Recent Updates
608: Conversational Copywriting: Be Authentic, Love Your Customers, and Build Long-Term Relationships for Increased Sales with Nick Usborne
Nick Usborne is an expert in copywriting and web writing. He has written copy for some of the world’s biggest brands, including Citibank, Apple, Chrysler, MSN.com, New York Times, WebEx, the U.S. Navy, and others. He attributes his success to “conversational copywriting,” and he’s here today to share his approach to help you write persuasive and effective copy for clients.
Quotes:
“Whatever your business online, it's the words that do the heavy lifting when it comes to making those sales for you. You can’t sell stuff without words online.” – Nick Usborne
“If you want a relationship, your whole approach, your mindset, the emotions you bring to it, the language, you use the tone of voice, you use your body language, everything changes.” - Nick Usborne
“Any kind of heart-based business where you actually care about your audience, and you want a long-term relationship with that buyer, then you absolutely need to mark it in the way that you are, so that they get a sense of who you are, and they trust you before they buy.” - Nick Usborne
Takeaways:
05:57 Speak to customers like trusted friends, using natural, conversational language that builds long-term relationships.
10:05 Create marketing that sounds consistent from start to finish, avoiding sudden shifts in tone or pushy language.
25:35 Prioritize respect and care for your customers over aggressive sales tactics.
30:32 Mirror your audience's emotional language by researching reviews and understanding their true concerns and feelings.
32:05 Read your copy out loud to ensure it sounds authentic, smooth, and genuinely conversational.
Resources
- Nick's Conversational Copywriting Goodie Bag (Including 5 Quick & Easy Ways to Make Your Writing More Conversational)
- Nick Usborne (Blog)
- Conversational Copywriting (Official Site)
- Popcorn Content: The craft of writing short-form content for social media (Book)
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607: Alignment, Divine Purpose, Fear of Missing Out, and Akashic Records with Kay Sanders
Kay Sanders, known as the Creator of Possibilities is an Intuitive Business Coach, Certified Akashic Record Consultant, and International Bestselling Author.
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Kay helps conscious entrepreneurs find that missing piece to create momentum in their Business so they can turn their passion into a successful and thriving business that is in alignment with their divine purpose.
Kay incorporates here gifts to help her clients uncover their divine gifts, create a strong mindset and implement effective systems and strategies in order to create the business and lifestyle of their dreams.
Her motto is ‘everything is possible’ which she also heavily incorporates into her own business and with her clients to help them see all the amazing possibilities in life. Kay truly believes that everyone, not only deserves, but also has the ability, to live a fulfilling life full of success and possibilities.
Quotes:
“I really don't believe in those cookie cutter approaches, because when you are not in alignment with who you are with what really feels good for you, what really lights you up, no matter how hard you go to try you're going to keep hitting that wall.” – Kay Sanders
“Everything comes down to choice. Every moment of the day, you make choices that lead you in a certain direction, but the beautiful thing is you can always change your choice, you can always make different choices.” - Kay Sanders
“If you're believing in past lifetimes, then you might know that your soul brings with it stuff that it learned from a past lifetime.” - Kay Sanders
Takeaways:
03:33 Fear of leaving comfort zones often prevents entrepreneurs from discovering their true potential.
13:00 Align your business with your true passion to overcome struggles and create meaningful success.
19:27 Your divine purpose is the key to persistent motivation and attracting the right clients.
31:16 Spiritual tools like Akashic Records can provide clarity and guidance in personal and professional growth.
34:50 Trust your inner guidance and take actions that excite you, even if they seem unconventional.
Resources
- The Abundantly Successful Show (Site)
- Kay Sanders Coaching (Official Site)
- 340: Strategies, Systems, Struggles and Challenges: Grow Your Business and Find Personal Transformation By Tapping into a Winning Mindset with Kay Sanders (Appearance)
- Kay Sanders (YouTube)
- Kay Sanders (LinkedIn)
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606: Become a Powerful Speaker: Structure a Compelling Offer, Craft the Ideal Story, Meet Your Audience Where They’re At and Use Neuro-Linguistic Programming to Make Sales with Gary McKinsey
Gary McKinsey is a past president of the National Speakers Association of Northern California. As a business coach, he works with entrepreneurs, speakers, and trainers in implementing strategies to build their ideal business.
For the first 40 years of his career, he owned a business consulting practice. In 2010 he started a coaching business specializing in working with individuals that want to improve their speaking and presentation skills. He frequently speaks and presents workshops on Small Business Marketing Strategies.
Quotes:
“Neuro-Linguistic Programming is the communication primarily with the subconscious mind—how people see, hