with someone in Argentina, in Ukraine, in India, the Philippines—doesn't matter. You have to be able to communicate.”

Once we figure out how to communicate with our VAs, the next step is to train them and give them work that is interesting to them and they can succeed in. 

Jeff said the last thing we need to keep in mind with VAs is the time zone difference and how it affects our work. “These people are not going to be working the same 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time that you are. Someone in India, they're 10 hours ahead of me. So I have to make sure that I get in all of my requests before I shut down for the evening, and my requests . . . need to be clear enough that they can work independently because they are going to be doing this when it's two [or] three in the morning my time.”

To help us with our communication, we can use tools like Loom or ScreenFlow. We also need to make sure that we have standard operating procedures and that we train our VAs on them well.

Communicating Value in Pricing

Jeff said the biggest mistake he has made several times throughout his career is with pricing. “When you price something out,” Jeff said, “what you're trying to do is deliver a product that delivers more value to the person you're selling to [than] the amount of money they're going to pay you.”

In other words, what we’re giving them is worth more than what they’re paying. For example, if we build them one sale funnel that's guaranteed to make them a million dollars, we can’t accept $500 for it. That funnel is going to categorically change their life. If we underprice it to that point, they will think that it has no value or it won’t work.

“I've made that mistake maybe five or six times where I realized that I undervalued something, and, of course, part of that comes with experience,” Jeff said. “On the flip side of that, when you overcharge someone [it] can have the exact same effect.” If we overcharge someone, they’ll just say, “You're too expensive,” and find someone else. In these cases, it really teaches us to hone in on what we are worth and how much we can charge for a particular product. It also teaches us how to sell the value of our products and services well.

Part of pricing does come with experience, but we can also do our research. We can look at what our competitors are charging and see, based on our experience and value, what we should charge in relation to that. One of the most important things, though, is communicating our value. We need to make sure our customers know how much our products or services are worth.

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Jeff for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. We can reach millions of people with podcasts.
2. Podcast guests are a great way to network.
3. Podcasts are also a great way to have conversations with people that we may not have been able to otherwise. We can interview and get to know CEOs instead of VPs or directors.
4. When working with VAs, we need to overcommunicate, especially when there’s a big-time, difference.
5. We can use tools to help us communicate effectively, as well as having standard operating procedures in place.
6. Underpricing can make our product or service seem like it has no value. Overpricing can scare away potential customers. We should try to find a happy medium.
7. With our pricing, we need to make sure we are accurately communicating our value.

Connect with Jeff

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Jeff or connect with him, you can find him on LinkedIn or visit his website jeffmendelson.com or his podcast’s website onebigtip.com.

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

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The Parable of the 10 Virgins 

In Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus Christ shares the parable of the 10 virgins. 

In the story, 10 virgins prepare to meet the bridegroom before the wedding. During this time, it was custom for the bridegroom to come to the bride’s house at night, typically at dusk. He would get his bride from her house and bring her back to his house where he had prepared a place for her. Once the groom’s approach was announced, the 10 bridesmaids went out with lamps to light their way (Source: Bible.org). 

The young women would follow the groom with their lamps and if they were with the crowd, they could slip into the party. If they weren’t, the doors would close and they would be turned away because they didn’t have an invitation (Source: Bible.org). 

In Matthew 25, the 10 virgins prepared for the bridegroom by lighting their lamps at dusk. However, the bridegroom “tarried” and didn’t come until midnight. When the young women were called to meet him, some realized their lamps had already burned out. In verses 2-4, it says, “And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.”

As they prepared to meet the bridegroom, “the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.” (KJV Matthew 25:8-9)

While the five foolish went to buy more oil, the bridegroom came and the five wise virgins went with him to the wedding.

After the five foolish women bought their oil, they rushed to the house, but the door had already closed. They cried, “Lord, Lord, open to us.” But he answered, “Verily I say unto you, I know you not.” (KJV Matthew 25:11-12)

The Importance of Preparation 

Because the five young virgins did not bring extra oil with their lamps, they missed the wedding. They did not come prepared for the unexpected delay of the groom. 

As entrepreneurs, we need to strive to be prepared for unexpected trials and challenges that may happen. We should also strive to prepare for changes and business tectonic shifts that may happen in the market. Benjamin Franklin said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” 

But how can we do this? How can we continually add oil to our lamps? While we may not be able to see what will happen in the future, it is possible to plan and prepare for many of the unexpected challenges. 

Be Flexible 

One way we can prepare for unexpected trials is simply by recognizing they will happen. We have to be open to change and willing to adjust if necessary. 

Brian Tracey, a motivational speaker, and self-development author, said, “Be clear about your goal but be flexible about the process of achieving it.” 

If one strategy fails, we need to be willing to try something new. Strong business leaders should develop a flexible mindset in order to adapt to the changes in their customers or the marketplace. When we are flexible about processes, we won’t fear change so much. We will have the ability to evaluate our challenges and find a way to work around or through them. 

With COVID-19, we have seen hundreds of changes. The only businesses that stayed open were ones that were flexible. According to Fortune, 100,000 businesses that temporarily closed due to COVID-19 were out of business within seven months.

Not only did small businesses close, but many iconic retailers filed for bankruptcy. Chuck E. Cheese had a 600-plus restaurant chain and was hit extremely hard by the pandemic. They didn’t find a way to adapt and so their company’s revenue plummeted by 90%. In June 2020, they filed for bankruptcy (Source: AARP). While they were able to recover, they took a huge hit. 

On the other hand, there were businesses that kept their revenue streams despite the pandemic. Belva Anakwenze kept her small business, Abacus Financial Business Management, open with four employees. When offices closed, they created their own space with kitchen tables, bedroom nightstands, and back porches. They continued to have client meetings in the driveway so they could socially distance themselves (Source: Los Angeles Times). 

In my small town, there was a restaurant named Gator Jacks that had to stop their dine-in services during COVID-19. However, grocery stores were allowed to stay open, and the grocery stores were facing shortages. Furthermore, Gator Jacks had bulk food suppliers who had food because so many restaurants were closed down. So, Gator Jacks purchased bulk food from their suppliers and turned their restaurant into a popular bulk food warehouse for a time. I was so impressed by their creativity and flexibility to find a new way to monetize the resources they had and weather the storm that put so many other restaurants out of business.

If we can adapt to change and pivot quickly and intelligently, we will be more likely to survive and succeed.  

Prepare for Worst-Case Scenarios 

One way to prepare for future challenges is to think of worst-case scenarios. Once we have identified the most likely scenarios that could go wrong, we can come up with a plan to use if one of those things happens. Doing this can actually help us feel more confident in our business plans. We will know that if something does go wrong, we will likely be one step ahead of the game and know how to handle the situation. That can provide peace of mind now and stability when crises happen.

I’m sure we have all heard of the saying, hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Thinking of worst-case scenarios helps us prepare for what can go wrong. For example, what would happen if COVID-19 forced us to close our office space? How would we function remotely? Or what would happen if we lose our most important client? How would we make up for that lost income stream? 

Randy Pauseh, an American educator and professor of computer science and design, said, “One thing that makes it possible to be an optimist is if you have a contingency plan for when all hell breaks loose.” 

However, with preparing for worst-case scenarios, there is a word of caution. We shouldn’t let worst-case scenarios build fear or prevent us from taking risks. Instead, preparing for worst-case scenarios should build confidence in knowing we have a backup plan.  

“[I]f ye are prepared ye shall not fear.” — Doctrine and Covenants 38:30

Evaluate Our Current Situation With a SWOT Analysis

A great way to prepare for future challenges is to evaluate our current situation. What are our weakest points? What areas can we improve on? As we find areas that are vulnerable, we can make changes to fix them before they become an issue later on. A common saying is, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” While this phrase may be overused, it is very applicable in our businesses. 

We should assess each aspect of our business regularly. Does each department have a working system that can easily adapt to change? As we look for solutions to potential problems early on, we can avoid larger issues in the future. 

Many businesses that do this call it a SWOT analysis. This refers to strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (Source: Chron). In this analysis, we can identify what is working and what isn’t, as well as identify factors that may affect our company’s short-term and long-term performance. What opportunities can we take advantage of now? What potential threats may hurt us? 

As a business, we should constantly seek to improve. If we become stagnant and complacent, our likelihood of being hit with an unexpected challenge will double. 

5 Ways to Recognize and Eliminate Potential Threats

Here are five strategies we can use to recognize and eliminate potential threats.

• Analyze and Research Past Threats 

We can analyze threats that have already happened in our geographic area and industry. By identifying threats that have impacted others similar to us, we are identifying the threats that are likely to happen to us. 

For example, there may be certain laws and regulations according to our geographic location that could impact our business. When I first started Adoption.com, I wanted to create an adoption agency for children in Brazil. However, due to some strict Brazilian adoption laws, we weren’t able to make it work. Thankfully, I was able to pivot and learn from this experience, but if I hadn’t, it could have been the end of my business. This goes to show just how important it is to do our research. We should research and analyze past threats that have happened to others, so we can prevent it from happening to us. 

Travelers Cos. and Heart Research Associates surveyed over 1000 business owners and determined their top threats: financial issues, laws and regulations, economic uncertainty, attracting and retaining talent, legal liability, cyber and technology risks/breaches, increasing employee benefit costs, and medical cost inflation (Source: Treasury & Risk). By researching the current and past threats of our competitors or other businesses in general, we can determine what risks are most likely to happen to us and prepare for them. We can also analyze how businesses reacted to these threats to learn what worked and what didn’t. 

• Bring in Experts 

We can prepare for potential threats by bringing in additional experts, such as security experts, to help us to audit and mitigate risks we didn’t know existed. Not only can they help us identify risks we weren’t aware of, but they can also help us target potential risks we are very aware of. 

In today’s digital world, one of the most common threats is cybercrimes. According to experts, cybercrime has gone up 600% due to COVID-19. Over 18 million websites are infected with malware at a given time each week and it is estimated that cybercriminals will steal about 33 billion records in 2023 (Source: PurpleSec.us). We could consider hiring a cybersecurity expert to help us prepare for potential risks we know are likely to impact us at some point in our career. 

• Create a Safety-Net of Funds 

A great way to prepare for threats is by having a savings account. We most likely won’t be able to prevent every threat out there, but we can reduce our recovery time by having the proper funds saved. Each month we should set aside some funds for a rainy day, to weather an unforeseen storm. I recommend trying to save enough to successfully run your business without any income for three months. 

One of the biggest threats we see is the ever-changing customer. Our customers’ changing needs, wants, and values could reduce our sales and income. If we have a savings account, we won’t have to worry about going out of business because we don’t see any income for a month. Having a safety net of funds gives us more time to get back on our feet and adapt to the current situation. 

• Regularly Identify Tectonic Shifts 

We should regularly identify tectonic shifts in the business world and industry to figure out how we can implement them before our competitors. This requires us to constantly evaluate the current marketplace to watch for changes and trends. Another way we can find tectonic shifts is by analyzing competitors who are already leveraging tectonic shifts. 

As we discussed above, COVID-19 caused a massive shift in the business landscape. Many businesses failed and had to close their doors permanently. By adapting to this shift early on, businesses had a much higher chance of success. 

• Create an Emergency Plan

To prepare for potential threats we can develop an emergency plan. We can get together with our teams and develop multiple ways to communicate quickly with the entire company in case of an emergency. This way, we will have a faster reaction time and eliminate the threat before it becomes detrimental. 

Just as we prepare for natural disasters with evacuation plans and fire escape routes, we should have a business disaster plan. For example, this can include a data-recovery plan. If our hard drive became corrupt, what would we do? We should prepare with back-up storage or generators to protect our company’s data. 

Just as the five wise virgins prepared with extra oil, we can prepare for unpredictable trials by developing a flexible mindset, addressing and preparing for worst-case scenarios, and evaluating our current situation to solve current weaknesses, improve strengths, and find new opportunities. 

Key Takeaways

Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. It is wise to be prepared for unexpected trials and challenges.
2. One way we can prepare for unexpected trials is by recognizing they will happen. We have to be open to change and willing to adjust if necessary. 
3. By thinking of worst-case scenarios, we can come up with a backup plan to use if the worst thing does happen.
4. We should assess each aspect of our business regularly and address current weaknesses, strengths, opportunities, and threats. 
5. As we solve current problems, we should get feedback and continually seek to improve. 
6. We can analyze threats that have happened before in our geographic area and industry. By identifying threats that have impacted others similar to us, we are identifying the most likely threats that will happen to us. 
7. We can prepare for potential threats by bringing in additional experts, such as security experts. 
8. We most likely won’t be able to prevent every threat out there, but we can reduce our recovery time by having the proper funds saved.
9. We should regularly identify tectonic shifts in the business world and industry to figure out how we can implement them before our competitors.
10. Just as we prepare for natural disasters with evacuation plans and fire escape routes, we should have a business disaster plan. 

Join Entrepreneurs of Faith

If this episode of Entrepreneurs of Faith resonated with you, please subscribe for FREE to Monetization Nation so you can receive future episodes of Entrepreneurs of Faith.

1. Subscribe to the free Monetization Nation eMagazine.
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3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
4. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

How do you prepare to protect your business from unexpected challenges? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/136-business-lessons-from-the-parable-of-the-10-virgins-how-to-prepare-for-future-challenges-and-eliminate-potential-threats/ 

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In today’s episode, we’re going to continue our conversation with Ryan Phelan about email marketing and discuss how to begin an email marketing campaign in four steps.

• Set a Goal

Before we begin designing a newsletter or email marketing strategy, we need to determine our goal. Every email we send should have a strong purpose and offer value to our customers. Do we want our customers to go to our website, download our ebook, or make a purchase? Depending on our answer, our emails will look very different. 

Ryan said that most of the time, people make the mistake of setting a goal as abstract as “to make a revenue.” Instead of setting a broad, immeasurable goal, we should set S.M.A.R.T goals. SMART goals stand for Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. By setting SMART goals it will be easier for us to determine if our campaign is successful. For example, a good goal could be to increase our website traffic by 50% in one month. At the end of the month, we can evaluate our campaign to determine if we are meeting our goal, or if we should try to develop a new strategy. 

As we make our goals, we need to remember to keep the customer in mind. How will our email bring value to our customers? If we can’t answer that question, it is very unlikely that our campaign will be successful. What value do we want to provide? Another great goal could be to direct 50% of our leads to our ebook where we teach them how to market effectively. 

• Build an Email List

Before we can start an email marketing campaign we need to have someone to send it to. We need to build an email list. 

Growing our email list takes time and requires patience. We should never try to take the easy route and buy a list. Instead, Ryan recommends we use our email marketing budget to advertise our email program. For example, we can advertise our newsletter to the people that attend our demo or work with our SEO and pay-per-click teams to sell our newsletter. 

A lot of people think they can just buy a list and instantly achieve big results but it almost never works because users in that list didn’t give us permission to contact them. Even if they are our target audience, they didn't choose to be on our list so we end up being an annoyance. If we're going to do email marketing, we can only do it when we have permission to do it.

In order to direct our customers to subscribe to our email list, Ryan recommends doing three things. 

Put the Subscribe Button at the Top of our Website 

The first key thing to do is put the email subscription button at the top of our website. This can be in the header or navigation bar, it just has to be up there so people can easily opt-in. From the tests Ryan has done repeatedly throughout his career, they had a 50% increase in acquisition rates when the subscription button was at the top versus the bottom. 

Some websites even have a pop-up that appears on their website after a viewer has been on the page for a certain amount of time. This pop-up often asks for a customer's name and email in return for promised value. 

Show Customers What the Newsletter Will Look Like

The second thing we can do is have a button that says “sign up for our email” which directs our customers to a landing page that shows them what the email looks like. We should tell them how many times we’re going to email them and why. 

Marketers assume their customers want to sign up for our newsletters just because they like our brand and that's not true. Just as we have to sell our customers our products and services, we have to sell them in our newsletter. We should explain why the newsletter will be of value to them and what they can expect to receive from us each week or month. 

Ask More Questions at the Beginning 

The third thing we should do is ask our potential customers more questions after they sign up for our email. It’s called progressive profiling. At this point, our subscribers are willing to tell us about themselves. After we ask them questions, we can develop automation to echo their answers back and build relevance.

These questions will help us understand our customers' wants and needs. As we understand our customers better, we will be more capable of providing value and keeping them on our email list. Just because someone signs up for our email once, doesn’t mean they will stay subscribed forever. 

Ryan said the average consumer list is about 65% inactive. Marketers look at this number and think they need to reactivate all of those people but it would be a waste of time and money. Instead, we need to focus on the 35% that are using their email. But how do we find out who that 35% are? We ask questions. These are the ones we can market to effectively and design a strategy that works. We can look at what they are interested in and what tone of voice they want to hear. If we have asked our customers questions in the past, we will be better suited to know how to improve our email and who to target our messages to. 

• Be Deliberate in Email Content and Design 

After we have set our goals and built an email list, we can begin to design our newsletters. If we want our customers to click on our emails, we have to provide value and be deliberate with our content. We shouldn’t send out a newsletter or email just because someone said it's a great way to acquire customers. We also need to be very conscious of design. Where something is placed on a page can have a huge impact on our success rates. We need to keep our goals in mind as we format our newsletters. 

Ryan gave two strategies for email design. 

Include the Site Navigation in Our Promotional Emails 

We should put our site navigation, or at least an abbreviated version of it, at the top and bottom of our promotional emails. If we look at where people click in an email, the majority of clicks will come from that toolbar at the top of the toolbar at the bottom. The email may not have what people are looking for so they will want to visit the website to find it. Email is a great lead generation medium that sends qualified traffic to our website. 

Monetize Transactional Messages

Our email doesn’t have to be designed as a newsletter to increase our sales or website traffic. We can also send out transactional emails.

Ryan believes that anything digital can make money. Most marketers on the B2C side have transactional messages such as order and shipping confirmations. Many companies don't look at those transactional emails as money-making opportunities, but Ryan said that if we monetize transactional emails, we can use 20% of these messages as cross-sell or upsell promotional messages. For example, when we send a purchase confirmation to our customers, we can attach links to other relevant products they may like. We can also direct them back to our website to continue shopping. 

With every digital outreach, we have to be thinking, “What's the opportunity here?” As we design our emails with these goals in mind, we will find we are more successful in meeting our goals. For example, a newsletter is most likely better for increasing traffic to our blog whereas transactional emails can be better at encouraging our customers to make a second purchase. 

• Solve a Problem and Run Tests

After we have sent out our emails, we should monitor our engagement. This step is often the most important. It helps us learn what we are doing right and what we need to improve. Do we have a high click-through rate? Are our customers following the links to our blog? Are they downloading our ebook?

The most effective email marketers are the ones that sit down and find where they have a problem and then determine how they’re going to solve it. Between the problem and the solution, they come up with a written testing plan. Marketers should keep the strategy piece in front of them and ask, “What am I going to do every week to get to my point?”

Ryan said testing is deeper than just testing subject lines. It's about learning what statistical significance means. It's about knowing how to read the results and put together a plan. A lot of marketers don't do that. Instead, they just test for a day and if it doesn’t work, they don’t try again. 

Ryan said that most of the time when he looked at those “failed” campaigns to see why they didn’t work, it was because marketers missed one thing or another like sending it to the wrong people, using the wrong CTA, or sending it at an inconvenient time like on a Saturday at 4 a.m. Testing is not about testing once. It’s about testing and validating until we can repeatedly get the same result.

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Ryan for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. Email is a great lead generation medium that sends qualified traffic to our website.
2. Before we begin designing a newsletter or email marketing strategy, we need to determine our goal. Every email we send should have a strong purpose and offer value to our customers.
3. If we're going to use email marketing, we can only do it when we have permission to put people on our list. We need to build our email list, not buy one. 
4. We can encourage potential customers to subscribe to our email list by placing a subscription bar at the top of our website, showing our customers what value our newsletter will offer, and asking questions to determine our customers’ wants and needs. 
5. We have to be deliberate in our email design and content. 
6. Testing is not about testing once. It’s about testing and validating until we can repeatedly get the same result.

Connect with Ryan

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Ryan or connect with him, you can find him on LinkedIn. You can also visit his company’s website at www.rpeorigin.com.  

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

Did you like today’s episode? Then please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content:

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

What strategies have you used to grow your email list? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/135-4-steps-to-email-marketing/ 

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Ryan Phelan is an email marketing expert who has created and led innovative marketing strategies for high-growth SaaS and Fortune 250 companies for the past two decades. Some of those companies include Canadian Tire, Capital One, Skype, Sprint, and FedEx. His experience in marketing has shaped his approach in creating innovative orchestrations of data technology and customer activations for Adestra, Acxiom, Responsys, and more. Ryan has also been named one of the top 30 digital strategists in the United States and has built a library of leadership through blogs, white papers, and presentations.

In today’s episode, we’ll discuss how to use email marketing to generate sales. 

The Road to Email Marketing

Ryan worked as a DJ in a nightclub for six years before starting his career in email marketing. As he worked with vendors, agencies, clients, and customers, he found that his years of playing music for a crowd of people taught him lessons he could apply to his marketing career. 

As a DJ, Ryan had to entertain 600 people in the club for four and a half hours. He had to constantly be creative and read his audience in order to keep his customers, just as an email marketer needs to with their leads. “Most people don't know this, but there's a science behind [being a DJ]. We had a formula that we actually perfected in a nightclub that worked like a charm,” Ryan said. 

4 Key Principles of Email Marketing

From his experience as a DJ, Ryan learned four key principles of email marketing we should use to generate sales. 

• Know Your Audience 

To market effectively, we have to know our audience. 

As a DJ, Ryan had to focus on the tempo and genre of a song, but more importantly, he had to pay attention to his audience. He had to determine who his audience was, what type of music they liked, and what mood they were in. By gauging his audience’s preferences, he could successfully choose the right songs that would lead people to the dance floor or the bar. 

He would watch his audience to determine their favorite songs so that he would know what songs to play when he wanted to bring people to the dance floor. He also learned what songs people didn’t like so he could drive them to the bar. He used his knowledge of his customers to drive more sales. By knowing his customers, he could keep constant traffic to the bar to generate more income, while also attracting customers to the dance floor to increase their satisfaction.

Our goal in email marketing and e-commerce is to recognize a consumer or cohort of consumers and get them to do what we want by providing them with the right information or product. In email marketing, this is called segmentation. 

Ryan believes marketing is all about segmentation. The reason he was able to play the right song set was that he knew who his customers were. He knew who was in his crowd. He could look out and read people very well. “[I knew] who was wanting to date somebody else, who was wanting to hit on somebody else, who was just there to have a good time with their friends, [and] who was really wanting to dance,” Ryan said. It was all about knowing his audience. 

The same goes for email marketing. We need to know our audience if we want to have any success in directing them towards our products or services. If we want to do email marketing right, we should look at the audience and recognize the different cohort groups. These are groups of people that are similar in type and characteristic. When we know what group a customer falls into, it is easier to send them a tailored message. Our customers will be more likely to resonate with our message and we will be more likely to make a sale. 

• Determine the Right Channels

In order for our marketing strategies to be successful, we need to make sure we are sending information on the right channels. 

Skype was one of the biggest projects Ryan worked with. Skype had 6 billion leads. Until Zoom, everybody used Skype, especially in Europe and Australia. Skype was how people communicated. Ryan worked with them on reactivating a large number of their audience of billions. It was extensive. They had data science. They looked at propensity and put people in cohort groups. And they developed different touchpoints based upon channel propensity which was the biggest thing out of that project. 

Each cohort group had a primary, secondary, and tertiary channel they reacted to. For some core groups, it was mobile push notifications. For others, it was direct mail, television advertising, print, banner, or email. Ryan had to develop a media plan based upon a channel’s propensity for that cohort group and put together extensive media plans on the best way to communicate with each customer. “It was a big success,” Ryan said. It opened his eyes to the power of data and what it can do.

If we want to do email marketing, we need to make sure our customers can actually be reached by email. We have to make sure it is the right channel for communication for our audience. 

• Use Data

The biggest mistake Ryan made in email marketing was trusting his gut. Even though marketers have asserted for years how important testing is, every once in a while, marketers, including Ryan, go with their gut without looking at the data.  

Ryan once had a client with whom he ran a win-back campaign. When customers are inactive and aren’t opening their emails, a win-back campaign tries to reactivate people’s interest. Ryan created a progression of four emails over 30 days, trying to get the customers back with offers or content. Ryan put them in the order that he thought they should go based on his gut instinct and then launched the campaign. While his client doubted if it was the right order, he assured her that it was. 

About three weeks later, the client told Ryan she wanted to reshuffle the email series just to test it. She was the marketing site manager and she knew her brand inside out. She tested her strategy and Ryan tested his strategy thinking he would win. Surprisingly enough, the client's test worked better than Ryan's.

Ryan learned that his gut is not always right. Instead of just going off our gut feelings, we should look at what the numbers, science, and data are telling us.

• Recognize Changes in the Market

Part of our email marketing strategy should include watching for business tectonic shifts. 

Ryan believes COVID-19 has been the biggest tectonic shift currently facing businesses. Because of the pandemic, marketing professionals have had to learn to be more agile. Things can change overnight. In 2020, the World Health Organization characterized COVID-19 as a worldwide pandemic and everything shifted because of it. Marketers found themselves in two camps; they either pivoted quickly with everything they had, or they froze and pulled out of the marketplace. 

Being tone-deaf to the changes taking place in the world will only lead us to fail and lose our jobs. The companies that succeeded during the pandemic were the ones that knew their brand voice and knew how to pivot within their brand appropriately. Some retailers had to start curbside pickup to limit store hours. They learned quickly and weren’t afraid to pivot.

Ryan believes surviving 2020 should be put as a badge on our LinkedIn profiles. The greatest badge of honor are those marketers that pivoted fast enough and took advantage of tectonic shifts so they thrived and grew; they didn't just survive.   

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Ryan for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. As email marketers, we need to be creative and read people well.
2. Our goal in email marketing is to recognize a cohort of consumers and provide them with the right information.
3. In order for our marketing strategies to be successful, we need to make sure we are sending information on the right channels. 
4. In email marketing, we can't just trust our gut feeling. We always have to test and look at the data.
5. When everything changes in our world, we can’t keep doing what we’ve always done. We have to pivot to survive in the market.  

Connect with Ryan

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Ryan or connect with him, you can find him on LinkedIn. You can also visit his company’s website at www.rpeorigin.com.  

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

Did you like today’s episode? Then please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content:

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

How has email marketing helped you generate more sales? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: 

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Michael is a contributor at Forbes, and he's frequently quoted in publications such as New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, USA Today, and Adweek. He is also a professor of marketing at the business school at St. Joseph's University. 

In today’s episode, we’re going to discuss the psychology of consumer behavior and the marketing strategies Michael uses to gain customer loyalty. 

Chameleons 

Michael has a Ph.D. in social psychology and through his observations, he found that consumers are constantly changing. 

In grad school, Michael did a lot of research on how physical attractiveness and a person’s look influence what happens to them in their lives. This led him to realize that a big part of our social identity is formed by the services and products we buy. He started looking into the fashion industry and did a lot of work on the psychology of fashion. He found that everyday products fundamentally influence who we are.

Over the years, he had the opportunity to work with many companies on how to understand their customers, and he has written numerous textbooks and a few trade books on understanding consumer behavior. His biggest home run was writing a textbook that is used around the world and has changed the way we teach consumer behavior. 

In his most recent book, The New Chameleons: How to Connect with Consumers who Defy Categorization, he compares customers to chameleons. Since consumers’ identities are influenced by the products and services they buy, they are often changing. 

“Unlike the old days where things were a lot more static and we just dealt with mass markets [and] really large groups of homogeneous people, today, everybody is much more of an individual,” Michael said. “Just as a chameleon changes its color as it moves into different environments, many of us today are doing something similar with our identities. We try on new identities. We try on new lifestyles.”

Michael explained we often alter our identities when we surf the web or look at someone’s Instagram page. We are influenced by the people we see around us and tend to change our needs or wants very frequently. This means we have to be very careful about categorizing our consumers. Since they are always changing, we should constantly reevaluate our target audience and research what our customers’ needs and wants are. 

4 Tectonic Shifts

If customers are constantly changing, how can we effectively build a business strategy to connect with our customers? Michael shared four customer tectonic shifts we should be aware of if we want to build relationships with our customers. 

• The End of Artificial Dichotomy

When I asked Michael to share one of the biggest tectonic shifts happening today, he told me it is the end of the artificial dichotomy. The artificial dichotomy is when we assign individuals to a category based on an arbitrary criterion. 

The old categories we used to describe our customers don’t make much sense anymore since society is changing so rapidly. Before, we could use basic categories such as rich vs poor or male vs female, but those have become too broad. 

One of the biggest mistakes we can make as marketers is falling prey to the fallacy that if we assign a name to something, we understand it. We tend to think we can place our customers into categories such as “women in their 20s who live in urban areas,” and then understand all of them. 

“Don't assume that you know all your customers and certainly don't assume that just because you've put them all into a certain segment that they're all going to react identically,” Michael said. 

Even if we narrow down our customers into a niche group, we still can’t assume we know everything about them. As we said above, consumers are constantly changing and so we should reevaluate our categories quite often. Even with extremely niche categories, we often make the mistake of projecting who we want our customers to be, rather than who they actually are. One of the biggest mistakes we can make is marketing to the customer we want to have rather than the customer we actually have. 

• The Role of the Customer

Customers are beginning to take over a lot of the roles in our businesses. 

Many companies fall into the trap of spending an incredible amount of time and resources on a product to get it to the point where they believe it is perfect. Once it’s “perfect,” they launch it with their fingers crossed, hoping it goes well. However, this method includes a lot of risks. If their customers don’t like their product, they just wasted months of work and have to start all over again. 

Instead of doing this, companies are beginning to give customers a role in their product development. Companies will launch a product right away, get feedback from their customers, and then make adjustments based on their comments.  

“Customers are taking over a lot of the functions or at least helping with a lot of the functions that used to be only on one side of that fence so to speak. For example, our customers are content creators. Our customers are advertisers. . . . Our customers are becoming product designers,” Michael said. 

SiteGround, a popular web host provider, is a great example of a company that prioritizes customer feedback. Their brand has three different channels customers can leave feedback at. They listen to their customers and make adjustments based on their ideas (Source: Myfeelback.com). 

Starbucks is a great example of companies using customer content. They promote their brand with #RedCupContest every December. They encourage their customers to submit a photo of their coffees for a chance to win a gift card, and then they use those photos as part of their marketing strategy (Source: Business2Community). Even BMW uses hashtags to share social media posts created by their customers. 

“Customers and also our employees, are our two biggest underutilized assets,” Michael said. “Many companies are figuring out that it doesn't make sense to keep the consumer at a distance, but rather you want to embrace that consumer and involve them in the process, and you get some great insights as well. Consumers who are more proactively involved in this process are more engaged with the products and services that allow them in.”

• The Horizontal Revolution

Instead of communicating customer to business (vertical), there has been a shift of communicating customer to customer. Michael calls this the horizontal revolution. 

In the early days of the internet, a lot of communication was one way. Businesses created ads and websites that told customers how good their products or services were. However, now communication is all about interactivity. How do we have a conversation with our customers? Nearly every website we go on has the option for reviews and comments. We also have social media platforms where customers can interact with each other. We can communicate peer to peer. 

“Word of mouth is really what determines whether people are going to buy a product or avoid it, and so we not only have that up and down communication that we had 10 years ago, but we have that horizontal communication which means that so much of our daily lives are spent networking with our peers,” Michael said. 

This is one reason why influencer marketing is becoming such a prominent tectonic shift. An influencer’s opinion is considered in a similar way to a friend’s. Since they don’t work for the company, consumers believe their information to be truthful and accurate. It also makes the consumer’s job easier. Instead of filtering through all of the information on the internet themselves, they can listen to what their peers have to say. 

• Content Marketing

One of Michael’s best monetization strategies is focusing on content marketing. 

“The real bonds that people are forming with companies or with individuals are because those people are putting out great content that attracts these people. You're not, so to speak, putting a gun to someone's head just to sign up for your email newsletter, you're creating content that's so good they want to be a part of whatever it is you're doing,” Michael said. 

By creating and offering valuable content that resonates with our audience, we don’t necessarily need to sell anything to them right away. If the content is valuable, it will give our customers a path back to us. It also provides credibility for us and nurtures a relationship with them. Content marketing encourages customers to come back to us when they're ready to make a purchase decision.

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Michael for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. Consumers are constantly changing.
2. The old categories we used to describe our customers don’t make as much sense anymore since society is changing so rapidly.
3. Don’t assume that customers within a specific category will behave the same. 
4. Customers are taking over a lot of the functions in our businesses. 
5. Customers trust peer reviews over advertisements or self-promotion. 
6. By providing valuable content to our customers, we pave a path for customers to come back to us when they're ready to make a purchase decision.

Connect with Michael

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Michael or connect with him, you can find him on his LinkedIn or his website, michaelsolomon.com.  

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Deirdre is the author of seven business books, including Answers for Modern Communicators which was recently named one of the 100 best storytelling books of all time by BookAuthority. Deirdre is also the host of the podcast, Women Worldwide, which is in its sixth year and has nearly 2 million downloads. 

Today, we’re going to discuss modern public relations and how it works alongside marketing.

Public Relations Then and Now 

Bill Gates said, “If I was down to my last dollar, I would spend it on public relations.” PR is a great way to build awareness and credibility while protecting our reputation through the media, social media, and within our communities. Our goal should be to find the positive messages and stories in our organizations and share them with consumers. Since PR is such an effective way to build our businesses, we need to be aware of how the industry is changing. 

When Deirdre entered the public relations industry, it looked very different than what it does today. Traditional PR was about writing press releases to hand out to news outlets, who would then share our story. However, this approach of trying to control the messages sent out to consumers doesn’t work as well with modern media. Our stories, whether good or bad, can be spread on social media in seconds. 

The Pew Research Center found that 86% of Americans get their news from their smartphones or computers, over radio, television, and print publications. This means consumers don’t have to rely on news outlets to learn about our companies anymore. They have Google. They have Facebook. While 68% of Americans still get news from news websites and apps (traditional PR can still work), nearly just as many look to social media. According to a study, 53% of Americans say they get news from different social media platforms (Source: Pew Research Center). A news outlet may wait for a press release, but social media doesn’t wait around for an email to share a story.

PR professionals need to adjust to the fact that people have a wide variety of media outlets and platforms where they can get their stories. Today, many stories don’t flow out of a company’s communication department. The stories are created inside communities on social media. We don’t have as much control over the stories that get shared as we did before. Instead, people are citizen journalists and the power of the story lies in their hands-on social media. Modern media has become increasingly interconnected with marketing. 

5 Ways to Effectively Implement Modern Public Relations 

Here are five ways our companies and businesses can effectively use modern public relations.  

• Monitor Social Media

Often a story about our brand or company will find its way on social media before we know about it. Social media monitoring is essential to see how we're perceived by our audience. We need to watch for the negative comments so we can catch them early on and find a way to amend them, while also watching for the positive comments so we can learn what stories our customers resonate with and continue to share them. 

It only takes a few negative comments or missteps for our image to be impacted and our reputation to go down the drain. If we aren’t monitoring our social media channels, we won’t know when a negative story about our brand is circulating the web, and we won’t be able to take action to fix it. With modern PR, it’s our responsibility to monitor everything affecting our brand. 

There are different tools and platforms we can use to monitor how our brand is perceived on social media. Deirdre recommends the free plan of Hootsuite. It can help us see who's talking about our brand on social channels and what the conversation points are about. 

Deirdre also recommends using Notified by Intrado, another platform that lets us monitor digital conversations. Notified can help us craft our stories and reach out to journalists through the platform, monitor and measure how well we’re doing, and see how much engagement our brand has. 

Talkwalker is another social listening tool Deirdre finds useful. Talkwalker has an AI-powered analysis that provides real-time insights into what's happening on all social channels and online media.

• Be Active on Social Media

We shouldn’t just monitor social media. We should be actively engaged on all platforms to share positive stories about our brand. We have to realize that many stories develop away from the media. Even major media outlets keep an eye on social media for new stories. If we aren’t putting positive stories and messages about our brand out onto the world wide web, who will? One of our main goals should be to enhance our online presence. 

As we become active on social media, this is where we begin to see a huge overlap in PR and marketing. With marketing, we want to create content to market our brand and with PR we want to create content to build our reputation. With both, we want to build relationships with our customers. The majority of our customers are likely active on social media platforms. We can engage with them through our content to build those relationships. 

• Build Relationships

We should develop good relationships with media outlets and influencers.  

When it comes to getting our stories out in the media, it helps to have good contacts. When we’ve developed good relationships with producers, editors, or journalists at media outlets such as CNN, New York Times, or other local news sources, it is easier to reach them and get our story out. Even if a story is released on social media first, we can bring in experts who can comment on the stories. We can foster relationships by getting to know editors or journalists really well. 

Once we know and understand the agenda of a journalist or outlet, it's a lot easier to creatively pitch a story to promote our expertise. It’s important to remember that, when we want to be in the news or want to be covered, it's not just about our agenda. It's about their agenda as well. We have to think about what the media wants to share and why they want to share it. 

Sometimes media outlets may release a negative story about our company. This is another great reason why we should be developing relationships. If a company releases a story that will reflect badly on our brand, we can get in contact with them sooner to make amends if we already have a relationship with them. I have found that recently, a lot of what PR practitioners do is repair reputations. They need to know when to make comments on stories and when to leave them alone. 

Not only should our PR practitioners focus on building relationships with the media, but they should also start building relationships with influencers. According to a Global Communications Report, 60% of PR executives believe influencer marketing is becoming a vital part of PR (Source: MediaKix). We can use our PR department to help reach out to influencers to share our brand messages. 

Since public relations is about credibility, public opinion, and shifting opinions, it is great to align with other influencers who have credible brands. Whoever we align with will be a brand representative. 

• Work with the Marketing Team

PR and marketing often overlap. Teamwork between these two critical components of our business can be the difference between success and failure. 

Search engine optimization used to be separate from PR, but this has changed. PR is all about storytelling and content. In fact, “80% of PR professionals and marketers believe the future is digital storytelling.” (Source: mediakix.com) We have to understand how we are tagging our content and what descriptions we are using. We also need to be on the same page with marketing. Who is using our content? How are they optimizing? How do we optimize together? When a campaign is rolling out through marketing, the best thing the marketing department can do is have the public relations team on board and ready to gauge public perception over a campaign. We shouldn't have to guess what's going on. 

We don’t want to have “silo working” within our organizations. Silo working happens when different departments don’t communicate with other individuals they work with. This can create a huge problem as it leads to misunderstandings and confusion, reducing efficiency. 

Deirdre said we can help break down work silos by helping our PR and marketing teams understand what each other's jobs are. Deirdre said that she once had a training session with PR and marketing and found that each department didn't know what each other's day looked like. To fix this, it helps to have a buddy system where we share what we do or walk a day in someone else’s shoes. This can open our eyes to what others are doing, why they’re doing it, and how we can help each other. 

We should have closer internal communication. Collaboration and innovation have to start with the entire team. 

• Be Conscious of What We Say and Do

Above all else, if we want to have a good brand reputation, we have to actually be good. We need to make sure we are staying positive, staying true to our brand, and providing value to our customers. A news outlet can’t write a bad story about us if there isn’t one. They also can’t write a good story about us if there aren’t any. 

Deirdre believes that modern PR is a responsibility. What we do and say is part of this responsibility. It’s essential to know what goes on around our brand. It’s as if we’re in a fishbowl. Everything we do is seen by everyone else, emphasizing the need to be open and transparent. Our stories must show ethics and good judgment. In the current saturated media landscape, we want to be the experts who bring helpful information. 

A PR executive can help our company say and do the right things. They help us interact with the media and can provide advice on touchy subjects. For example, in 2020, the Black Lives Matter Movement became so powerful and important, that many businesses decided to come out and release a statement supporting it. With such controversial and deeply emotional topics, our brand needs to be careful about what we say and don’t say. A PR specialist can help us with that. 

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Deirdre for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. PR has changed. Many stories no longer flow out of a company’s communication department. The stories are created inside communities on social media.
2. Social media monitoring is essential to see how we're perceived. 
3. We should be actively engaged on social media to share positive stories about our brand.
4. We should develop good relationships with media outlets and influencers. It’s better to have 10 really good relationships with media professionals than to have a list of 100 connections that barely know us.
5. PR and marketing leaders should collaborate and lead the way for their teams to collaborate. 

Connect with Deirdre 

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Deirdre or connect with her, you can find her on LinkedIn. You can also visit her website at  www.deirdrebreakenridge.com.

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

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What are the most effective PR strategies you’ve used to share your stories and messages? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/132-how-to-effectively-implement-modern-public-relations/ 

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What is original research?

Original research is any type of data that is presented in a way that provides meaningful, new, and unique insights, helping a company build credibility and authority for its brand. 

Michele said, “We specifically look at original research as something that you publish out as part of your marketing efforts. It's different [from] market research which a lot of people use because that's typically used to make internal marketing [decisions].” In other words, it is publicly published content to establish our credibility and authority.

Why do people do original research?

When Michele is starting a new original research project with a client, she always asks them, “What does success look like to you guys?” They often respond with, “We want to build our subscriber base,” or “We want to become thought leaders,” or “We want to build our email list.”

“These things are very, very tied together,” Michele said, “but we always try to focus on what's that one core thing you want to do.” When we are deciding to do original research, we need to have a core objective like this that we can design everything to work towards that focus.

Four Stages of Original Research: IDEA

There are four stages of original research: impact, data, exploration, and amplification.

Impact

The impact stage is all about putting together our strategy, understanding why we're doing this, understanding the topic that we want to focus on, and what's actually going to be new and original. It’s about trying to understand and working backward to know how our research is going to help us meet the goals we want to meet. 

What Topic to Focus On

How do we know what topic to focus on? Michele said, “Sometimes marketers don't spend enough time trying to figure that out. . . . [For] example, I had a client who came to me in a sales enablement space, and they said, ‘Hey, we want to do research around sales enablement.’ [But] if you type in ‘state of sales enablement,’ you'll see like 678 companies have these state of sales enablement reports out there.”

“So you need to dig in and you really need to understand what already has been done in the space,” Michele continued. “And then you need to go in a different direction because you need a topic that's meaningful to your audience. It needs to align with your brand; it needs to stay something new.”

We need to find our own space and angle that we can do a research project on that no one else has the answers to. If we're trying to establish thought leadership then we have to have a unique topic. Parroting something that someone else has already done is not thought leadership.

Data

The next stage centers around data. It’s putting together our survey, programming it, doing the testing, and getting our responses. This stage also includes data cleaning and analysis once the data is compiled.

Drafting Questions

How do we draft the right questions to get really good, insightful data that tells a compelling story? “I always recommend,” Michele said, “that once [people] have their topic identified, the next thing they [should] do is picture their research table of contents if you will. What are those key categories that you want your research to focus on?”

In a study Michele did on thought leadership, those categories were the characteristics of thought leadership if companies were interested in being thought leaders, and the different things that companies were doing with their own thought leadership efforts.

We need to identify the key things we want to learn and draft questions for each of those categories instead of trying to draft one encompassing survey. 

Another point to consider with our questions is how we can create questions that provide insights and stories. “Oftentimes,” Michele explained, “especially if people are new to research, they are . . . asking research questions that effectively take an inventory of their industry, like ‘what do you do here?’ and ‘what do you do with that?’ but you might find that those questions are not all that interesting. Instead, you really need to shift your thinking and say, ‘How can I ask questions that are going to provide insight?’”

Participants

The next step is how we choose our participants, how many we need, and how to get them to respond.

How do we choose participants? “For many people,” Michele said, “the easiest way to field a survey is to use a panel of consumers. These are adults in the US or the UK, or wherever that place may be. You can get these panels; they're relatively easy to access and inexpensive.”

Michele also has clients who are B2B who do surveys of customers to help their B2B audience. “A lot of B2B marketers don't want to go after a consumer audience; they want to survey other B2B people. The easiest way to do that is if you have access to your own list that's engaged, if you have an email list or a community of people who want the insights, who are happy to share the insights, and they also want to learn from those insights. That's the best way to get data, [but] a lot of people don't have that.”

“The best next thing to do is to partner with someone,” Michele explained. “For instance, we did a survey a couple of years in a row where we wanted to learn about the state of original research. . . . We partnered with BuzzSumo . . . because they wanted to understand how marketers were doing research too. We put together all of the survey questions and so forth, and then they sent out the survey to their list, so we had the people to participate. It was a very joint effort, and we both published that research data in a really collaborative way.”

The last way is to use panels of B2B participants. However, Michele said, “B2B panels are tough. They're expensive. There are quality control issues.” We need to make sure that people are who they are supposed to be. For marketers, are they actually a marketer or are they just trying to get that survey incentive from the survey company? “So you really need to put a lot of quality checks in place and know you're going to spend time and money to get the right people if you use a B2B panel.”

How many participants do we need? Michele said that if we’re going after a consumer-based audience, she generally recommends a minimum of 1,000 participants. However, if we’re going after a B2B audience, the sample size is much smaller. Michele recommends at least 300 unless we are doing comparisons such as B2B and B2C. In those instances, we must make sure we have enough participants in each group. Michele also said there are sample size calculators we can use to determine how big our sample size needs to be. 

There are a couple of ways we can get people to participate in our survey. We need to give participants some kind of value or incentive to participate. “Oftentimes offering someone a chance to win something be it a gift card, cool earbuds, or some other thing of the moment can work really well. It gets people to take the survey, and it gets people to actually complete the survey, and that's a huge thing.”

Michele also said, “It's useful to make sure the audience knows why they're actually taking their time.” She continued, “One thing I would not recommend is giving each survey participant an actual gift card or some kind of financial incentive if you're going to use your own list. . . . There's a high probability that you're going to get in spam and fraudulent respondents because people want that incentive.”

What do we do with the data?

Once we’ve written the questions, found participants, and gotten the responses, what do we do next? The next thing we want to do is clean the data and then analyze it. Michele said, “Make sure that you don't just take what comes in and say, ‘Look we got all of our responses. Let's go.’ But once you clean the data and you have a good data set, I always analyze it for what are the themes, what are the insights, what are the stories. Really pull those out because you want to make sure that you have key takeaways.”

“You want to make sure that you really try to understand and articulate because your reader has this report. [They should know] how you're going to make their life better. . . . Make that very, very clear to yourself and make that very clear to your readers. This isn't a bunch of data; this is what we've learned that you can apply to yourself.”

Explore

Stage three focuses on exploration. We should take what we’ve learned from the data and put together our launch plan. In this stage, we explore our findings to create meaningful insights, then create a plan for how we are going to present those insights to our audience in a meaningful way. 

Presentation

A standard way to present the data is in a static PDF, but we can often find more interesting and engaging ways to present it. “I think that marketers can get a lot of value if they think beyond that,” Michele said. “Andy Crestodina does this really well. He has an annual blogging study, and he gets backlinks to that study every single day. So if your goal is backlinks . . . put together a really comprehensive blog post.”

Michele has also been thinking about presentations that allow the audience to interact with the data such as an interactive dashboard that allows the audience to click through the data, filter it, look at it through a specific lens, etc. “Anything that we can do where people can interact with the data is going to be really useful moving forward. Just a marketer giving the story to someone is useful, but I think people want to see the data and how it changes. I think it feels a lot more credible that way.”

Amplification

This last stage is what we do after our research is published to amplify it. How do we continually grow and get great energy and results from this project we’ve invested in? How do we promote it and get continual backlinks? Do we use our email list, social media, etc.?

How long should this process take?

The whole process can take more than two months. “We have a process that we use with our clients that takes you from strategy until you put surveys out on the field, but it takes three weeks. It can certainly be condensed, but we always know clients have other priorities to work on. So, we'd say on average, you know, allocate two to four weeks to create your strategy, your questions [and] program, [and have] it tested.” 

“[Then] your survey needs to be out in the field, so if you're using a panel that can take days to weeks to happen. If you're using your own list, I always allot four weeks as an average bucket of time. So then, you're at two months.”

“And then the last step is putting together those findings. . . . Some people have really fast processes where they can write findings, get it through design, and so forth, and other clients, it takes longer. I think marketers probably have the best idea of what that last stage looks like. It's just going to depend on how quickly your organization works. Long story [short], I would say two-plus months to get it done, but there [are] ways to condense that.”

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Michele for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. We can use original research to build our following or become thought leaders.
2. The four stages of original research are impact, data, exploration, and amplification.
3. The topic of our research should be something that no one has done before.
4. When drafting questions, we can picture what we want our table of contents to look like and create questions around those key categories.
5. Our questions should provoke interesting insights and stories.
6. To find participants, we can use our own email list, panels of participants, or we can partner with someone and use their email list.
7. For a consumer-based audience, we should have at least 1,000 participants. For a B2B audience, we should have at least 300.
8. Once we have the data we must clean it before we analyze it. Then we can look for key insights and stories.
9. We should try to find an interactive way to present our data to our audience. 

Connect with Michele

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Michele or connect with her, you can find her on LinkedIn at  https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelelinn/ or visit her website https://mantisresearch.com/. You can also check out episode 1 of this interview.

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

Did you like today’s episode? Then please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content:

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

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Have you done original research? If so, what process did you use and how did it help you? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

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Original research is one way to make our content marketing more effective and efficient. In 2018, about half of marketers were using research, and only 3% said their research did not meet expectations (Source: Mantisresearch.com). In today’s episode, we’ll discuss Michele Linn’s journey to becoming an expert in original research and some of the ways original research can help our businesses.

Michelle Linn is the co-founder and head of strategy at Mantis Research, a consultancy focused on helping marketers publish and amplify original research. Before starting Mantis, Michelle was head of the editorial at Content Marketing Institute, where she led the company's strategic editorial direction. Michele has written hundreds of articles. She is regularly cited as a content marketing influencer.

Original Research and Making an Impact

Michele’s passion is original research. She said, “I have been in the content marketing space for many years, and I'm always looking for those things that can really make an impact, that can make an impact right here in 2021, and I'm super excited about original research simply because I think no matter what industry you're in, you can still do something really meaningful, that makes an impact, even though there is a lot of noise out there.”

Michele’s Journey to Original Research

Michele’s journey with content marketing has been long. “I started out in the product marketing space for about 10 years,” she explained. “I left to freelance back in 2008. . . . I used content marketing, even though it wasn’t called that at the time, to build my own business, and . . . that worked to be helpful.”

Michele joined forces with Joe Pulizzi at CMI (Content Marketing Institute). He asked Michele to help him launch the brand he was building. Michele was doing content and teaching others how to do content marketing.

When I asked Michele what the greatest home run of her career has been, she said it was working at CMI. “CMI was my favorite job,” Michele said. She loved being part of the team that was building something meaningful. She also loved hearing people’s feedback and being able to help them. 

“There was a lot,” Michele said. “It was just a really special time in my life and a lot of gratification from the people who were just so grateful that CMI did what it did. I loved everything about that tremendously successful organization.”

Eventually, Michele left CMI. She said, “When I left CMI many years later in 2017, I knew I wanted to help content marketers, but I also knew I wanted to help them in a very specific way. So I thought about what is the best way to break through the noise and what is the best way to be mean right here, right now.”

“I really thought about a lot about original research because [they were] the projects that I enjoyed working on most when I was with CMI, and [it] was also those projects [where] we could make the most impact and had the best results [with]. . . . Clare McDermott and [I] launched Mantis Research so that we could do original research as well as educate marketers on how to do it better, so they could all get the benefits from this tactic.”

Michele’s Biggest Monetization Secret: Original Research

When I asked Michele what her biggest monetization strategy is, she immediately responded with original research. “When you do it well—and the caveat is [you must be] doing it well—I think that you are going to have a lot of meaningful data and insights that people want. . . . You can use it as a lead generator to get people into your sales funnel.”

“I've worked with clients who have published research,” Michele continued, “and because they're that industry leader, we've actually [been able to] trace their research to clients [who] come to them. So I think it just works really, really well. It's a great monetization opportunity.”

Social Media Examiner is an example of an organization that does it well. Their page uses original research as their leader, and they produce great content with it.

Providing Data and Saying Something New

Michele recently did a study with Survey Monkey and Orbit Media on thought leadership, specifically how marketers are using thought leadership and how marketers are defining thought leadership. They found that the essential things people are looking for in thought leadership are creating something that's easy to understand, creating something that challenges the way people think, publishing data to validate their position, and saying something new. 

Publishing data and saying something new are two things that build credibility and authority. Original research does exactly those two things. With original research we are conducting surveys and studies that haven’t been done before, then publishing that data and putting that new information out there. Original research is a powerful tool for us to use in becoming thought leaders in our industry.

The Most Linked to Content

“Authoritative research and reference content are the two types of content that consistently get links and shares.” - Steve Rayson, BuzzSumo director, and cofounder

Original research is the kind of content that gets linked to most often. Michele said, “I'll go to a brand, I'll look them up on Buzzsumo, [and] I'll search the top link to the content. So often that content is original research. It just works incredibly well because if you are the source of something new, people just naturally want to link to it.”

Original Research Helping Startups

One of Michele’s clients, Andrea Fryear (who I interviewed not too long ago), does an annual original research project called Our State of Agile Marketing. On the topic, Andrea said, “Our State of Agile Marketing has been a virtual goldmine for subscribers, backlinks, and real money in the bank of our clients. In our CRM, I'll see someone who has downloaded the report, and within a couple of days—sometimes even a couple of hours—I'll see that same someone requesting a call to talk about becoming a client. There's a clear correlation between reading the report and being ready to make a purchase.” 

This research was one of the first content pieces that they put together. Michele said she watched as “the really small, scrappy startup business [used] research to directly get clients to them. I've had other brands . . . use research for those same purposes. . . . You don't have to be this big brand with a big budget to do research. These little . . . startups can use research to have a really great impact.”

Helping Kids Find Their Paths

Michele is also very passionate about helping kids try to find their own path. “I have two kids at home,” she explained. “I am really passionate about helping kids try to find their own path and be accountable in this world. I think that there's a lot of opportunities for kids to be this vibrant part of society, and I'm trying to help kids help themselves.” 

Kids can do great things. I had a boss who felt that our most important role as parents was to help our kids find their passion and then invest in helping them achieve that passion. By doing that, we help them find their place in society. We can help kids change the world through the things they’re good at and passionate about. As parents, that's how we can make a contribution. Plus, as we get involved in supporting them, it helps us build stronger and more connected relationships.

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Michele for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. Original research is a great way to step up our content marketing game.
2. We can make an impact with original research.
3. Original research allows us to provide data and say something new, two things people look for incredible thought leaders.
4. Original research is often the most linked-to content.
5. Original research is a great way for startups to get the attention of clients.
6. Helping kids find their path will help them make an impact in the future and help us have a stronger relationship with them.

Connect with Michele

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Michele or connect with her, you can find her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelelinn/ or visit her website https://mantisresearch.com/. 

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Feeling Disconnected from God

When I was in high school, there was a time when I felt disconnected from God and was not feeling Him near. At night time, I would read scriptures sitting by the light in our hallway. One night, as I was trying to understand this lack of God’s presence in my life, and what I needed to do, I opened my scriptures randomly, and they fell open to this verse:

“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (KJV 1 Thessalonians 5:18)

That scripture gave me the answer I was seeking. I knew that I needed to fill my life with more gratitude to find the connection with God and others in my life that I was missing. I tried to heed that counsel and found deeper connections. For example, instead of filling my prayers primarily with requests, I incorporated a lot more specific expressions of gratitude. I even dedicated some prayers to only expressions of gratitude. I have also tried to express a lot more gratitude to the people around me. 

Tough Circumstances and Gratitude

A church leader named Dieter Uchtdorf gave a sermon about gratitude. In his sermon, he described the opportunity he’s had to meet with many people whose sorrows seem to reach the very depths of their souls. “In these moments,” he said, “I have listened to my beloved brothers and sisters and grieved with them over their burdens. I have pondered what to say to them, and I have struggled to know how to comfort and support them in their trials.”

“Sooner or later,” Uchtdorf continued, “I believe that all of us experience times when the very fabric of our world tears at the seams, leaving us feeling alone, frustrated, and adrift. It can happen to anyone. No one is immune.”

He goes on to describe how “there is something that would take away the bitterness that may come into our lives. There is one thing we can do to make life sweeter, more joyful, even glorious. We can be grateful!”

“Those who set aside the bottle of bitterness and lift instead the goblet of gratitude can find a purifying drink of healing, peace, and understanding,” he said.

I think the reason this is true is when we want to get rid of negativity in our lives, the best way to do it is to replace it with something positive. It’s like a room filled with darkness we want to go away. The only way to make the darkness leave is to fill the room with something else . . . light.  I have found that when I have negative feelings towards someone when I strive to replace those feelings with gratitude, the gratitude can help replace the negative feelings, and I feel more positively towards that person. 

Gratitude in Business

It is well-known that gratitude can help us have a better attitude in our personal lives, but how does this apply to us as entrepreneurs?

Gratitude is a critical aspect of our business relationships. “It satisfies the higher psychological need to feel a sense of belonging to something greater than ourselves–to feel a sense of meaning at work.” (Source: Forbes)

Recognizing the good and saying it out loud “helps [us] connect with other entrepreneurs and build lasting partnerships. No [one] is an island, and the same goes for business owners too. Correspondingly, success is most easily achieved when we back up each other.” (Source: Enterprise League)

I believe gratitude in the workplace is critical for many reasons. Here are 7 examples:

1. It helps us build stronger relationships with our co-workers. 
2. Most of us deal with insecurities and fears that we are not good enough. Expressing gratitude is an affirmation that in that thing, they are good enough.
3. Expressing gratitude gives a positive reference point of the actions and behaviors that work, so people know how to act, and what to do more of. 
4. Showing gratitude can shift the focus from us to others.
5. Expressing gratitude can show our co-workers that we saw what they did.
6. Focusing on the great things people have done, instead of the mistakes, is showing grace. When we show grace to others, we will probably receive more grace in return.  
7. Expressions of gratitude can show that we care about the feelings of our co-workers.

Expressing Gratitude

Uchtdorf shared a story of a server and a customer. He said, “There is an old story of a waiter who asked a customer whether he had enjoyed the meal. The guest replied that everything was fine, but it would have been better if they had served more bread. The next day, when the man returned, the waiter doubled the amount of bread, giving him four slices instead of two, but still, the man was not happy. The next day, the waiter doubled the bread again, without success.”

“On the fourth day, the waiter was really determined to make the man happy. And so he took a nine-foot-long loaf of bread, cut it in half, and with a smile, served that to the customer. The waiter could scarcely wait for the man’s reaction.”

“After the meal, the man looked up and said, ‘Good as always. But I see you’re back to giving only two slices of bread.’”

In this story, there is a disconnect between the customer and the server, and this disconnect comes from the customer’s lack of gratitude. Because of this, the server felt unappreciated even though he was doing everything he could to make this customer happy. 

This isn’t to say we should stop doing things for customers that don’t seem grateful. We need to make sure that we aren’t the customer in this example. We should be expressing gratitude to our families, partners, employees, clients, vendors, and customers, so they know how much we appreciate them and their efforts.

Ways We Can Show Gratitude

Results of research in the workplace so far link it to more positive emotions, less stress and fewer health complaints, a greater sense that we can achieve our goals, fewer sick days, and higher satisfaction with our jobs and our coworkers (Source: greatergood.berkeley.edu). Here are a few ideas and stories for how we can show gratitude in our business relationships.

“Giving Props”

Steven Benson, founder, and CEO of Badger Maps says his favorite thing about the company’s culture is that they show thanks to employees on a weekly basis. “We have an all-hands meeting once a week, and we finish the meeting by ‘giving props’, which is recognizing people on the team for their accomplishments that week. Anyone on the team can give props to anyone else on the team, which fosters an atmosphere of appreciation and teamwork.” (Source: Medium)

“For example,” Benson explained, “someone who noticed another employee doing a great job with a particularly difficult customer, might ‘give props’ to that person and recognize them in front of the group as having done an amazing job. It’s a great way to be thankful and show appreciation as a group for all the accomplishments of the week, and make sure everyone gets recognized for their contributions.” (Source: Medium)

“This has helped us build a strong team and sense of community. The success of your business depends on your employees, and establishing a positive culture where everyone feels appreciated and enjoys coming to work makes a big difference in increasing employee satisfaction and happiness.” (Source: Medium)

I love how the Gladney Center for Adoption does this and reserves time in nearly every full-company meeting for people to express gratitude through a shout-out for something another team member has done. 

Gratitude with Customers

Dr. Justin Wood, a business problem-solving specialist, shared how gratitude saved a restaurant with low chances of survival from closing down. He “was put in charge of a small breakfast team, which was one step away from being shut down. . . . It was a tough game, as the team wasn’t bringing much profit to the restaurant, and people’s jobs were at stake.” (Source: Intelligent Change)

The first thing Wood changed was customer appreciation. “He instructed the team to express gratitude and appreciation to every customer because the key to a profitable restaurant is satisfied and returning customers.” (Source: Intelligent Change)

At the end of the first month “, they doubled the number of receipts from the previous month. By the end of the three-month period, they were setting continual records. It took so little: a ‘thank you for coming,’ a smile, and a regular check-up, and people immediately felt more appreciated as customers.” (Source: Intelligent Change)

Gratitude and Appreciation Retreat

Consultant Stephanie Pollack was brought in to work with the state chapter of a national nonprofit. “The organization was in the middle of a transformation that brought in new leadership, a new culture, new rules—and lots of tension and uncertainty.” Pollack was tasked with teaching appreciation and gratitude during a three-day retreat (Source: greatergood.berkeley.edu). 

“She taught a small group of reluctant employees about the benefits of recognizing the good things in their lives and saying thank you.” Something shifted among the employees. “After one person wrote a genuine note of thanks on an ‘appreciation wall,’ soon everyone was participating.” (Source: greatergood.berkeley.edu)

Pollack was surprised by the connection and authenticity that appreciation inspired. Even some of the more closed-off employees had opened up by the end of the retreat. “They walked in with a lot of tension and frustration,” Pollack said. “I’m not saying they walked out with none, but there was a willingness on everyone’s part to move forward together in a different way.” (Source: greatergood.berkeley.edu)

These are just a few of the ways we can implement gratitude into our business, but it could be as simple as a “thank you” at the end of an email or note reminding an employee that we appreciate them. William James, American philosopher and psychologist said, “The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated.” If appreciation is one of our deepest cravings, then we need to make sure we are showing our appreciation to others.

Key Takeaways

Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. Those who are grateful can find healing, peace, connection, and understanding.
2. Gratitude can help us replace negative feelings with positive feelings. 
3. Gratitude is a critical part of the business. It helps us build stronger relationships.
4. In the workplace, gratitude can foster more positive emotions, less stress and fewer health complaints, a greater sense that we can achieve our goals, fewer sick days, and higher satisfaction with our jobs and our coworkers.
5. Focusing on the great things people have done, instead of the mistakes, is showing grace.
6. We can express gratitude by ‘giving props’ to our employees in meetings, telling customers we appreciate them, going on a gratitude retreat, or simply saying thank you in an email or note.
7. Expressing sincere gratitude to customers may increase revenues.
8. The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated.

Join Entrepreneurs of Faith

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Jennifer Etchegary, an expert in technology procurement and implementation, helps companies find and implement the right technologies in the most effective ways possible. Some of her specialties include virtual reality, augmented reality, and chatbots, along with a variety of other technologies. 

In today’s episode, we’re going to discuss how businesses can effectively use chatbots and what benefits they can expect to see as it is done right.

Chatbots 

In today’s market, we are seeing a shift towards everything digital. Jennifer said, “If you’re not digitally transforming, you’re losing.” 

New technologies are being developed at a higher rate than ever before. Chatbots are one of those technologies businesses are starting to use a lot. 

A chatbot is a conversational experience that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing to mimic a conversation between real people. Essentially, it is a robot that can have a conversation. 

Surprisingly, the first chatbot was developed even before the personal computer. Joseph Weizenbaum, a computer scientist, and professor at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory created the first chatbot in 1966 named Eliza (Source: Daffodil). The personal computer wasn’t developed until 1974 (Source: Britannica). 

Eliza was designed to imitate a therapist by asking open-ended questions and follow-ups. She operated by recognizing a keyword or phrase and then produced a pre-programmed response (Source: Analytics India Magazine). 

The world didn’t truly see the rise of chatbots until the smartphone era. In 2010, Apple acquired Siri and then revealed her as an integrated part of the iPhone in 2011 (Source: SRI International). After Siri, Amazon created Alexa in 2015 and Google created Google Home in 2016 (Source: Daffodil). 

Since then, we have seen an increase in chatbots, even within smaller businesses. Chatbots are found on customer service phone lines, websites, and social media platforms. Chatbots have become increasingly popular as they offer many potential benefits. 

5 Benefits of a Chatbot

Here are five potential benefits chatbots can give us in our business.

• Saves Time

Chatbots can save time for both the company and the customer. They can maintain a 24/7 response system so the customers can have constant access to communication. With a 24/7 customer service line, customers can solve their problems faster without ever needing to come to a live customer service representative. 

Over 50% of customers expect 24/7 availability with businesses (Source: AI Multiple). If we implement a chatbot, it can increase customer engagement and satisfaction to meet their expectation of constant service. And if a chatbot is doing it, we don’t have to spend so much time doing it ourselves. 

A chatbox can also significantly reduce customer service response times, depending on how advanced it is programmed to operate. A chatbox can help answer any level 1 questions. This could include how to find something on our website, check the status of an order, or provide our business hours. Then, if a customer comes to us with a level 2 or 3 questions, they can transfer the customer to the direct person they need to communicate with for that question. 

By answering the easy questions for us, we won’t have to take as many calls or chats, and we will have more time to help customers with bigger problems. This can help reduce the wait time on our phone lines or online chats. This benefits the customer since a chatbot can help them solve their easy questions without having to wait 30 minutes on hold to reach a customer service representative. 

“Initially a chatbot might only save 5% of your customer service time, [but] as it gets smarter and smarter, as you train it, it can get up to about 30% to 40% to 60%,” Jennifer said. “It saves a lot of time.”

With reduced time, not only increases customer satisfaction but also employee satisfaction as they don’t have to constantly answer back-to-back calls. 

• Reduces Costs

By saving time, chatbots can also help reduce costs. Juniper Research estimated that chatbots could save the banking industry $7.3 billion globally by 2023, up from an estimated $209 million in 2019 (Source: Juniper Research). 

Instead of paying a group of employees to answer phone calls or respond to chats, chatbots can do it. While chatbots may not be able to take over the role of the customer service representative completely, they can answer simple questions so we don’t need as many customer service employees. Chatbots can help businesses save up to 30% of their customer support costs by reducing response times and answering 80% of routine questions (Source: IBM). 

As chatbots help reduce customer service response times and offer 24/7 availability, they can also increase customer sales. Business leaders have claimed that chatbots increased their sales by an average of 67% (Forbes). Customers often look for the fastest solution possible. If they have to wait 30 minutes on hold or wait until the next morning, we may have already lost their business. 

• Increases Efficiency

Chatbots can help increase efficiency. One way they can do this is by being programmed to speak many different languages. If someone calls in, but only speaks Spanish, we can have our chatbot instantly programmed to take their call. Our chatbot can be programmed to respond in any language we choose such as Spanish, Chinese, French, or Portuguese. 

Chatbots can also get instant access to information. Jennifer had a vice president come to her for help because she was having a really difficult time with her contact center. They were seeing many inefficiencies such as not being able to access information as easily as they would like. Jennifer connected her through another person in her network and they were able to develop a chatbot that helped increase efficiency in access to information by about 40%. 

A chatbot can also be custom-built to better respond to our customers’ needs. “[There is] the intelligence advantage there, meaning [chatbots] have a deeper understanding of how people are speaking, and you're able to respond better to their needs,” Jennifer said. As we program chatbots to understand our customers’ needs, we can increase our efficiency. 

• Is Data-Driven 

Chatbots are scalable and data-driven. When a customer asks a question in our online chat, our chatbot can record and store that information. They can take frequently asked questions or common problems and turn them into data we can use to improve the customer experience. 

Jennifer explained that one of the biggest business tectonic shifts is the increase of data. “A lot of the data captured, especially in chatbots, is very powerful,” Jennifer said. We should lean towards the increased data we get from chatbots and use it to understand what our customers are telling us. Instead of going off of a gut feeling, we can use actual data to make customer-based decisions. As we do this, our products and services will resonate with customers a lot more. 

Beyond answering questions, chatbots can also reach out with surveys to gain customer information and track a customer’s purchasing patterns. With this data, we can find new ways to direct our customers’ responses and guide them in their journey to making a purchase decision. 

• Increases User Engagement

Chatbots can also increase user engagement. With 24/7 availability, chatbots can always communicate and engage with our customers when needed. A survey found that 83% of online shoppers need support while shopping (Source: Econsultancy). By having a chatbot readily available, we will be able to communicate with our audience more frequently. 

Research also found that companies that engaged with their customers on social media increased their customers’ spending by 20% to 40% (Source: Bain & Company). As chatbots increase our user engagement, we can also increase our sales. 

Jennifer shared the example of a large beverage company that did a big campaign for one of their soft drinks. They used a chatbot with a Halloween theme and gamified it. When a customer clicked on the chatbot, it took them through a game that eventually ended with a coupon for their drink. This helped the company increase its engagement by about 60%. 

Another example Jennifer shared was from a retail company. She helped them create an augmented reality chatbot experience. While a customer shopped for sunglasses through the chatbot, they could “try on'' different sunglasses through an augmented reality layer to see what they looked like on their face. “The user engagement exploded and the buy-ins were just unbelievable,” Jennifer said.  

The Dangers of Chatbots

Just because a chatbot may be beneficial for some businesses, this doesn’t mean it will benefit every business. If we want to install a chatbox, there has to be a great use for it. We should ask ourselves, “How will this improve my customer’s experience?”

Jennifer said that one of the biggest mistakes she made in her career was overcomplicating things, which was a waste of time and money. There is a power in simplicity and sometimes a chatbot may take away from that.   We should only use a chatbot if we believe it will help the customer.

Chatbots have the danger of taking away the personalized touch. With chatbots, we need to be very careful with the fine line between efficiency and human connection. There is a certain extent to which technology can help. Past that point, it makes the experience more frustrating. Chatbots are an effective way to help with level 1 customer service questions. However, if customers have a more complex issue, they should be able to reach a real person. If a chatbot can’t provide the right help, it begins to feel more like an obstacle standing in the way between the customer and the customer service representative. 

When I asked Jennifer for her best advice about retaining human touch while implementing a chatbot, she said we should:

1. Get multiple opinions and feedback on our chatbot.  
2. Make sure the chatbot has the right personality and brand voice. 
3. Focus on conversational design. We need to make sure the conversation is natural.

If we decide a chatbot is right for our business, we can take the next steps to create one that fits our brand’s personality. We should only choose to use a chatbot after significant research and time to determine if it is the right solution for our business. 

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Jennifer for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. Chatbots can help save a company and customers lots of time. They can maintain a 24/7 response system so the customers can have constant access to communication.
2. Chatbots can help reduce customer service costs and increase customer sales. 
3. Chatbots can help increase efficiency.
4. Chatbots are scalable and data-driven. They can take frequently asked questions or common problems and turn them into data we can use to improve the customer experience. 
5. Chatbots can increase user engagement.
6. If we want to install a chatbot, there should be a great use case for it
7. Chatbots have the danger of overcomplicating things and reducing personalized connection. 

Connect with Jennifer

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Jennifer or connect with her, you can find her on LinkedIn or her company’s website chatc.ai. 

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Personal Brands vs Business Brands 

A personal brand is built around our name and personality whereas a business brand is built on a new, independent identity, separate from ourselves. 

Becoming personalized in our brands and businesses is becoming more and more crucial to success. A study found that 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase a product or service from a brand that provides a personalized experience (Source: Forbes). As we develop a personal brand, we increasingly resonate with our audience. 

“I think personal branding is the most underrated skill that people have today,” Jason said. “Everyone needs a personal brand.” He continued, “People do business with people, not with brands per se, and so personal branding is a recognition of the strength of that.”

Elon Musk is one of the best examples of a personal brand. If we asked a group of people who the CEO of Tesla is, the large majority could tell us it’s Elon Musk. But if we asked that same group of people who the CEO of Ford is, the large majority wouldn’t know. The same applies to Toyota and Honda. Very few people could name their CEOs. This is what personal branding is—putting a face to our businesses. 

Tesla doesn’t have a public relations person who controls the company’s Twitter account. Elon Musk Twitter account is the primary Twitter account. He’s the one talking to people and connecting with them. That movement is highly appealing to people. 

5 Secrets to Personal Branding

As we create and develop our personal brand, we strengthen our relationships with our customers and have higher success rates. As a consultant in personal branding, Jason gave five secrets to help us build our personal brands. 

• Become a Helpful Expert

After we determine our personal brand and find what makes us unique, we need to become a helpful expert in that area. 

We should figure out what we want to be helpful in and then do it. The first step to building a personal brand is all about providing value and giving back to our customers and inviting people to follow and trust us. Once we’ve determined how we can be helpful, then we need to become an expert in that area of expertise. 

According to Malcolm Gladwell, anyone can become an expert in nearly any field as long as they devote 10,000 hours to studying and practicing the subject or skill (Source: VeryWellMind.com). To become an expert, we simply need to take the time and resources to learn and grow in that one specific thing. We can take what little knowledge we have and start to build our personal brand, building our expertise on the internet even before we actually feel like an expert.

“We live in this era of personal brands,” Jason said. “It’s your brand on the internet. Where you position yourself generally is what I call a helpful expert in a certain topic.” 

If we go back to the example of Elon Musk, we see that he takes his personal brand and makes himself the expert on it. He’s very good at getting his name in the media and connecting his name with being an entrepreneur. 

We can’t just assume everyone will figure out what our personal brand is on their own. We need to make what we stand for, what values we have, and our personality obvious on our website, social media channels, and other platforms. As we do this, our audience will slowly come to believe we are an expert in our field. As we become an expert and share our knowledge, we gain credibility. 

In a way, we make ourselves an expert by projecting our personal brand consistently and constantly. Musk did just that. He shows and tells the media that he is a great entrepreneur until they believe him. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

• Learn the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy 

Jason said he is an expert at making something out of nothing. “How do you know that I'm an expert on SEO? You go to Amazon and you see my book or you Google ‘SEO expert San Francisco’ and you find me. It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he explained. 

After we’ve dedicated ourselves to becoming an expert in our niche area, we have to show it to the world. We need to take action ourselves. We need to develop our online presence and show our audience why they should believe we are an expert. If our personal brand includes social media marketing, we should write a book on it, be active on every social media channel, write a blog, and more. Then, when someone searches for our topic, our name will show up. Eventually, we will become the leading expert in that topic according to our consumers. 

“What are the signals that people look for that establish you as an expert in [your] area? You've got to create those signals,” Jason said. 

What is going to validate the truth of what we say? For many people, this signal can be something as simple as how many followers we have on our social media channels. Jason describes this as an illusion of being successful since it is grounded in something that doesn’t necessarily reveal our expertise. Having a million followers doesn’t prove we know what we’re talking about, but it does show our audience that we offer value that one million people are willing to trust. 

One platform Jason uses to fulfill the self-fulfilling prophecy is LinkedIn. On LinkedIn, he has over 500 connections. He also creates videos and posts about SEO, telling the world he is an expert. With enough content and enough followers, people will eventually start to believe it. 

“People are going to go to my LinkedIn, and they're going to see I have over 500 connections, and I have a lot of videos, and I have a lot of content. I create the illusion on LinkedIn that I'm really successful,” Jason said. Eventually, with time, the illusion fades until we actually do become successful and an expert.

• Find a Movement 

Personal branding is often about finding a movement or tectonic shift and taking advantage of it. Success isn’t just based on building a great personal brand; it is also about watching the marketplace and our customers. 

Going back to Elon Musk, his company isn’t just about Tesla or SpaceX. It's also about the electric car movement, green energy, and space exploration movement. Musk became the face of electric cars and space exploration, appealing to a specific market that already existed. Musk didn’t create the desire for green energy, he tapped into the movement already there and substantially increased that movement through his influence. He resonated with the culture and things already happening. 

Jason once read that marketing doesn’t create demand, it moves the demand forward.

Jason writes books to help build his credibility and establish his expertise. He has found that the books that succeed are the ones that resonate with an already-existing audience. We should think about what demand is already out there that we can directly target.

• Become a Detective 

If we aren’t sure how to build our personal brand on certain platforms, we simply need to do the research. We need to become detectives. 

One of the newest social media platforms is TikTok. TikTok launched in 2016 and has exploded in popularity with 689 million active monthly users worldwide (Source: DataReportal, 2021). With so many active users, this platform has the potential to give our company access to millions of people. 

Many businesses may wonder how they can take advantage of TikTok to help build their personal brand. A great way to discover how we can use new platforms such as TikTok is by looking at what our competitors are doing. Researching our competitors is a great way to determine how we can effectively share our personal brand. 

“One of the things I try to teach people in my class is [to] learn to be a good detective or to go look at other brands and see what they're doing. Take a brand and [do a] simple Google search,” Jason said. 

• Be Aware of the Permanent Record

The internet never forgets. As we develop our personal brand, we need to be aware of everything we put onto the internet. One silly tweet from 10 years ago can still damage our personal brand today. 

“The internet is like an elephant, it never forgets. If I could give one [piece of] advice to people, [it is] before you tweet before you create that TikTok before you create that Instagram post, think about the downstream implications that this could have for your whole life. . . . We clearly live in an era in which you're leaving this massive digital footprint, and it can really come back and get you,” Jason said. 

Before we post anything online, we need to consider the future implications of that post, especially as we build our personal brand. Not only should we avoid posting negative things, but we should also seek to post positive, impactful things. Just as something bad can come back to bite us, good things can also leave a lasting impact, and come back to benefit us in the future. 

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Jason for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. Building a personal brand is becoming crucial to success. People connect with people.
2. We need to become helpful experts in our specific field. 
3. We should create signals that tell our audience we are an expert. 
4. Personal branding is often about finding a movement or tectonic shift and taking advantage of it.
5. Before we post anything online, think about the effects it could have on our personal brand now and in the future.

Connect with Jason

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Jason or connect with him, you can find him on his LinkedIn or his website, jasonmcdonald.org. You can also find his books on Amazon. 

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

Did you like today’s episode? Then please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content:

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

How have you built your personal brand? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/127-5-secrets-of-building-a-personal-brand/ 

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In today’s episode, we’re going to discuss why we should create digital products and publish a book on Amazon. 

Jason’s Journey

Jason studied at Berkeley for six years while working towards his Ph.D. For two of those years, he lived in Europe and wrote his dissertation on economic policy in Eastern Europe. Once he graduated, he began working with a computer reseller start-up to grow international sales, becoming familiar with the internet for the first time. 

His first experience with the internet inspired him to start an email newsletter for design engineers which got him into SEO. About 10 years later, he discovered he was good at teaching. He had a friend who encouraged him to teach a class, and that’s when Jason began teaching SEO in San Francisco. He enjoyed it so much he eventually started teaching for Stanford and also began publishing. 

Building a Skill Set 

The ability to publish books on Amazon has been a huge blessing in Jason’s career. 

While Jason was teaching a class at Stanford, he thought it would be a good idea to try writing a book on SEO. He already had the knowledge and just needed to learn the skills to get it published. He put in the time and research and learned how to publish a book on Amazon and get it set up on Kindle and CreateSpace. He published his book on Amazon which started to generate around $30,000 a year in royalty revenue and established his name in his industry. 

“There are people who think you're born with a certain skill, like ‘I'm born and I'm able to do the math.’ I really think that’s a terrible attitude. A better attitude is, ‘I want to have this skill, and I'm going to learn how to do this skill. I'm going to invest in the skill and get good at this skill.’ I didn't know that much about how to publish a book on Amazon at the time, but I really dug into it. . . . I created that skill set by just saying, ‘I'm going to do this,’” Jason said. 

Jason didn’t have the skill set to publish a book, so he developed it. If we want to be an expert at something, we have to put in the work. It’s not a matter of being born with or without a certain skill, it’s a matter of drive and determination.  

“You have to decide you want the skill set,” Jason said. “That's how you want to think about your skills in life. . . . It really hurts people when they think, ‘Gosh, I could never do that.’ That's self-defeating.” 

Are we willing to pay the price? Are we willing to put in the time and resources it takes to develop a new skill? We have the ability to pick what we want to be an expert in, we just have to pay the price. It’s often said that if we put in 10,000 hours into something, we can become one of the world's leading experts in it.

One of the best skill sets we can learn is creating a digital product. While we may not have the skills naturally to create a digital product, we can put in the time and effort to learn how and develop those skills. 

There is an old saying that goes, “It doesn’t matter how much milk you spill as long as you don’t lose your cow.” As entrepreneurs, there will often be “spillage” and wasteful decisions as we start trying to learn something new. However, our mistakes don’t matter as much if we keep trying. What we see as failure may not have a huge impact on the bigger picture or an impact on our revenue. 

Publishing a Book on Amazon

When I asked Jason what his best monetization secret is, he said it is to create a digital product. For him, that digital product was his books. 

“If you have a special kind of knowledge or if you're an expert in ‘x’ . . . you should write a book,” Jason said. “ If you can create a digital product, which is what books are these days, you can create a passive income stream around that product.”

Books not only provide a passive income stream, but they also build our credibility. Writing a book shows our customers our knowledge. As we really become an expert in our specific field, we can write a book to establish our name. However, we need to make sure we write a book with a purpose. We shouldn’t publish a digital book just to show off our knowledge; we need to write a book that will provide value to our audience.

For example, college students will look for books on financial aid, budgeting, easy home-cooked meals, relationship advice, and more. We need to write a book that answers a question for someone or solves a problem for them. A new parent may purchase a dozen books on baby names and how to raise a kid. If we can answer a question or solve a problem, a book can really be a great source of revenue. Jason was able to do this with the topic of SEO. He wrote a book on what he was an expert on, answered questions and solved problems for his audience, and then made around $30,000 a year off the royalty revenues of his book. 

It is very common for people to turn to a book when they are trying to solve a problem. According to the Pew Research Center, the average American reads about 12 books a year. If we can make our book the #1 in its category, we have a good chance of success. 

“One of the things I've learned in business is you want to fish where the fish are,” Jason said. “Certain markets, like the book market, have a defined player (Amazon) where all the action is. And Amazon has made it very easy for people to publish and find books.”

Amazon has a system that allows anyone to self-publish a book relatively easily. All we have to do is write it. Once we do, publishing takes less than five minutes and our book appears on Kindle stores worldwide within 48 hours (Source: Amazon). Amazon also allows us to earn up to 70% in royalty sales to customers and stay in control of our prices. Instead of going through a publisher, we can do it on our own from our homes. 

Amazon is a great platform to take advantage of for book publishing. “Amazon dominates the book market. It's where people go for books,” Jason said. “Think about areas where there is a defined marketplace that you can then insert yourself.”

The Association of American Publishers filed a statement in 2019 with the Federal Trade Commission, saying, “A year ago, The New York Times reported that Amazon controlled 50 percent of all book distribution, but for some industry suppliers, the actual figure may be much higher, with Amazon accounting for more than 70 or 80 percent of sales.” (Source: Publishing Perspectives). 

We can leverage Amazon to potentially reach millions of people and get our book out there. There are currently 150 million Amazon Prime subscribers, a 50 percent increase from 100 million in April 2018 (Source: VentureBeat) and even more people use Amazon without Prime. 

Just because millions of people are on Amazon, that doesn’t mean we have millions of people looking at our book. In 2020, there were 48.5 million books on Amazon (Source: JustPublishingAdvice). Becoming an expert in our field and answering a problem our customers are trying to solve gives us a competitive edge in this vast book market on Amazon. 

Another digital product that builds our credibility and can create recurring revenue is online courses. Online courses are a great way to provide value to our customers. We can share our knowledge and teach them how to do something they need help with. However, the disadvantage with online courses is that there isn’t one platform that dominates that platform as Amazon does with books. Jason believes that publishing a digital book on Amazon is one of the best digital products we can use to our advantage. 

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Jason for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. We have to decide what skill set we want and then put in the time and effort to become an expert in it.
2. One of the best skill sets we can learn as entrepreneurs are how to create digital products.
3. Books provide a passive income stream and build our credibility.
4. Amazon is a great platform to take advantage of because it dominates the book market and makes publishing relatively easy. 
5. We should become an expert in our field and answer a question or solve a problem for our customers.
6. If we can make our book the #1 in its category, we have a high chance of success. 

Connect with Jason

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Jason or connect with him, you can find him on his LinkedIn or his website, jasonmcdonald.org. You can also find his books on Amazon. 

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

Did you like today’s episode? Then please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content:

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

Have you published a book on Amazon? If so, what advice can you share? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers. 

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/126-why-entrepreneurs-should-publish-a-book-on-amazon/ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam is the co-author of the book, Inbound Commerce: How to Sell Better Than Amazon, which is ironically the number one bestseller in its category on Amazon. In today’s episode, we’ll discuss inbound commerce and the buyer’s journey. 

Inbound Commerce

In Sam’s book, he explores e-commerce applications of inbound marketing and emphasizes the importance of using content and engagement to create likable marketing. 

Inbound marketing is a business system that attracts customers by creating valuable content and experiences targeted to them (Source: HubSpot). Inbound marketing attracts customers while outbound marketing interrupts them through methods such as sales calls or ads on social media. 

“What if instead of being as obnoxious as possible, marketers actually tried to create experiences that people wanted to have? Instead of interrupting people, could you create something that drew them to you instead of cold calling? For example, could you create content that educated them?” Sam said. 

Sam first discovered HubSpot because he was drawn to their educational content. A great way to get customers is through the methods of inbound commerce. We should be creating value our customers will naturally want instead of imposing products or services on them they aren’t really interested in. Our content, services, and products should bring our customers to us, not the other way around. 

“If you just cold call people, you're not going to be nearly as effective as if you’re really good at educating them and creating that inbound experience to bring them to you,” Sam said.

Sam saw a survey in which marketers were rated as less trustworthy than car salesmen, politicians, and lobbyists. This is the exact opposite of what we want to see. Customers should feel they can trust us. Inbound marketing forces us to create products or services our customers will actually value. This will build trust and strengthen customer relations.

Jeff Bezos, founder, and CEO of Amazon said, 

"One thing I learned within the first couple of years of starting a company is that inventing and pioneering involve a willingness to be misunderstood for long periods of time. One of the early examples of this is customer reviews. Someone wrote to me and said, 'You don't understand your business. You make money when you sell things. Why do you allow these negative customer reviews?' And when I read that letter, I thought, we don't make money when we sell things. We make money when we help customers make purchase decisions."

This is a core goal of inbound marketing. We need to create an experience that our customers like and that provides them value. We need to create an experience that builds trust. The goal needs to be about helping our customers make a decision on their stages of the buyer’s journey, and then continue to drive their repurchase cycle. 

The Buyer’s Journey

When I asked Sam to share one of his monetization strategies, he said it is to understand the marketing funnel and the buyer's journey. 

We have to solve problems for each of the different stages of the buyer’s journey: awareness, consideration, and the decision stage. We can’t only focus on building awareness and staying dialed in on website traffic and leads. We also can’t only focus on the final purchase decision. We need to have the entire buyer’s journey in mind if we want to optimize conversions and gain lifetime customers. One of the biggest mistakes Sam sees is people getting too focused on only one part of the marketing funnel. 

To really understand what our customers’ needs are at each stage of their journey, we need to do research. We have to take the time to look at the data and combine that with analysis to get an accurate understanding of who our customers are. 

The first stage of the marketing funnel or the buyer’s journey is awareness. Building awareness should be focused on inbound marketing, not outbound. To raise awareness, we shouldn’t be cold calling or constantly using targeted ads necessarily. We want our customers to come to us because they are interested in what we have to offer. We should be doing research and getting good at providing valuable education for our consumers. Throughout the consideration stage and decision stage, we should educate our customers—it should be a continuous cycle of education.

“Once [customers] buy from you, it means they have purchased one thing from you, but they are back in the awareness and research [stage of] a buyer’s journey for whatever they're going to buy next,” Sam said. 

If we want to gain customer retention, we need to remember that a one-time buyer is not a customer. They should go back to the first stage of the buyer’s journey, and we need to treat them as if they are a first-time buyer again. We need to educate them all over again. 

Sam explained that if we make the incentive for our products about price, Amazon is going to “kick our butt.” But, if we make it about a continuous cycle of education and awareness, we’ll win customer lifetime value. 

A Challenger’s Mindset

Part of focusing on the buyer’s journey includes having a challenger’s mindset. If we don’t adapt to tectonic shifts, we’re not going to make it, and so it is essential we constantly challenge our methods and systems to make sure we are doing things in the best way possible. Sam advises we challenge our core principles frequently.

“I can be a $100 billion company today, but it is not guaranteed that I'm a company at all five years from now,” Sam said. “Create that challenger mindset inside your own organization. . . . [Ask yourself,] is there anything I don't know about my customer that somebody could create value for them in a way that I wasn't expecting and kill [my] company really, really fast?”

We need to make sure we are always providing value for our customers because if someone else solves a problem for our customers that we didn’t know about, we’ll have lost a portion of our audience. 

We need to make sure we are researching every part of the buyer’s journey all the time. We need to be looking at the data, analyzing it, pulling insights out of it, and then making a change where necessary. If we can adapt to the changes in our market and the changes in our customers’ needs, we’ll be much more likely to survive in the business world. 

Millennials make up about 30% of the American population and they are the most diverse generational cohort in US history (Source: Deloitte Insights). Not only are they diverse, but they have constant, changing needs. They are constantly looking for new, fast, and easy ways to solve their problems, and if someone solves their needs before we do, we’ll lose their loyalty. One-third of adults aged 23-38 are quick to drop a brand that doesn’t meet expectations (Source: Brightpearl). We need to make sure we are quick to meet their changing needs. 

If we have a challenger’s mindset, we will be more likely to solve a potential problem, before an actual problem arises. This will help our businesses stay ahead of the game and increase our customer lifetime value. 

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Sam for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. Instead of interrupting our customers through methods such as sales calls or ads on social media, we should attract them by creating valuable content and experiences targeted to them.
2. We need to have the entire buyer’s journey in mind if we want to gain a lifetime customer. 
3. Our buyer’s journey should be a continuous cycle of providing education and value. 
4. A one-time buyer is not a customer. They go back to the first stage of the buyer’s journey after they have made a single purchase. 
5. We need to have a challenger’s mindset. If we don’t adapt to tectonic shifts, we’re not going to make it. It is essential we frequently challenge our business methods and systems. 

Connect with Sam

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Sam or connect with him, you can find him on his LinkedIn or visit his website, www.onescreen.ai. 

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

Did you like today’s episode? Then please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content:

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

Do you use inbound marketing? If so, what is your best inbound marketing strategy? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/125-understanding-inbound-commerce-and-the-buyers-journey/ 

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In today’s episode, we’re going to discuss Sam’s journey, how we can market ourselves, and how to get a job with our dream company. Sam shares his story of how he got a  recruiter from his dream company to contact him within 3 hours and 26 minutes. 

Sam’s Journey

While Sam worked as a talk radio host, his team asked if he could build their website and find a way to make money off it. He didn’t know much about websites so he started Googling things and came across HubSpot. As Sam downloaded and read through HubSpot’s educational content, he decided he wanted to work for them. 

“I built a website called HireMeHubSpot.com, and I got the free credits you get when you sign up for Google, LinkedIn, [and] Facebook ads, and I ran ads targeting people who worked at HubSpot to sign up for the free webinar about why they should hire me. Ironically, it's the best campaign I ever ran. Three hours and 26 minutes later, I got a call from the recruiter,” Sam said. 

At HubSpot, Sam helped the company build a software that lets e-commerce companies, such as themselves, beat Amazon.

Sam worked at HubSpot for eight years before leaving to work for Flock. Then, in March 2020, he started his own business building a digital marketplace to connect people who own ad inventory with the brands that value them the most. 

Marketing Ourselves

Sam’s biggest home run happened because he was able to market himself to HubSpot. Once he decided he wanted to work for their company, he created a free webinar where he marketed his talents and abilities. He did this so well that HubSpot reached out to him less than four hours later, and he got a job working for them. How can we market ourselves like this?

In today’s marketplace, it is becoming more and more important to market ourselves. When someone buys our product or service, they are also buying us. Consumers want to feel connected to whoever they are buying from and so we need to learn how to not only market our business, but also ourselves. 

When we market ourselves and provide value to our customers, we become the asset. A customer will be more likely to buy from us if they like who we are and what we stand for, if we give them good value, and if they trust us. 

3 Ways to Market Ourselves

Here are three ways we can market ourselves. 

• Know Our Target Audience

Sam researched HubSpot and read their educational content before he created the website, HireMeHubSpot.com and started marketing himself. Before we can start to market ourselves, we need to know who our target audience is. This means we should do research before we start. 

Nate Elliot said, “If you want to create messages that resonate with your audience, you need to know what they care about.” When it comes to our customers, we need to understand their needs, values, hobbies, and wants. Who are we trying to sell ourselves to? Are we trying to market ourselves to a customer or a business partner? We should ask, “How can I serve my audience?” The only way we can know this is if we know them. 

Once we know who our target audience is, we can determine what value we can offer. Gary Vaynerchuk said, “The best marketing strategy ever: CARE.” The more we care about our audience and understand what they need, the more likely they are to convert to our brand. 

It may seem backwards, but it is true. When we focus on our customers instead of ourselves, we can actually market ourselves better. The conversation shouldn’t be about how amazing we are, but how we can help our customers in a way that will amaze them. 

• Show Personality and Stand Out

When we market ourselves, we need to make sure we show our personality. What makes us different from everyone else? What makes us unique? What can we offer that no one else has? We need to have a unique selling point. 

Emma Stone said, “What sets you apart can sometimes feel like a burden and it’s not. And a lot of the time, it’s what makes you great.” We shouldn’t be afraid of being different. Our interests and passions show that we’re human. We’re not just trying to sell a product to our customers, we’re also trying to build a relationship. Remember, businesses are shifting to becoming more and more personalized. 

According to recent reports, 71% of customers feel frustrated when a shopping experience is impersonal and 80% of customers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that provides a personal experience (Source: Forbes). When we show more of our personality and become more personalized with our customers, our chances of success increase substantially. 

Sam uses his passions to help market himself and his business. He said, “I am really passionate about how we [can] create a world in which small businesses are a viable economic model 20, 30, 100 years from now, given the fact that everything currently is favoring larger and larger companies [with] more and more consolidation.” Since his passion reflects the goal of his new business, OneScreen.ai, he can share it with his audience to show his personality and stand out. It will also help him build trust and credibility with his audience members. 

Coco Chanel, a French fashion designer and businesswoman, said, “In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”

• Build Trust and Credibility

Credibility marketing is one of the biggest tectonic shifts I’ve seen today. Customers simply don’t trust advertisements the way they used to. We have to market ourselves in ways that show we are trustworthy and credible. 

One way to build trust is to admit when we don’t know something or when we are wrong. If a customer asks us a question we simply don’t know the answer to, that’s okay. Instead of pretending to be perfect and all-knowing, it’s actually beneficial to accept that we don’t know everything. We are more likely to trust someone who admits when they are wrong compared to someone who pretends to know it all. Admitting we are wrong actually helps us gain trust. People admire others who are willing to acknowledge their mistakes and take responsibility for their actions.

Another great way to build trust and credibility is by being reliant. If we say we’re going to do something, we better do it. If we tell a customer we have great customer service and will listen to their feedback, we better do that. If our website promises a response to a question, we better respond. If we don’t fulfill the promises that we give, our customers aren’t going to know what they can trust us with. People will begin to doubt if we are committed to any of our promises. 

Finally, another great way to build trust is to communicate with our customers and simply listen to them. Listening shows that we respect and care about what our customers say.

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Sam for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. When someone buys our product or service, they are also buying us. We need to become a personal brand and learn how to market ourselves. 
2. Customers are more likely to make a purchase when a brand provides a personal experience. 
3. Before we can start to market ourselves, we need to know who our target audience is. 
4. If we want to share messages that resonate with our audience, we need to know what they care about.
5. We need to show our personality. What makes us different from everyone else? We need to provide a unique selling point. 
6. We can build trust with our audience by being reliant and admitting when we are wrong or don’t know something. 

Connect with Sam

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Sam or connect with him, you can find him on his LinkedIn or visit his website, www.onescreen.ai. 

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

Did you like today’s episode? Then please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content:

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

How do you market yourself? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers. 

Sam Mallikarjunan is the co-author of the book, Inbound Commerce: How to Sell Better Than Amazon, which is ironically the number one bestseller in its category on Amazon. Sam is the CEO and founder of OneScreen.ai, an Internet of Things (IOT) enabled ad marketplace for the physical world. He is also the former Chief Revenue Officer of Flock.com and the former head of growth at HubSpot Labs. Sam taught advanced digital marketing innovation management and strategic economics at Harvard University. He is also the faculty chair for the digital marketing department at the University of South Florida. 

In today’s episode, we’re going to discuss Sam’s journey, how we can market ourselves, and how to get a job with our dream company. Sam shares his story of how he got a  recruiter from his dream company to contact him within 3 hours and 26 minutes. 

Sam’s Journey

While Sam worked as a talk radio host, his team asked if he could build their website and find a way to make money off it. He didn’t know much about websites so he started Googling things and came across HubSpot. As Sam downloaded and read through HubSpot’s educational content, he decided he wanted to work for them. 

“I built a website called HireMeHubSpot.com, and I got the free credits you get when you sign up for Google, LinkedIn, [and] Facebook ads, and I ran ads targeting people who worked at HubSpot to sign up for the free webinar about why they should hire me. Ironically, it's the best campaign I ever ran. Three hours and 26 minutes later, I got a call from the recruiter,” Sam said. 

At HubSpot, Sam helped the company build a software that lets e-commerce companies, such as themselves, beat Amazon.

Sam worked at HubSpot for eight years before leaving to work for Flock. Then, in March 2020, he started his own business building a digital marketplace to connect people who own ad inventory with the brands that value them the most. 

Marketing Ourselves

Sam’s biggest home run happened because he was able to market himself to HubSpot. Once he decided he wanted to work for their company, he created a free webinar where he marketed his talents and abilities. He did this so well that HubSpot reached out to him less than four hours later, and he got a job working for them. How can we market ourselves like this?

In today’s marketplace, it is becoming more and more important to market ourselves. When someone buys our product or service, they are also buying us. Consumers want to feel connected to whoever they are buying from and so we need to learn how to not only market our business, but also ourselves. 

When we market ourselves and provide value to our customers, we become the asset. A customer will be more likely to buy from us if they like who we are and what we stand for, if we give them good value, and if they trust us. 

3 Ways to Market Ourselves

Here are three ways we can market ourselves. 

• Know Our Target Audience

Sam researched HubSpot and read their educational content before he created the website, HireMeHubSpot.com and started marketing himself. Before we can start to market ourselves, we need to know who our target audience is. This means we should do research before we start. 

Nate Elliot said, “If you want to create messages that resonate with your audience, you need to know what they care about.” When it comes to our customers, we need to understand their needs, values, hobbies, and wants. Who are we trying to sell ourselves to? Are we trying to market ourselves to a customer or a business partner? We should ask, “How can I serve my audience?” The only way we can know this is if we know them. 

Once we know who our target audience is, we can determine what value we can offer. Gary Vaynerchuk said, “The best marketing strategy ever: CARE.” The more we care about our audience and understand what they need, the more likely they are to convert to our brand. 

It may seem backwards, but it is true. When we focus on our customers instead of ourselves, we can actually market ourselves better. The conversation shouldn’t be about how amazing we are, but how we can help our customers in a way that will amaze them. 

• Show Personality and Stand Out

When we market ourselves, we need to make sure we show our personality. What makes us different from everyone else? What makes us unique? What can we offer that no one else has? We need to have a unique selling point. 

Emma Stone said, “What sets you apart can sometimes feel like a burden and it’s not. And a lot of the time, it’s what makes you great.” We shouldn’t be afraid of being different. Our interests and passions show that we’re human. We’re not just trying to sell a product to our customers, we’re also trying to build a relationship. Remember, businesses are shifting to becoming more and more personalized. 

According to recent reports, 71% of customers feel frustrated when a shopping experience is impersonal and 80% of customers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that provides a personal experience (Source: Forbes). When we show more of our personality and become more personalized with our customers, our chances of success increase substantially. 

Sam uses his passions to help market himself and his business. He said, “I am really passionate about how we [can] create a world in which small businesses are a viable economic model 20, 30, 100 years from now, given the fact that everything currently is favoring larger and larger companies [with] more and more consolidation.” Since his passion reflects the goal of his new business, OneScreen.ai, he can share it with his audience to show his personality and stand out. It will also help him build trust and credibility with his audience members. 

Coco Chanel, a French fashion designer and businesswoman, said, “In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”

• Build Trust and Credibility

Credibility marketing is one of the biggest tectonic shifts I’ve seen today. Customers simply don’t trust advertisements the way they used to. We have to market ourselves in ways that show we are trustworthy and credible. 

One way to build trust is to admit when we don’t know something or when we are wrong. If a customer asks us a question we simply don’t know the answer to, that’s okay. Instead of pretending to be perfect and all-knowing, it’s actually beneficial to accept that we don’t know everything. We are more likely to trust someone who admits when they are wrong compared to someone who pretends to know it all. Admitting we are wrong actually helps us gain trust. People admire others who are willing to acknowledge their mistakes and take responsibility for their actions.

Another great way to build trust and credibility is by being reliant. If we say we’re going to do something, we better do it. If we tell a customer we have great customer service and will listen to their feedback, we better do that. If our website promises a response to a question, we better respond. If we don’t fulfill the promises that we give, our customers aren’t going to know what they can trust us with. People will begin to doubt if we are committed to any of our promises. 

Finally, another great way to build trust is to communicate with our customers and simply listen to them. Listening shows that we respect and care about what our customers say.

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Sam for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. When someone buys our product or service, they are also buying us. We need to become a personal brand and learn how to market ourselves. 
2. Customers are more likely to make a purchase when a brand provides a personal experience. 
3. Before we can start to market ourselves, we need to know who our target audience is. 
4. If we want to share messages that resonate with our audience, we need to know what they care about.
5. We need to show our personality. What makes us different from everyone else? We need to provide a unique selling point. 
6. We can build trust with our audience by being reliant and admitting when we are wrong or don’t know something. 

Connect with Sam

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Sam or connect with him, you can find him on his LinkedIn or visit his website, www.onescreen.ai. 

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

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The Journey to Writing His Book

Dave was asked to speak to an audience about rejection. Dave thought, “No problem.” He jumped online, looking for the categories of rejection, and couldn’t find anything. So he went to the library. The librarian searched on her computer and couldn’t find anything. She asked another employee for help and they all started searching through the drawers that still used the Dewey Decimal System. They couldn’t find anything.

Dave happened to be advised at the University of North Texas. He asked some of the professors there, but none of them knew anything either. “Nobody [had] ever categorized rejection,” he explained. “It just hadn't happened. There are lots of books around persuasion, and great books about overcoming being told no and rejection, [or] being more powerful with these kinds of skills, but no one had ever categorized [it].”

Dave continued, “Fast forward 10 years of studying in 22 countries to be able to say I'd categorized rejection and named the categories and helped people overcome [them]. I had no idea that was going to be how the book came about. But that's what's happened and it's changing people's lives.”

Categories of Rejection

In our interview, Dave shared some of the categories of rejection from his book.

Mind Blocks

Dave said this category was hard to identify. Most people understand a monetary block; they understand that they can’t buy a $50 million house without that much money. But people miss mind blocks as a source of rejection. Dave explained that this mind block “stops people from even trying.”

He gave the example of asking me to borrow my car when he knew I’d say no. When people know what the answer will be, or think they know, they won’t even ask.

“There [are] mind blocks in the audience's mind,” Dave continued. “This has been the most powerful [thing] where we help CEOs and companies change mind blocks [of their audience].”

Decision Makers

The next category is decision-makers. “Most people aren't even talking to the right [person],” Dave explained. “They're walking away rejected, they're trying to get somewhere in life and their trajectory is dampened. And they weren't even dealing with the right decision-makers. That was something that was overlooked for a while as an actual category of rejections. . . . It's like you're asking mom to borrow the car on Friday night but you know it's dad's decision, or you're asking dad and it's mom's decision.”

Likeability 

Likeability is the third category of rejection. Before the book came out, Dave was speaking about it and taking questions. A woman said to him, “Love is a category. Did you get that?” Dave said, “Well actually . . . love is not a category.” She said, “If you don't say love is a category, then you've never figured it out.” Dave said, “Well, we figured that the third category of objection is likeability.” He asked her “Have you ever loved someone?” She responded, “Well, yes.” He asked, “Have you hated that person?” She said, “Yes.” Dave told her, “You [see] how that's on a scale. So we call it likeability on a scale. [You can go from] maybe in the neutral middle, to love, [to] hate, however you want to look at it, but likability is a category of rejection that encompasses love.”

Goal Shot or Close

Another important category is the goal shot or the close. This is “asking for what you want,” Dave said. “Most people think they're rejected, but they never really try to get what they want.” They might say, “I didn't become a doctor (or a lawyer, accountant, dentist, etc.) because I didn’t have the money for school.”

Dave continued, “So there's a combination of money [and a] combination of a mental block. There might have been a combination of not asking for what you wanted. You can analyze a situation and find multiple categories of rejection impacting a situation. When you study it, you can start to remove those categories of rejection and get a lot more in life, and it just works for sales, for leaders, for a relationship, [etc.].”

How These Categories Can Benefit Entrepreneurs

In our sales efforts, one of these categories might be an obstacle to overcome in order to motivate someone to buy our product. There are also other ways these categories can benefit us. “Sometimes [the benefits are] not so obvious . . . report, culture, morale, employee relations, using it for how people interact and work together. Oftentimes they're hitting up against one another.”

Sometimes in companies, we have one team for one aspect and another time for a different one. We might think that one of the teams does this specific thing and someone from that team can’t go into the other team. “That's a communication and rejection issue,” Dave said. 

“Helping people understand how to communicate and how to get what they need from one another and overcome the rejections with one another and the teams . . . is very transmogrifying for a business. You find that it starts to impact the short term, the morale, and then you're gonna impact culture, and you can get a consistent, repeatable process in there.” - Dave Rose

Being Proud of Our Passions

One day, Dave was talking to a rock star speaker who’d heard Dave speak. This person said to Dave, “When I'm asked on a plane what I do, it's sexy. I just tell them “I help companies build rock stars,” [and] I love that. I just thought it's hot, but what you do isn't sexy. You build revenue engines and the customer experience.”

When Dave heard this, it hurt. He said, “For a couple [of] weeks, it hurt, and then I realized . . . but we sell millions of dollars worth of stuff every year. I mean it works. . . . My passion is building revenue engines, and that's not really sexy. And if [I] just say that . . . it's kind of confusing to people in a way. [But] I don't care anymore. My passion is to build revenue engines. . . . I don't make any apologies for that anymore.”

Dave is doing the thing his target audience wants the most: he’s helping CEOs make more money. Someone else’s passion may look more exciting or sound more interesting, but as Dave has learned, we don’t have to feel bad about what we are passionate about.

Jumping on Tectonic Shifts and Breakthroughs

Here are a few examples of people or companies who had great breakthroughs or jumped on big tectonic shifts early to leverage them.

Elon Musk 

When I asked Dave who he thinks the best digital monetizer is, he said Elon Musk. Dave compared Musk to Donald Trump, saying, “Donald Trump has a potential of notoriety and big ideas and an audience. And you take Elon, and he does it right. He does it right, and I'm not subscribing to any political side [or] ideology one way or another, I'm just saying there's a little bit of a similarity to me in terms of the platforms they have and what they can do, and comparing them, Elon takes this to another level from the digital side, and [he’s] a master.”

Elon Musk is a great example of someone who has jumped onto tectonic shifts early and leveraged them. There’s a great story about Elon Musk I told in a previous episode that is very relevant here. When the internet was very young, he went to one of the CEOs of one of the top yellow page companies, and he tried to sell them on a deal. Musk wanted to put the yellow pages online, and the CEO of that company took his huge, thick yellow pages, and threw it at Musk and said, “Do you think you're ever going to replace this with the internet?” 

This is one of many situations where Elon Musk was rejected by someone who could not see his vision for leveraging tectonic shifts. But Elon went on to create something even bigger and more successful than the Yellow Pages.

Netflix

There’s a legend that a similar thing happened with Netflix and Blockbuster. Netflix apparently asked to meet with the CEO of Blockbuster, and the Blockbuster CEO said, “What’s a Netflix?” Obviously, they never made a deal, but it’s the same question as with the yellow pages: What would have happened if they had made a deal? Blockbuster could have so easily been the digital streaming platform. They had all the resources. They had connections. It would have been so easy for them to do it, and they didn't take advantage of that tectonic shift. It destroyed and put that company out of business.

It’s easy in hindsight to look back and see who ended up on top. However, it's not just what those big companies are doing wrong, but it's the opportunity that it presents for people like us. A lot of times people like us think there isn't a way for us to compete with those well-established, well-funded, and huge brands, the behemoths that are out there. We give up and are rejected before we even try. But all we have to do is find that tectonic shift, that disruption, that almost by definition the big companies are not going to quickly and effectively adapt to. We need to jump on that and build our business around that. That's our best strategy to leapfrog well-funded and established businesses.

Flamin’ Hot Cheetos

Dave and I also discussed how breakthroughs can come from anyone. Dave said, “You need to set your company up to believe that it can come from anyone. Sounds like some sort of Fantasyland [to] make that happen, but you can do that with the right system. That's what leaders need to work on, creating a system that anybody here can make something amazing happen.”

The idea for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos came from Richard Montañez who was working as a janitor for the company. A broken machine produced a batch of plain Cheetos, and he took them home. He put chili powder on them and tested them out on his family. When they liked them, he pitched the idea to a CEO over the phone and two weeks later presented it to the executive suite. Montañez ended up becoming an executive inside the corporation (Source: newsweek.com).

That CEO was wise enough to not reject a great idea or its messenger because someone with a lower position came up with the idea.

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Dave for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. Sometimes our journeys will take us in unexpected directions, as with Dave’s book. As he did, we can turn the unexpected into something great.
2. Mind blocks happen when people don’t even try to ask for what they want. 
3. We must make sure we are asking the right decision-makers.
4. Likeability is a scale that encompasses love. 
5. There can be a combination of categories of rejection impacting a story. This is why it is important to identify each of them so we can overcome each of them. 
6. When we’re facing competition from large, well-established companies, we can often leverage tectonic shifts more quickly than they can, and that may present an opportunity to leapfrog the competition.
7. We should set up our companies so that anybody can make something amazing happen.

Connect with Dave

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Dave or connect with him, you can find him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmrose/, you can learn about his book at https://15cor.com/ and you can learn about his consulting services at https://www.clevelglobal.com/. 

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

Did you like today’s episode? Then please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content:

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

How has overcoming rejection helped you and your business? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/123-how-to-overcome-rejection/ 

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Choices

Henry Eyring gave a sermon in which he discusses the choices we are faced with in life. He said, “Such choices are not always easy to see clearly. You make choices every day and almost every hour that keep you walking in the light or moving away toward darkness. Some of the most important choices are about what you set your heart upon.”

“There are so many things you may consider desirable,” Eyring continued, “For instance, all of us want, to some degree, the approval of other people. All of us feel a need for friends. All of us are searching for some evidence that we are persons of worth. We make choices based on those desires. Some might lead us away from the light God offers us as a guide. Some may brighten that light by which we can find our way.”

We have been given a guide for how we can make choices. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (KJV James 1:17)

Deciding To Sell

For Kim Walsh Phillips, founder of Powerful Professionals, it was hard to decide whether or not to sell her business. “For years I had an inkling that I was meant to do more,” Phillips said. “Some might call it the universe's energy pulling me in a different direction. I call it God's whisper that I was meant to do more and serve more.”

She knew she could do the work, but she didn’t want to let go of the revenue.”When I finally got the courage to let go of my marketing agency and pursue my true passion for teaching and coaching, I got three offers for my firm within 30 days. Not only was I able to exit with a nice payday, but the staff I didn't take to my new company were all retained by my buyer.” Since selling, Phillips' revenue has tripled Source: Forbes). 

4 Ways to Make Better Business Decisions

Good choices are from above. We can use our morals and values to help us with our decision-making. However, these aren’t the only tools we’ve been given. As entrepreneurs, we have to make decisions that will impact our business every day. 

“Every action in a business has some type of consequence. When making a decision, consider wisely what will produce the best results, not only for the short term but for the long term, as well. It can often take just as much effort to produce a negative result as it does to produce a positive result. Direct your energies, therefore, into those areas that have the potential to produce the most positive business results.” (Source: forbes.com) 

Here are a few ways we can make better choices in our business.

• Take It One Step at a Time

It can be overwhelming, especially at the start of a business, when we are forced to make decisions. We shouldn’t try to make all the decisions at once. 

Being overwhelmed can paralyze us and stop us from making important decisions. “When you have too much on your mind, it becomes difficult to think clearly or to make good decisions. . . . Taking small bites is a good strategy for any decision that seems to overwhelm you. If you are faced with 12 choices, narrow it down to 3. If you want to buy 10 investment properties, decide to buy your first one. If you want to save $100,000, decide to save $10,000. Chunking decisions into smaller, bite-sized pieces allows you to process them and move forward.” (Source: coachcarson.com)

When things are overwhelming, taking a break can do a lot of good. “When things get hectic stop what you're doing and take a 10-minute break. Take a few deep breaths and try to do something that will make you feel more relaxed such as taking a 10-minute walk, listening to the radio, or doing some stretching exercises to help de-stress. You will feel better and gain a fresh perspective on your current situation, whether it is dealing with your employees, giving a presentation, or improving your company’s marketing plan.” (Source: entrepreneur.com)

Breaking decisions down into one piece and taking breaks will help us be able to think clearly about our decisions, and therefore, make better decisions. I find that focusing on one decision at a time when I’m overwhelmed helps me to process the options much more effectively. The decision-making is much easier for me this way. Thomas Monson, another church leader, said, "Life by the yard is hard; by the inch, it's a cinch."

• Consult Others

Sometimes as entrepreneurs, we may feel like all the decisions rest on our shoulders. While we often have to make the final decision on some things, we can leverage the people around us who we trust for support and guidance. Our partners, employees, family, and friends can often help us with our decisions, even if all they do is listen to us talk through our options.

I love exploring my options with trusted sources. Often, when I go through this exercise, the right decision appears much more clearly and the decision is much easier to make.

Chad Carson, entrepreneur and real estate investor said, “I have a rule in my real estate business never to make a large acquisition without at least letting 2-3 people I trust evaluate it with me. No matter how much I know, I am sure to have blind spots. Wise counsel from others gives me confidence and avoids large problems.”

Carson gave a list of all the people he consults: his business partner, wife, CPA, father (also an experienced investor), mentor, lenders, contractor, real estate agent, and attorney. “You may have different people on your list depending upon your business or situation,” he said. “But the important thing is to actually have the list, and then call upon them when you’re facing an important decision.” (Source: coachcarson.com)

• Learn the Facts

In order to make any decision, we need to know as much information as possible, not only about our options, but also about ourselves, our company, and what’s best for us. 

“There is no darkness but ignorance.” - William Shakespeare

We must gather all the relevant facts and information we can that impact our business. “This is important because you do not want to miss critical information that could make a difference in how you run your business. Also, by being part of the information-gathering process, you can eliminate biases or opinions others may have.” (Source: entrepreneur.com)

We should understand how our competition is doing business and know how satisfied our customers are and find ways to improve. We can talk to our employees, clients, or customers “to get the necessary information regarding certain business operations. It is also important to read all of [our] important business reports and keep abreast on the media coverage of [our] business.” (Source: entrepreneur.com)

Through the internet, we also have mountains of information at our fingertips. The answer to most questions is just a few clicks and some research away. If there is something we don’t know about an aspect of our business, we can easily search for answers online. 

“Of course, this does not replace real expertise born by experience. [We] won’t be able to install [a] tile floor immediately just because [we] read a checklist. But more information does allow [us] to ask better questions. More information makes the right and wrong decisions become more obvious. And more information removes some of the natural fear that comes from ignorance of any topic.” (Source: coachcarson.com)

• Have a Goal

Without having a clear goal for our business, we will wander aimlessly in different directions and our decision-making will be a lot harder and less effective. “If you’re an entrepreneur or micro business, you don’t NEED a strategy, but having one will get you where you want to go faster. . . . Strategy is like a map. You don’t need a map to go somewhere new, the map will help you get there faster and on the best route (i.e. saving you time and money). The decisions you make on where you invest your time and money will be dictated by the vision for your business and your desired future.” (Source: smestrategy.net)

A goal, vision, or strategy will give us direction and unification. If everyone in our business knows what our goal is, we can all work toward that together. For example, one of Monetization Nation’s main goals right now is to publish one episode every day for a year. We’ve emphasized this to all of our team members, so everyone knows how important it is to make sure our episodes are ready to be published when the time comes. We’ve had some close calls. For example, one episode was published less than 10 minutes before midnight, but we hit the goal. Without a goal, there is no way we would have published every day so far. Everyone knows exactly what they need to do to help us reach that goal. Because of this, we haven’t missed a day so far, and we hope to continue that streak. 

Key Takeaways

Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. Our values can help guide us to make good decisions.
2. Break decisions and steps down into smaller pieces to avoid being overwhelmed and simplify the decision-making.
3. Take breaks when necessary. They can help us think more clearly and give our minds time to process the options.
4. Ask others for their thoughts and talk out our options with them. 
5. We should learn as much as we can about the situation and our options.
6. Having a goal will help us make decisions that bring us closer to that goal.

Join Entrepreneurs of Faith

If this episode of Entrepreneurs of Faith resonated with you, please subscribe for FREE to Monetization Nation so you can receive future episodes of Entrepreneurs of Faith.

1. Subscribe to the free Monetization Nation eMagazine.
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4. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

What strategies do you use for decision-making? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/122-4-ways-to-make-better-decisions/ 

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In today’s episode, we’ll discuss how we can use buzzwords to build our personal brand.

Have you ever heard of buzzword marketing? I hadn’t until this interview, but it makes a lot of sense, and now I’m working to implement it through my business. Ben Roberts is a highly experienced digital marketer. He wrote a book titled Marketing Buzzword to Marketing Authority, and in this episode, he will teach us how we can increase our authority with buzzword marketing.

Today, buzzwords are everywhere. No matter how many people try to hate buzzwords, they still use them in their everyday language. Oftentimes, “people use buzzwords not to convey factual meaning, but to show they belong to a social group … Buzzwords are code words to show you're an inside member." (Source: WSJ) 

How Buzzwords Differ from Jargon

Jargon and buzzwords may seem similar, but there is a distinct difference. Jargon is very industry-specific. It’s very technical and ingrained in industry-specific language. On the other hand, buzzwords are terms and phrases that help describe something else. Terms like social media marketing and content marketing were big buzzwords. Now, they’ve become part of the vernacular. It’s now common to talk about things like artificial intelligence, chatbots, and cryptocurrency which are also buzzwords.  

Businesses that Used Buzzwords Effectively 

Many companies have used buzzwords effectively to their advantage.

HubSpot and Inbound Marketing

HubSpot has succeeded in effectively using and leveraging the buzzword “inbound marketing.” Until HubSpot started using it, most people had never heard of inbound marketing, but now, HubSpot has now built a business around inbound marketing.

Ben believes buzzwords are powerful because they’re memorable. People will remember and associate us with that term when they hear or see it. This is how we build personal brands. 

Coining our Buzzwords vs. Leveraging Existing Ones

At Monetization Nation, we focus on some buzzwords, such as tectonic shifts, passion marketing, and credibility marketing. Credibility marketing is a newer buzzword that has become more popular recently which means it's not a saturated buzzword. Where there's less competition, we have more opportunities to grow our personal brand around the buzzword. 

One of the elements Ben explores in his book is how to choose between coining our own buzzword and leveraging one that already exists. 

Coining our Buzzword

Deciding on coining our own buzzword or using an existing one depends on many factors. It depends on how much time and energy we have. Coining our buzzword is like creating a product. We have to be able to promote the product and make people aware of it. If we create a new product or buzzword that no one's ever heard of before, we have to market it and convince people why it's different from anything else. 

That being said, coining our buzzword has potential rewards if we do it right. With coining, we may be able to secure the buzzword domain name, file the trademark, and get some proprietary protections that we can't do if lots of people are already using it. It becomes our term, our word, and our phrase that we can leverage as the buzzword popularity grows.

Using Existing Buzzwords

If we choose to use an existing buzzword, it means there are already people searching around it. They already know a bit about our subject matter. We get to stand out through our brand. That's the differentiator. There’s less risk because there’s existing awareness.

Leveraging Buzzwords to Build our Personal Brand

Ben believes that the key to using buzzwords to build our personal brand is to choose the right platform—one that we’re passionate about and can explain clearly, concisely, and share our knowledge on. Ben said, “It's got to be a platform that you enjoy.” He explains how many people are jumping on Clubhouse. As a platform, it may be perfect for one person and it may be completely wrong for another because they don't necessarily enjoy that audio discussion experience. Other people may consider TikTok, Twitter, or LinkedIn. 

It doesn't matter which platform we use as long as we enjoy it and it’s where our potential target market is. After we choose the right platform, we need to reach out and be consistent over a long period of time.

The Future of Buzzwords

Ben believes buzzwords are here to stay. People will keep saying we should get rid of them but we can't. The world is ever-changing and new technologies keep surfacing. For example, people will talk about Clubhouse and form new buzzwords about audio marketing that will stay with us for a while. New buzzwords are always being created. Some will stay around for a long time and become part of the vernacular just like the example Ben gave earlier of social media marketing and content marketing. They are now part of everyday marketing lingo. Using buzzwords allows us to create a business or personal brand that differentiates ourselves from others in the same niche.  

Becoming the Authority our Industry Needs

In his book, Ben talks about becoming a teacher about buzzwords in our space and the buzzword authority our industry needs. He believes we need to educate people about our buzzword especially if it's upcoming or hasn't existed before. If we don't educate people, they won’t know what to do with this word that we’ve suddenly started using. 

The more we teach people and the more wisdom and ideas we share with them, the more they see us as an authority within that subject. This can take a long time but it will establish our credibility in our market. It shows people that we know what we’re talking about and positions us as an expert in our field. 

Finding the Right Buzzword  

To find the right buzzword, Ben advises us to look at our business and ask, “What is it that we do? How do we help people?” We should find and use a codeword or phrase that we use in our everyday speech, content that we put on our website, or even just within our business. Then we can start looking at this word or phrase that we can build our business around - one that we want to become known for and be seen as authorities in. This is actually from where Ben got the title of his book, From Marketing Buzzword to Marketing Authority. We want people to be able to sing and echo back to us this word or phrase we use regularly. We want to be the first person they think of when they hear this term.

Using Buzzwords to Leverage our Marketing Efforts

The key point of a buzzword is to be able to use it to leverage our marketing efforts. It doesn’t help if we’re just using it a couple of times on our website. This won’t teach people and it won’t build our credibility and authority. We have to tie our buzzword into all the multiple marketing assets that we have such as podcasts, blogs, email newsletters, or any social content we’re creating, and ask, “How do we weave this word into all of those?” We need to make sure our buzzword is related to everything we do because it’ll help build up that knowledge with other people. 

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Ben for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. Buzzwords are powerful because they’re memorable.
2. Where there's less competition, we have a better chance to grow our personal brand.
3. When we use an existing buzzword, we're filling an existing demand that exists. We don't have to start from scratch.
4. To leverage our personal brand using buzzwords, we need to be consistent over a single platform with high-quality content over time.
5. We have to tie our buzzword into all our marketing assets that we have such as podcasts, blogs, email newsletters, or any social content we produce.

Connect with Ben

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Ben or connect with him, you can find him on LinkedIn. You can also visit his website at ben-m-roberts.com or listen to his podcast at marketingbuzzword.com.  

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

How do you use buzzwords in your marketing efforts? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/121-how-to-leverage-buzzwords-to-build-our-personal-brand/ 

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Ben spent nearly 10 years leading marketing teams at a SaaS startup, a top 100 UK insurance broker, and a large specialized outdoor e-commerce company. Ben spends much of his time building his personal brand which includes conference speaking, consultancy offerings, and media mentions. In 2018, he launched his book, Marketing Buzzword to Marketing Authority, where he uses all of those experiences to help other people build their businesses and careers.

Building a Platform on Land He Owned

Ben wanted to start his career before he finished university. While studying marketing, he started getting his feet wet by growing a business and learning how businesses actually worked instead of just hearing about it in a classroom. He started learning about real-world social media and SEO. In 2016, Ben went to the Social Media Marketing World conference where he was exposed to podcasts and he decided to give it a try.

When Ben was at that conference, he noticed many buzzwords he didn’t recognize. He decided he should launch a podcast to break down common marketing buzzwords for his audience. Three years later, Ben had created nearly 100 episodes while working full time. The podcast became the basis for his book, Marketing Buzzword to Marketing Authority. 

Before Ben started his business, he spent years building his platform and constructing it on land he owned. He built his own podcast, his own email list, and his own brand. Even when the world fell apart during the global pandemic, he was able to launch a business successfully, all because he had built it on land he owned—his own email list. 

Ben wishes he had started building his email list from the very beginning. It would have been a bigger and better list by now. He also believes that one of the hardest things to do when we’re starting a business is to stay consistent. One of his biggest lessons he’s learned during his journey is that less is more. When we have so much on our plate, we become inconsistent with our efforts in building our business. Once we lose our consistency, it’s harder to get important things done and to get back on track.

Don’t be afraid to reach out to potential podcast guests 

We can’t be afraid of reaching out to people. Ben believes one of the reasons his podcast is successful is because he had the confidence to speak to as many people as possible. We might think that it’s hard to find people who’d want to come on our podcast but people are willing and love it when we ask them to share their stories and insights. 

When we reach out to people the right way, no one is too far out of reach. Before we reach out to potential interviewees, we need to learn about them and what they've already done. Ben finds this a good way of showing that we care. We should reach out to them personally if we want this person to come on our show as opposed to sending a generic email that doesn’t show we know who they are or care about what they do.

Building an Effective Email List

Ben also shared his top two secrets for building an effective email list. 

• Give people a reason to join an email list

We have to give our customers a reason to join our email list. It helps to give people incentives and reminders about the benefits of being on our email list. If we just have a box asking them to sign up to our email list, people will not do it. By giving them an incentive, we motivate them to join our email list. This can be a discount or exclusive access to part of a group. Either way, there has to be a hook somewhere as opposed to just asking them to join our email list. If people don't know who we are, they're not going to subscribe. We need to give them a reason to subscribe to our list.  

• Be consistent and helpful

Over the years, Ben has learned how important it is to be consistent and helpful. We need to make sure there is value in every single email we send. When we send something, it helps to ask ourselves a fundamental question, “Would I want to receive this?” If the answer is no, then why are we sending this to someone else?

Everyone gets so many emails. Since we want to be customer-centric, it’s good to put ourselves in the customer's shoes. We want to be building rapport with the people that have joined our email list. We want to send them something that connects with them, so when they receive our emails they know it’s going to include something they want to receive. We should always ask ourselves, “Is it helpful? Does it provide enough value?”

Benefits of Writing a Book 

Many people are scared about writing a book. It's a major project that can take 18 months to two years to complete. It's not an easy undertaking yet it can have many rewards. 

Ben considers publishing a book based on his podcast one of his biggest successes. Over the years, his podcast has built an audience that the book was able to leverage to start his monetization journey. Ben is now able to speak on international stages across different countries. 

For Ben, much of what he does revolves around SEO and personal branding. Even though the podcast was doing good, he wanted to do something that would be long-lasting and improve his credibility. A book would be something he could send to clients and leverage for increased media outreach. It would allow him to put together all the things he had learned from the podcast along with his knowledge and experience. 

Writing a book has opened up many doors for Ben. He has received offers to speak at different conferences around the world, online and offline. He was able to connect with different people that he never thought he could connect with. His email list also grew exponentially because of the book. It's the crux of owned marketing. His email list is something that he owns, has full control of, and builds his trust, credibility, and further extends the reach of his business and personal brand. 

Voice Marketing

Ben believes voice marketing is having a much bigger impact than people realize. It’s predicted that 15.8 billion people will be using digital assistants by 2023 (Source: Statista). Currently, approximately half of the world’s population - 3.5 billion - uses voice-activated search and assistants across the globe (Source: review42.com). The shift is particularly noticeable in Gen Z where the stats show that 38% of them are willing to purchase via voice-activated ordering (Source: review42.com).

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Ben for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. It’s better to start building our email list as early as possible.
2. When we reach out to people the right way, no one is too far out of reach. 
3. To build an effective email list, we need to be consistent and provide value to our audience. We also need to give people a reason to join our list.
4. One of the benefits of writing a book is that it is long-lasting and will improve our credibility.
5. Voice search is one of the major shifts impacting businesses today. 

Connect with Ben

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Ben or connect with him, you can find him on LinkedIn. You can also visit his website at ben-m-roberts.com or listen to his podcast at marketingbuzzword.com.   

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

Did you like today’s episode? Then please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content:

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

How has consistent publishing helped grow your business? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/?p=8133 

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In today's episode, we’ll discuss three ways to evaluate new business ideas and share a few stories from Dave’s book, Predicting the Turn: The High Stakes Game of Business Between Startups and Blue Chips.

The Story Behind Predicting the Turn  

Dave used to spend his workdays with big companies while he spent his nights and weekends working with startups. While corporations often looked at lean startups admiring their agility and startups looked at big companies admiring their influence and resources, at the end of the day, they were two sides of the same coin.

In Predicting the Turn, Dave talks about the high-stakes game of both disruptive startups and innovative big companies with the goal to teach his readers how to foresee the changing shifts in their industry. 

Dave wants us to realize that no one's going to know with certainty what's going to happen next. But we can start preparing ourselves by mapping out different scenarios of how things can go and comparing the probability of one thing over another. This can help us be prepared and put ourselves in the driver's seat. 

• Avoid Having a Kodak Lost Moment

During most of the 20th century, Kodak reigned in the photographic film industry. It was so dominant that its "Kodak moment" tagline entered the common lexicon to describe a personal event that deserved to be recorded for future generations (Source: Wikipedia). However, In 2012 and as a result of bankruptcy filing and restructuring, Kodak was forced to sell off a half-billion-dollar portfolio of patents covering digital photography and online photo applications to technology titans like Apple and Google (Source: WSJ).

Dave interprets a “Kodak moment” as being in control of where the industry and our business could go but losing this control because we’re not willing to give up what we have right now. This is what Kodak did with the rise of digital photography. In 1975, Steve Sasson invented the self-contained digital camera while working at Kodak. But when he presented it to the leadership team there, they dismissed it. One of the biggest reasons for that was because Kodak made a lot of money off the paper and printing of photographs. They forgot that they were in the business of sharing moments and not just physical photos. That was the essence of a Kodak moment. It was about capturing moments and sharing them. This is what we've all experienced with digital cameras. There are more photos taken today than there ever were when we were using physical photos. If Kodak had realized that, they would have been in a vastly different position than where they are today. They had that moment, but they just missed it in terms of where they could go and what would come out of it.

• Look at New Opportunities Separately 

The shift toward e-commerce is fueled in part by people’s need to save time. The overall convenience of e-commerce is probably why the number of global digital buyers is estimated to reach 2.14 billion in 2021 (Source: Oberlo.com). However, Dave believes that e-commerce is the best buying tool that has ever been created only if you know exactly what you're looking for. Then it’s just a matter of finding where it's sold, whether it’s on Amazon, eBay, or some other place. 

Dave believes that where e-commerce has fallen flat is in being a shopping tool. Shopping is an inherent human behavior. We love to explore, see and learn. That's why some people can get lost in a mall or grocery store for multiple hours. It’s to fill this need for discovery, by walking the aisles in the store and finding that thing we didn’t expect to find. 

What NatureBox and other subscription-based e-commerce brands did was that they made it easy for people to buy while fulfilling their need to explore. Buyers would receive their box at home and it would be filled with things they didn't even know they wanted but were curated and brought home to them. This is the same thing BarkBox did for pets and Birchbox did with beauty products. 

Dave believes that this is what the big companies got wrong. When they looked at a new business opportunity, they would ask whether or not it was a good business idea. They were thinking of it purely as a retail play. They would look at BarkBox and ask if BarkBox can beat PetSmart or look at Birchbox and wonder if it can beat Sephora. Dave thinks this was shortsighted because they didn’t realize it was actually part of their brand-building. It would create much more opportunity for them if they had embraced it instead of analyzing whether it was good or bad business. It was the model of subscription boxes that created room for companies like DoorDash. 

So often when big businesses look at a new emerging opportunity, it’s too small that it can't compete with their existing revenue streams. What they should do instead is step back and not compare. They should look at it as a separate business unit that doesn't even have to compete with existing units. It's “how do we seize this new opportunity?” Because if they don't, the emerging business is going to seize them and leapfrog them in many ways. 

• Understand That People Come First

Dave has lost a lot of money in many of the businesses he invested in. When he thinks about it, he finds one thing in common with all of these ventures. Almost every time it was that he was betting on the idea instead of betting on the person. It was looking at that idea and seeing the potential. And in those cases, Dave overlooked the question of, “Was this the right entrepreneur to be able to do that?” 

On the flip side, the businesses where Dave has been most successful were because of the tenacity of the entrepreneur. He could see that this person had something special. And oftentimes the thing they ended up building wasn't necessarily the thing he invested in. But the person didn't change and they were the ones driving and making it work. At the end of the day, business, even when it’s about dollars and cents, it's ultimately a people’s game. We’re betting on the people, whether they’re the people we hire, the vendors we work with, the partners we have, or the entrepreneurs we invest in. 

Leveraging Existing Technologies  

Dave believes the biggest business tectonic shift today is the rise of entrepreneurship. Historically, entrepreneurship has always had barriers such as the cost of starting a business. What's amazing today is the tools that have emerged that allow us to start a business in a space that we never could have done before. 

Today, we can create a Shopify, Etsy, or eBay store in a matter of hours. Only 10 years ago, to create an e-commerce site that could allow a third party to buy from us, get something shipped, and accept payment, it would take tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars and much more time. 

Now we have all these tools attainable for many people that make it easier to start as entrepreneurs. That’s why, over the last decade, a lot of new consumer brands have emerged because the barrier to entry is getting lower. Things like the ability to work with a contract manager, manufacturer to make a product, and the way to do fulfillment using third-party logistics have gotten much easier and less expensive than what they used to be.

The advice I would give for a new entrepreneur who can’t leverage the existing technologies and has some developer telling them they have to build from scratch, is they need to get a second opinion. If we have to build our business from scratch, we might reconsider our business model and find something where we can leverage existing technologies.

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Dave for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. In business, we’ll never know with certainty what's going to happen next. But we can start preparing ourselves and map out different ways and scenarios of how things can go. 
2. Big companies should look at emerging business opportunities as separate business units that don't have to compete with existing businesses. 
3. Instead of building from scratch, always try to leverage existing technologies to build our business. It generally saves time and money. 
4. When we’re looking to invest in a new business, it’s important to not just focus on the idea, but also on the people who are going to execute that idea. 

Connect with Dave

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Dave or connect with him, you can find him on LinkedIn or visit his website at PredictingTheTurn.com or his company’s website at NaturesWillowBalm.com. You can also find his book on Amazon. 

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

What’s the biggest turn or tectonic shift you’ve seen in your career? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/119-how-to-predict-the-turn-so-we-can-leverage-tectonic-shifts/ 

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In today’s episode, we’re going to discuss Dave’s entrepreneurial journey and how he was able to use his experience to give back to his community. 

Dave’s Entrepreneurial Journey

From a young age, Dave had a passion for entrepreneurship. He knew taking a minimum wage job wouldn’t get him to where he wanted to go so, at the age of 15, he decided to become certified as a FIFA referee and took charge of advertising for his high school yearbook. During the first summer, he made $4,500 - $5,000 in commissions from selling the yearbook ads, just enough to buy his first car. 

In 1999, Miami University in Ohio had one of the earliest undergraduate entrepreneurship programs so Dave took the opportunity and went there to study marketing and business. During his entrepreneurship program, he worked for a record label. That summer, Dave worked with brand management and marketing, continually increasing his passion for entrepreneurship. However, his mentor told him that while it was great to have passion, we also need to have capability, credibility, and differentiation. What is going to make us stand out?

Even though Dave had the passion, he didn’t have the experience or expertise. Over the course of the next few years, he pursued jobs that would help him build his credentials. He worked at P&G as an assistant brand manager for Secret deodorant and at 26 and became the marketing leader of $900 million worth of business. He ended up spending most of his twenties doing that and in the process, he’d grown as a marketer, business leader, and entrepreneur.

Dave lived by the mantra, “Your twenties are for learning and your thirties are for doing.” Shortly after he turned 30, he decided it was time to start doing. He took the leap to join Rockfish, a marketing and advertising agency, as marketing lead, and by the time he left, he’d helped the company become one of the fastest-growing agencies in the country, going from $8 million of revenue in 2010 to more than $70 million in 2016. 

At the same time, Dave, along with co-founders, launched The Brandery. During the day he worked for a high growth-company on one side while he moonlighted to help launch a startup accelerator to help other entrepreneurs. 

Turning Our Passion into a Career

Just because we have a passion, doesn’t mean we have the ability to turn it into a career. When Dave first started on his entrepreneurial journey, he had the passion but was lacking other essential skills. His mentor told him that while passion is important, we also need to have the capability, credibility, and something that makes us unique. If we can meet all four of these elements, we have the potential to become successful entrepreneurs and do what we love. 

• Increase Capability

“Don’t chase after success, chase after capability. If you are capable of anything, then success will be chasing you.” - Unknown  

The first thing we need to do once we have a passion we want to pursue is increasing our capability. We need to learn and build our skills. We need to become qualified.

When Dave discovered his passion for entrepreneurship, he pursued knowledge. The first step he took was enrolling in Miami University’s entrepreneurship program. He had the desire and drive to learn more and become better. Since then, he has been on a continual journey of growth. 

We have to remember that capability does not come easily. Dave’s mantra was, “Your twenties are for learning and your thirties are for doing.” He spent 10 years of his career simply learning and developing his skills. If we can have that same type of commitment and dedication to our passions, our chances of success will increase. Napoleon Hill, an American self-help author, said, “There is a difference between wishing for a thing and being ready to receive it.” We cannot use our passion as a crutch for laziness. We have to put in the time and work it takes to increase our capability. 

• Build Credibility

“Credibility is a leader’s currency. With it, he or she is solvent; without it he or she is bankrupt.” - John C. Maxwell

Once we have become capable in whatever we are pursuing, we should start building credibility. Credibility has become essential in today’s digital marketplace. With the internet and new technology, so many people have the tools to build a business. Anyone can become a social media influencer, anyone can write a book, and anyone can build a website. What makes us credible if anyone can become anything? How do we build our trust with our customers? 

We can build our credibility by becoming thought leaders and showing the world we are an expert in our industry. We do this by continually producing content and getting our thoughts out there. We can write blogs, attend conferences, write books, host webinars, etc. We can build credibility by networking with the right people and getting our name associated with other experts and big companies. There are a million ways we can build our credibility, but it all comes down to trust. How can we foster trust with our customers? This will take time, but when our customers trust us, we become more credible and more likely to achieve our goals. 

• Differentiate Ourselves

“If you want to be around in 10 years, you’ve got to do something to differentiate yourself from the pack.” - Chris Evans

Finally, we have to make ourselves unique. Like I mentioned above, the market is saturated with the stuff. There are hundreds of brands selling the same thing, and thousands more selling something better. We need to differentiate ourselves and become unique if we want to stand out. We can start by asking ourselves, “What value do I offer that no one else does? In what ways am I different from the big brands already out there?” 

Part of our personal branding should be tied to what makes us unique. We can take this as a selling point and use it to market ourselves. If we are just like everyone else, no one will notice us. If we are odd and unique, they will stop and stare. 

Leaving a Legacy through Entrepreneurship

Dave took his passion and turned it into a career by learning, increasing his skill sets, building trust, and making himself stand out. Once he did this, he had a chance to really make a difference. 

When I asked Dave to share his greatest home run at The Brandery, he said he defined the entire journey as the home run. Dave explained how The Brandery was sometimes a misunderstood adventure. 

When Dave launched The Brandery with his co-founders, it was one of the first 30 startup accelerators at the time. All accelerators had a similar model: to give some cash and receive maybe 5 - 6% equity. 

However, one of the ways The Brandery was different was that it was a nonprofit. For every company it invested in, for which it got that 6% equity in exchange, none of it went to any of the founders. Instead, it went to a nonprofit called Main Street Ventures. Dave believed that their goal and vision for The Brandery was to support entrepreneurs in pursuing their passions. This way, that 6% equity could have a much greater impact for good. 

What The Brandery succeeded to do was to fund an endowment that would forever support entrepreneurs. Over those years, they had about 100 companies go through The Brandery. Some of them were very successful which was a double benefit. Dave and his co-founders were doing this because they wanted to support businesses and create jobs in Cincinnati. When those businesses become successful, they’d have good financial outcomes that would be recycled back to Main Street Ventures. 

“Today,” Dave said, “Main street Ventures is sitting on an endowment, [so] that we can continue to support entrepreneurs. We're not doing it necessarily through the model of an accelerator any more. And that was intentional because we knew ... models change and evolve. But ... we were able to use those funds, for instance, that when we saw all the restaurants struggling so bad, during COVID-19 ... we were able to be part of a group that gave pretty large grants to restaurants across the Cincinnati area that were funded, started by entrepreneurs, to keep going and to buy gift cards and support, and do different things like that. We're able to do grants to new emerging companies that aren't ready to go raise money, but they've got something and they just need that little help to get them to the next phase.” 

Dave believes the best part of the overall journey of The Brandery was seeing the vision that they had in 2010 come true in 2020 as they had those successes that built upon themselves over the years.

I love how Dave took one of his top passions, entrepreneurship, and created a way that he could give back and help others within that passion as well. 

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Dave for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. We should be passionate about what we do and where we want to go, but we also need capability, credibility, and differentiation.
2. As aspiring and ancient entrepreneurs, we need to increase our capability constantly. We need to learn and build our skills and become qualified.
3. When our customers trust us, we become more credible and more likely to achieve our goals. 
4. Part of our personal branding should be tied to what makes us unique. We can take this as a selling point and use it to market ourselves. If we are just like everyone else, no one will notice us. If we are odd and unique, they will stop and stare. 
5. An important part of entrepreneurship is giving back to our community once we find success. 

Connect with Dave

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Dave or connect with him, you can find him on LinkedIn. You can also visit his website at PredictingTheTurn.com or his company’s website, NaturesWillowBalm.com.  

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

How have you made your passions part of your career? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/118-how-to-turn-your-passions-into-a-career/ 

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In the last episode, we discussed how Chris was able to ride the waves of tectonic shifts to leverage success. In today’s episode, we’re going to discuss the six characteristics of trust agents Chris wrote about in his Trust Agents book.

• Make Our Own Game

We need to pick a category that we are the best at and stick with it. It’s all about positioning ourselves with a specific target audience. 

“You can't be the best Gary Vaynerchuk because there already is one,” Chris said. “You shouldn't try to be the next best Gary Vaynerchuk either. So instead, you pick some new category where you are absolutely the best.”

Part of building a successful business is finding what makes us unique. We have to find that niche audience we can serve and provide value to. As we build our group, we will build more trust within our target audience. 

Studies have shown that we are more likely to trust others who are members of our own social group compared to outsiders. While this may seem obvious, the same applies to groups in general. We are also more likely to trust people in a randomly assigned small group compared to a random person outside of the group (Source: Harvard Business review). 

As we choose our own category, build a niche group, and make our own game, our customers will be more likely to trust us. 

• One of Us

People are more willing to trust someone they are similar to (Source: Harvard Business Review). 

We should always be looking for the connection between ourselves and the customer. We need to pay attention to what makes us similar. 

When I asked Chris to share his best monetization strategy, he said the more personalized we can be with our customers, the better. 

Other than communicating directly with our customers, we can also use data to become more personalized in the best way possible. Our goal should be to make our customer’s life easier, and we can do this by understanding their wants and needs. 

“In a world where everything is so broken apart, he who has the best data that drives to a very personalized approach of what a human does is going to do a lot better than everybody else,” Chris said. 

• The Archimedes Effect

“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” - Archimedes 

It’s all about leverage. “Basically, you figure out where you can make some kind of change, and if I can push on that, I can change the world,” Chris said. “What you’re looking for is, ‘Can I do something once that’s so impactful that I don’t have to do it multitudes of times?’”

If we can recognize tectonic shifts as they are happening and leverage them to our favor, we can often leapfrog competitors and drive growth and monetization.

• Networking 

Networking is one of the most underrated parts of the business.  

Chris explained that the only reason networking is underrated is that it’s done so poorly. People go to an event just to hand out their business cards to anyone they see. We shouldn't try and connect with everyone in the room. We should only be linking with potential customers—those who would find value in our service or products. If we are more selective with who we go out of our way to offer our product to, people will be more likely to trust us, compared to someone who is out there offering their product to everyone they see. They will trust that we have value we can offer them personally. 

“If I don't connect [to] you on LinkedIn, it's probably because I don't have anything I think I need to sell you,” Chris said. 

• Human Artist

We need to focus on building human relationships. 

“A human artist is the art of human interaction. . . How we act with other people matters so much more professionally than we ever give it credit for. There is a monetary difference to what you do or don't do in those situations,” Chris said. 

Chris had heard an expression called a moment of truth. A moment of truth is any time a guest comes in contact with any aspect of our world and receives an impression. We need to make sure that in each moment of truth, we are leaving a good impression on our customers. After each interaction with us, they should feel like we value them, even more than their purchase. 

As we work with people that have more money and success, it's interesting how money becomes less of a priority to them, and time becomes the primary decision-making factor. We need to make sure our customers know that we value their time, just as much as they do. 

“We always treat money as if it's finite, and we treat time as if it's infinite. It’s the other way around,” Chris explained. “If you manage and master time a little bit better if you treat people as if their time is important if you treat people as if they're important, money comes to you so much faster than that other methodology where you think money is the goal.”

How we interact with our customers will leave a lasting impression. Many people say their best memories of Chris are that he made them feel good and prioritized. We need to do the same. 

• Build an Army 

We can get a lot further along if we can get more people to become a part of the process and give them the tools they need to do their part. We can’t successfully build a business on our own. We need others. 

Not only can we benefit from the knowledge, ideas, and skills of others, but people will also trust us more if they see we have loyal friends. As we connect with more and more people, we will gain their trust faster.

“People tend to trust who their friends trust, and that extends to brands. Living in an uncertain world with a persistent barrage of conflicting messages, consumers find it necessary to rely on reviews from friends and other connections.” (Source: Consumer Affairs)

As we build our army, we will build the trust of our audience. 

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Chris for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. We must become trust agents for our potential customers. 
2. We can build trust by making “our own game”, focusing on a niche where we can be the best in the world. 
3. People are more willing to trust others who are similar to them. We should make our customers feel like we are like them. 
4. We can leverage tectonic shifts to leapfrog competitors. 
5. Networking can be an essential part of successful business growth. We should focus on networking to those to whom we think we can offer value.
6. We need to become “human artists” and focus on building relationships as our masterpieces. 
7. We need to build an army of people to help us be far more successful than we can be on our own. We can’t do it all ourselves.

Connect with Chris

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Chris, connect with him on his LinkedIn, or his website, chrisbrogan.com. You can also find his books on Amazon and watch his video podcast on YouTube.  

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

Did you like today’s episode? Then please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content:

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

How do you build trust with your customers? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/117-6-strategies-to-become-a-trust-agent/ 

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Chris has spoken for or consulted with companies such as Disney, Google, GM, Sony, Coke, and Microsoft. He's part of Tony Robbins’ internet Money Master series, and StatSocial ranked Chris as the number three power influencer. Forbes listed Chris as one of the Must Follow Marketing Minds, and his website is one of the 100 best websites for entrepreneurs. 

In today’s episode, we’re going to discuss how Chris has leveraged the waves of tectonic shifts to achieve success.

Learning to Ride the Wave

Chris Brogan wasn't born a successful entrepreneur. He worked at a telecom company and when he saw opportunities, he seized them. He rode the wave of those opportunities to become who he is today.

During the time Chris worked at a telecom company, he constantly read about the business world, learning about unique ideas that weren’t really being applied. This created the desire to start his own business so he could implement the great ideas he was reading about. 

He eventually launched his own blog, but nobody really cared. It took him years just to get his first 100 readers. A few years later, he started his own podcast, but again, nobody really cared. So, he decided to start an event with a friend. 

On the second day of the event, he met Jeff Pulver, a millionaire, who had just run a conference on video on the internet. Jeff offered to take Chris out and suggested they run a conference together. After that, he immediately started working with major brands with Jeff, and jumped into another company about a year later since, at that time, they were just a bit too early for the video trend. 

Chris eventually started running part of a consultancy where he worked with things like digital and new social media platforms such as Twitter and rode the wave from there. In time, people started asking questions about how the new media applied to their business, and that’s how Chris started working with big companies such as Google and Microsoft. 

“It was all the same kinds of questions like, ‘What do we do with this stuff? Is Twitter worth it?’” Chris said. “I was able to show [them] where there might be a little bit of magic.”

In 2009, Chris started the first company that he ran 100% himself. Since then, he has run five or six different iterations of a corporation. 

Part of being a successful entrepreneur is about timing and riding those waves of opportunity. When Chris started his own blog and podcast, it wasn’t immediately successful because the timing wasn’t right. The blog and podcast tectonic shifts hadn’t happened yet. Now, blogs and podcasts are extremely important and essential, but it wasn’t the same way 20 years ago. 

“I was early on a bunch of those waves,” Chris said. “[But beyond] being early to the pile, what I've been so willing to do over and over and over again is fail, be wrong, look stupid. And I get there faster because of it.”

Chris’s blog failed. His podcast failed. He left his work with Jeff on internet video after a year because the wave wasn’t quite there yet. But every time, he didn’t let failure stop him. He got back up and looked for the next opportunity, and jumped back into opportunities when the time was right.

“I got to everything faster than a lot of other people just by being willing to fail in front of everybody and be willing to try new ways. I think that's what separates me from all the people who came up in my spaces. They were still trying really hard to preserve their reputation. And I built my reputation around falling right down a hole in front of you, and just showing you what comes next,” Chris explained. 

He made his career by riding the waves to shore as tectonic shifts happened. Below are three current tectonic shifts Chris has successfully adapted to. 

1. Being Human

Being human and more personalized in our businesses is crucial to success. This is especially important now as the pandemic has increased the need for human connection. 

“The minute someone feels like you're not there to help them when they're having a rough time, that's a problem. So make your support system a lot more human and connectable. Second off, as you're selling anything, beyond just features and benefits, make it easy to reach a person. Make it easy to be able to ask those questions you might have,” Chris explained. 

When I asked Chris about one thing he is passionate about, he said it is helping companies no matter what size. We have to ask ourselves, “How can we be more human even at a distance? How do we bring a bit more humanity into what we do?”

Our businesses need to be about connecting with people. Companies have such a great opportunity to reach out and be human, but we blow it so many times because we’re too focused on making a profit. The minute someone feels like we aren’t there to help them, they are going to leave. To be successful, we really need to make our support a lot more human. 

2. Influencer Marketing

One of the biggest tectonic shifts that the business world is dealing with today is credibility marketing. It used to be 20 years ago that businesses would buy a whole bunch of advertising, and then use that reach to tell the world how awesome they were. And it often worked. To a great extent it worked. But today, if businesses do that, it doesn't work so well. People don't trust what businesses say about themselves anymore. This means businesses have to find much more credible ways to communicate with their potential customers.

This is why credibility marketing has become such an important tectonic shift today. Businesses are shifting more and more to credibility marketing in many different ways, such as through influencer marketing, reviews marketing, word-of-mouth marketing, and client testimonial videos. 

When implementing influencer marketing, the first thing we need to do is find the right influencer to work with. 

As I mentioned earlier, StatSocial ranked Chris as the number three power influencer. But this doesn’t mean he’s the right influencer for everybody. Chris shared a story in which a company asked him to promote a paper shredder. So, he made a video for them. He didn’t have any paper in his house, so he shredded the manual and said, “I don’t know what else I should show you because it just ate the manual.” The humor was good for him, but the company never sent him another paper shredder. And why? Because Chris wasn’t the right, credible person to promote their product. 

Just because someone has a massive following, doesn’t mean they’re the right person to talk about our product. We need to find someone whose following is largely our target audience. We also need to find an influencer who likes and uses our product, and who is credible to talk about the product. 

“If you're going to look for influencers, it will be so much better if we do it the other way around. Who's talking lovingly about my product?” Chris said. 

As we search for the right influencer for us, we can search for people who already use our product. That way they will be much more credible to our audience. 

A good example of this is when Chris reached out to Johnsonville Sausage. During the summer, he had started to talk about their sausage in his videos just because he loved it so much. He ended up reaching out to the company and doing a sponsored video for them. This video actually mattered since he was able to influence his audience. 

3. The Age of Distraction 

We live in an age of distraction. There are thousands of different good things constantly competing for the time and attention of our potential customers. Our phones get notifications throughout the day from so many different people. We get so many text messages, email notifications, app reminders, updates, etc. we could live in our little notification bar on our phones. 

“If the notification screen is the battlefield, and if all of a sudden every single website is like, ‘Please can we send you notifications?’ . . . how is a lowly old email going to get into somebody?” Chris said. These are the questions we have to be asking ourselves and trying to answer.

We need to pay attention to the market and where our specific audience is going. “In a world where we're not willing to sit still for an ad, you've got to put some really interesting information in front of us, for us to sit still enough to want to consume it,” Chris said. 

It is a competition for every second of our consumer’s attention. We need to make sure we are creative and cut directly to the chase. We need to show consumers how we can help them achieve the things that matter most to them. 

“Instead of attention and distraction being the big challenge, it's more, “Can I find the person that I hope to serve in some way?’ And that's what we do. That's the goal. If you're going to try to be influential in some way, that's how you're going to learn,” Chris said. 

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Chris for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. We need to ride the “waves” of tectonic shifts.
2. We need to be more human and personalized in our businesses.
3. People don't trust what businesses say about themselves anymore. This means we have to find much more credible sources, such as influencers, to promote our products.
4. Just because someone has a massive following, doesn’t mean they’re the right person to talk about our product. We need to find an influencer whose following is our target audience. 
5. We live in an age of distraction. We have to constantly fight for the time of our customers. In order to capture their attention, we need to show them what value we offer as fast as possible. 

Connect with Chris

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Chris, connect with him on his LinkedIn, or his website, chrisbrogan.com. You can also find his books on Amazon and watch his video podcast on YouTube.  

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

Please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content:

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

What tectonic shifts have you adapted to? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/116-how-to-ride-the-waves-of-tectonic-shifts/ 

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The Parable of the Talents

In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus Christ shared a parable with his disciples. In the story, a man was traveling to a faraway country, so he called his servants before he left and gave them talents, which was a form of money at the time. To the first one, he gave five talents. To the second, he gave two talents, and finally, to the third man, he gave one talent. Then the man went on his way. 

The first servant with five talents went and traded his talents so he gained five more, doubling his initial capital. The second servant traded until he gained two talents, also doubling his initial capital. Finally, the third servant went and buried his talent into the earth so he wouldn’t lose it. 

After a long time, the servants' master returned. When he did, the first servant brought his five extra talents with him and the second servant brought his two extra talents. The Lord responded to them both by saying, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (KJV Matthew 25:20)

Then, the third servant came and told his master that he was afraid and so he hid his talent in the earth and didn’t do anything good with it. When his master learned this, he said, “Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.” (KJV Matthew 25:26-27) The master then took the servant’s one talent and gave it to his first servant with 10 talents.

From this parable, we can learn two lessons: one about money and the other about our talents and gifts from God. We can apply both lessons to our businesses. 

A talent in the time of Christ was a unit of money. In the parable, the servants who invested and traded their talents both doubled the amount they had originally. The one who hoarded his money gained nothing. As entrepreneurs, we can learn the principle of investment. God wants us to be smart about our money management and learn how to invest.  

We can also interpret the parable as if the master was giving his servants talents in the way we define the word today. God gives each individual unique gifts and talents and he expects us to use them to do good. As entrepreneurs, we can use our skills and abilities to bless the lives of others. As we share our talents, we will be blessed with more. 

Investments 

In the parable, the servants who invested their money doubled what they had originally been given while the one who hid his money or rather “deposited it into a safe deposit box” gained nothing. As entrepreneurs, we can learn that God rewards those who take what they have to accomplish good things. This even includes gaining more wealth. 

In our ventures, one way we can increase our monetary value is by taking a capital risk. In the parable, the master’s investment strategy is similar to many business owners today. 

There are four principles of good investing we can apply from the parable of the talents. 

• Invest in a Company We Know and Like

We should only invest in a company we know and like. 

The Institute of Faith, Work, and Economics explained that in the parable, the master demonstrates trust in his servants. He must have been familiar with his servants' track records and trusted them accordingly. He selected three servants and weighed them according to their abilities, so he gave 62.5% of his money to the lead manager, 25% to the second, and 12.5% to the third (Source: Institute of Faith, Work, and Economics). We need to make sure we are making smart investments. 

Being smart about our investment requires us to do research. We should never invest in a company we know nothing about. Peter Lynch, an American investor and philanthropist said, “An important key to investing is to remember stocks are not lottery tickets.” I think this is a powerful statement. Investing is not about luck. It is not about throwing our money into a company and hoping for the best. Investing requires research. 

Benjamin Graham is one of the most famous investors. He is universally recognized as the father of two fundamental investment disciplines—security analysis and value investing. Whenever he invested in a company, he searched for those with strong balance sheets, those with little debt, above-average profit margins, and large cash flow (Source: Investopedia).

Just as the master in the parable and Benjamin Graham, we need to become familiar with the track records of the companies we invest in. If we do this, we minimize the risk we need to take to invest. 

• Diversify Our Investments 

We should diversify our investments. The master in the parable did not invest all of his money in one servant, he split it up between the three servants. 

Successful entrepreneurs should take time and consideration into choosing how to invest their money. And they should invest their money in different places. One example of a great investor is Gary Vaynerchuk, an entrepreneur, author, speaker, and internet personality with a net worth of about $160 million. Vaynerchuk was an early investor in Twitter, Tumblr, Uber, and Snap, and his VaynerRSE investment portfolio currently lists about 80 companies (Source: CNBC). 

When CNBC asked him what his secret was, he explained we need to not only know and like the company we invest in, but we also should invest in multiple companies. He said, “You may pick the wrong company, and this is why you want to diversify.” (Source: CNBC)

• Take Risks

The parable of the talents also recognizes that making an investment requires some risk. The third servant who buried his one talent because he was afraid of losing it gained nothing. Without any risk, there will be no return.

Benjamin Graham said, “Successful investing is about managing risk, not avoiding it.” We have to understand that we can’t be successful investors without the courage to take a leap and trust in a company enough to invest in them. However, with that, there are ways to reduce risk. This includes doing our research, knowing the company, and diversifying our investments as I said above. Risk comes from not knowing what we are doing, but if we do the right research, we can minimize our risk and feel confident in our investment decisions. 

• Be Patient 

At the end of the day, good investing comes down to being patient. We won’t make a lot of money short-term. Investing is all about long-term success. 

In the parable, it says the master who gave his talents was traveling to a “far country.” It also says he returned “after a long time.” We shouldn’t expect to gain an immediate return on investment (ROI). We need to wait and know that investing requires patience. 

However, this doesn’t just mean investing in a company and then leaving it there for years without checking on it. We need to make sure we review our investments after certain periods of time. Just as the master in the parable came back to see how his servants were doing, we should check in on our investments to make sure we are making the most of them. 

“Investment is an asset or an item that is purchased with the hope that it will generate income or appreciate in the future.” (Source: Investment Brothers)

Use Our Talents

The second lesson we can take from the parable of the talents is to take the gifts God has given us and use them for good. God has given each of us our own unique talents we can use to serve others. Once we discover what our gifts are, we can use them to help our customers and team members. 

While God may not give everyone equal gifts, He doesn’t compare us to others. He compares us to ourselves. In the parable, the master rewarded both the first and second servants equally. While the first servant made more money or developed more talents than the second servant, they both did the same with what they were given. They each doubled what they had, and both were made rulers over many things and entered into the joy of the Lord.

In Matthew 25:15 it says, “And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several abilities. . .” The master gave talents according to each servant’s ability. He never expected the servant with one talent to come back with more than the servant who had been given five. God knows our different abilities. He knows our strengths and weaknesses. We will be rewarded according to what we do with what we have, not according to how we do compare to others. 

However, if we hide our talents, and don’t share them with others, God will take them away. In Matthew, it says, “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him, that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”

God expects us to work hard at improving what we have been given. On our entrepreneurial journey, we need to work hard and use our God-given gifts wisely. As we do this and help others to the best of our ability, God will bless us. 

Key Takeaways

Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. We learn that we should only invest in a company we know and like. 
2. We should diversify our investments. 
3. Successful investing is about managing risk, not avoiding it.
4. At the end of the day, good investing comes down to being patient and setting our expectations for long-term success. 
5. God has given each of us our own unique talents we can use to serve others. As we use our talents to help others, we will be rewarded with additional gifts. 
6. If we hide our talents away, God will take them away from us.
7. God knows our different abilities. He knows our strengths and weaknesses. We will be rewarded according to what we do with what we have been given, not according to how we compare to others. 

Join Entrepreneurs of Faith

If this episode of Entrepreneurs of Faith resonated with you, please subscribe for FREE to Monetization Nation so you can receive future episodes of Entrepreneurs of Faith. 

1. Subscribe to the free Monetization Nation eMagazine.
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4. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

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How do you determine what investments to make? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/115-4-investment-secrets-from-the-parable-of-the-talents/ 

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Today, we're going to focus on how to use growth hacking to monetize a business. 

Growth Hacking

Growth hacking encompasses strategies focused on driving growth while spending as little time and money as possible. Sean Ellis, founder, and CEO of GrowthHackers, developed the term “growth hacking” in 2010 to describe a sustainable growth approach (Source: GrowthHackers). It is a creative strategy to increase website traffic, generate leads, and optimize the marketing process. 

While Jason was working as an SEO consultant for EarthLink, he attracted IBM’s attention with his digital marketing program. IBM called about a growth hacking role, which was the first time Jason had heard that term. Since Jason was so data-driven and focused on running tests, by their definition, he was a growth hacker, and they invited him to jump into a small team. 

On the team, he focused on how he could influence the buyer’s journey and create loyal customers. He’d analyze the data, run tests, and review what worked and what didn’t. 

Jason’s groundbreaking moment with IBM was developing a growth hacking strategy that became extremely profitable. He started working with an IBM SaaS product, and after producing some tests, they discovered only 1% of visitors were subscribing/purchasing digitally. So, Jason and his team asked themselves, “What can we do to get the customers to buy/subscribe on their own?”

He noticed that in the customer’s digital journey, the pricing page only had buttons to access a free trial or subscribe for free. He thought, “When people are here to look at pricing, they might want to buy right now. We should remove some of these ‘try’ buttons and replace them with ‘buy’ buttons.” After moving around some of the calls to action, they increased engagement by 8% and generated $6 million from the simple experiment. 

The product team loved the growth hack and started applying it everywhere. They ended up creating two versions of the product and made it available in 140 countries. His hack became a global standard. 

Now, he's been a marketing growth consultant for more than seven years and a growth mentor and coach for two years. He currently serves as the vice president of growth at Orange Pegs, a US-based growth, and inbound marketing agency.

“It's very foundational,” Jason said. “We looked at a data point, hypothesized about certain things, . . . and started to test against that. And again, it wasn't multivariate. It had sort of a cascade effect, where if you do one thing on one page, it prompts something new on another page. Now, this is just moving elements around the page. . . . I like its simplicity.”

Growth hacking has become a very significant tectonic shift in the market, but what it comes to is measuring data and testing. We need to have a data-driven mindset.  

“Use the data to take action and run tests, and let those tests guide the moves that you make to improve and delight your customer base, and also grow and grow your business,” Jason said. 

Jason explained that to effectively use growth hacking to monetize a business, it all comes down to curiosity. Curiosity leads to experimentation, which leads to monetization. 

Curiosity 

Jason’s top monetization secret is to be curious. In order to monetize from growth hacking, it all comes down to the foundational element of curiosity. 

“You have to have that curiosity,” he said. “Having curiosity, caring about your business, caring about the growth of your business, or your product, with a level of curiosity can be a moneymaker for you. Because if you are complacent, and things are sitting static, and you're just happy with the status quo . . . you may be missing out on millions because you're not creating and hypothesizing. You're not measuring.”

If we are complacent, we could be missing out on a lot of opportunities for exponential growth. Change is constant, so we need to constantly adapt. If we aren’t curious and looking for new ways of growth, we may miss out on increased profit. 

Studies have shown that curiosity leads to greater learning, engagement, and performance at work (Source: Human Resource Development Quarterly). As we are curious, we will naturally find better ways to run our businesses. 

“You have to put yourself in the mindset to say, ‘What if? What if this happened? What if I tried that?’” Jason said. “It could change everything. Your business could completely shift and pivot away from something you thought was good to something that's really great.”

Curiosity leads to testing which leads to monetization. We have to ponder everything and once we do that, the tests will happen naturally. 

Experiments 

Once we are curious, we will be naturally motivated to look at data to perform tests and experiments. Growth hacking is all about taking the data we have collected, measuring it, and then running experiments to try and increase growth and profit. 

We have to have a data-driven mindset. The majority of the time, we have access to the data and information that will guide us to success. We simply need to act on it. Growth hacking is taking the information, pulling insights out, and then experimenting on it. If our experiment fails, we know what not to do. If our experiment succeeds in creating growth, we know what changes we need to make.

Estimates have shown that businesses collected more customer information in 2010 than all prior years combined (Source: Harvard Business Review). Everything is focused on customer data and it is within our reach. On average, businesses receive data and metrics from 28 different sources (Deloitte Digital). We live in a data-driven world. The amount of data created by consumers doubles every two years (MIT Technology Review) and 92.3% of businesses maintain databases to host information on customers and prospects (GDMA). We need to make sure we use all the new data to our advantage. 

Success will depend on how we use customer data and information to find new ways to grow our business.

Monetization 

Once we’ve run tests on our data, we need to look at the results and determine what new insights we have to work with. Most experiments will tell us what not to do, or what to do more of. Jason increased the profit of the IBM SaaS product simply because he applied the insights he learned from his experiments. All he did was change a couple of CTAs on the company’s website. 

We need to follow a similar process. As we use growth hacking effectively, we can monetize our businesses. It starts with curiosity, leads to experiments, and results in monetization.

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Jason for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. Growth hacking is any strategy focused on driving growth while spending as little time and money as possible.
2. Growth hacking is a significant tectonic shift, but what it comes down to is testing and analyzing data. We need to have a data-driven mindset. 
3. Curiosity leads to experimentation, which leads to monetization. 
4. Curiosity leads to greater learning, engagement, and performance at work.
5. We live in a data-driven world. The amount of data created by consumers doubles every two years (MIT Technology Review). We need to make sure we use all the new data to our advantage. 
6. Success may depend on how well we use customer data and information in ethical ways to find new ways to grow our business.

Connect with Jason

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Jason or connect with him, you can find him on LinkedIn or on growthmentor.com. 

Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer?

Did you like today’s episode? Then please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content:

1. Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business
2. Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine.
3. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel.
4. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. 
5. Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter.

Share Your Story 

Has growth hacking helped your business to grow? If so, what growth hacking strategies have worked best for your company? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers.

Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/114-how-to-use-growth-hacking-to-monetize-a-business/ 

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3 Ways to Enjoy the Journey

• Reflect Consistently

As an entrepreneur, we have the highest highs and the lowest lows. It can be hard to remember to celebrate our successes when we’re so focused on what we have to do next. 

“I'm definitely someone who can just be so focused on the next goal or the next accolade and then once I hit it, I don't even stop and celebrate it. I just keep going like, ‘Alright, what's the next one?’ . . . And, as an entrepreneur, that can be very unhealthy to do,” Kayleigh said. 

We need to make sure we recognize the goals we accomplish and celebrate them no matter how small. Since it can be so easy to overlook what we get done in the day, it’s great to reflect on our days and remember what we’ve done. 

“To be a healthy entrepreneur and have a good mindset and have a positive mindset, you have to stop and reflect on things,” Kayleigh said. “I do that in my journaling, every single day. . . . Some days, it's easier said than done. Sometimes, if it's been a really rough day, you have to dig to find the positive experience. But it's so important to stay in that state of mind.”

As we focus on the good more consistently, it will become easier, and soon we will start to notice the positive elements in our day without trying. As we stay positive, the lows won’t feel so crushing. 

• Celebrate the Setbacks

We need to celebrate the setbacks. It can be easy to celebrate the good things that happen, but in order to stay positive and really develop a positive mindset, we also need to celebrate our mistakes. 

“The growth happens when things go wrong. You can pivot. You can figure it out. So celebrate those setbacks,” Kayleigh said. 

Mistakes are inevitable, especially when launching a new startup. We shouldn’t let those setbacks get in the way. Every mistake, every failure, is an opportunity for growth and learning. 

One time Kayleigh was in a crunch. She was about to run out of stock on Amazon, and her product bottles arrived at her house in the wrong colored labels. She panicked because she didn’t have enough time to order new product bottles with the right labels. 

She shared this story on her Instagram because she has always tried to be very real and open with her customers. After she did that, a flood of customers began messaging her saying that they actually liked the new label. Because she stayed authentic and real, Kayleigh resonated with her audience. And the only way she was able to do that is by refusing to let the negative experience take over her mindset. 

Having a negative mindset can actually create chronic stress, which upsets the body’s hormone balance, diminishes chemicals required for happiness, and damages the immune system (Source: University of Minnesota). When we get stressed, our ability to work effectively and efficiently goes down. 

Being positive has the opposite effect. Researchers have found that a positive mindset has health benefits such as lower levels of distress, lower rates of depression, better coping skills during hardships and times of stress, better psychological and physical well-being, and more (Source: Mayo Clinic). 

As we choose to celebrate our mistakes rather than be consumed by them, we will actually increase our chances of success. 

• Write Down the Positive Moments

One of the ways we can overcome our setbacks is by remembering the positive moments. 

“I keep a positivity folder in my phone,” Kayleigh explained. “Every time I get a really positive email, text message, or review of Clear Stem that just completely blows my mind, blows me away, I'll screenshot it and save it to an album. . . . If I'm having a rough day and I'm feeling like I'm struggling to find the positive in the day, I'll just scroll through and read a couple of those, and you'd be really surprised [by] how it shifts your mindset.”

This is similar to the concept of when a room is dark, the only way to get rid of darkness is to fill it with something else—we have to turn on a light to replace the darkness. If we're in a spot where we feel a bit of negativity in our life, we can choose to combat that by filling our life with a little bit of positivity. 

By keeping ourselves in a really good mental state, we're going to do better for ourselves, as well as our teams. 

“Staying in a positive mindset doesn't mean you're never viewing things as a negative. It's just taking those negatives and shifting them on how you can be better. How can you improve?” Kayleigh said. “And I think that helps you carry yourself better, lead your team better, and communicate with your consumer better.”

Working Better with a Business Partner

Just as a positive mindset will help us grow personally, it will also help us grow in our teams.

Kayleigh and Danielle run Clear Stem Skincare in a partnership. While they both operate differently, they have found that staying positive, and having the same goals helps them work together effectively. 

Kayleigh gave six strategies for how to partner up and crush it. 

• Be emotionally intelligent and kind.

When we work in teams or in a partnership, it is essential that we communicate with each other. Kayleigh and Danielle both have days when their energy is lower than others. To make sure the other person doesn’t feel like it is because of them, they make sure to communicate and tell each other when they feel off. 

By communicating and being emotionally intelligent, we avoid misunderstandings that could blow up out of proportion. But above all else, we need to remember to be kind. In partnerships, disagreements are guaranteed. No two people are the exact same. However, even when we don’t agree, we still need to be respectful and kind. 

• Follow the 80/20 rule. 

“We've had a lot of communication around who's making decisions on what because some decisions need to be made together, but the other ones [follow the] 80/20 rule,” Kayleigh explained. “We each know our expertise, and so each has the autonomy to make decisions within those spaces.”

We need to understand that each partner will have their own roles and talents in the business. We won’t be able to agree with each other 100% of the time on everything we do. And we shouldn’t have to. We need to find our roles and have the autonomy to make choices as long as one person is 80% in. 

“Clear communication is always best and that's what propels the business forward,” Kayleigh said. “What can really hold a business [back] is not agreeing on something. At some point, you’ve got to let your ego go and just understand [your] partner has more expertise in this.”

• Reconnect to your passions. 

This strategy goes back to step one in having a positive mindset. We should reflect on why we started our company in the first place. We can remember the passion we had when we first started a partnership and remember what our main driving force is. 

“I think sometimes people can get so caught up in business [that they] lose sight of [their passions]. It's good every once in a while just to come back to it and remind yourself why you started in the first place,” Kayleigh said. 

For Kayleigh and Danielle, that passion is helping people feel confident in their own skin. Their goal is to educate their customers so that they can have control over their health. As they reflect back on their first passions, they will have more motivation to go forward together to achieve their goals. 

• Remember the consumer matters most. 

In our businesses, meeting our customers’ needs should be our number one priority. Everything should go back to the question, what’s in it for them? A lot of businesses forget this and focus on themselves. They talk about why their products are so great or why they’re so amazing. However, this isn’t going to work. Instead, we need to focus on how our products will help our customers, and how we can serve them better. 

“We should clearly communicate to the customer what's in it for them,” Kayleigh said. 

• Celebrate the big moments together. 

This strategy is key when developing a positive mindset. We need to take moments to celebrate with our partner. When we take time to see how far we’ve come together, our motivation to keep going will increase. 

“Celebrating those big moments right then and there, in the present, really helps keep you healthy, keep you excited, and keep you motivated and positive,” Kayleigh said. 

• Remember our baseline. 

As we said in the beginning, the life of an entrepreneur is filled with highs and lows. Things rarely stay constant. We need to make sure we don’t get too caught up in the success that we overlook how we can improve, while also making sure we don’t get caught in the failure and overlook our achievements. 

While we can dream big, we need to make sure we still execute the small day-to-day things that need to be done. We need to remember our baseline. 

Key Takeaways

Thank you so much Kayleigh for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:

1. We need to make sure we recognize the goals we accomplish and celebrate them, even the small ones. We can reflect on what we’ve done each day. 
2. We should celebrate the setbacks. Every mistake, every failure, is an opportunity for growth and learning. 
3. Researchers have found that a positive mindset lowers stress and increases our health. As we develop a positive mindset, we will actually increase our chances of success. 
4.  If we're in a spot where we feel a bit of negativity in our life, we can choose to combat that by filling our life with a little bit of positivity. 
5. Just as a positive mindset is essential to personal growth, it is also essential to growth in a partnership or team. 
6. In our teams, we need to be respectful, emotionally intelligent, and kind. 
7. Each partner will have their own roles and talents in the business. We won’t be able to agree with each other 100% of the time on everything we do and we shouldn’t have to. 
8. We can take a moment to remember why we started our business in the first place to reconnect with our passions.
9. The customer should be our first priority.
10. We need to celebrate the big moments together, while also remembering our baseline. 

Connect with Kayleigh

If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Kayleigh, listen to part one of this episode or connect with her on Instagram or her website, clearstemskincare.com. 

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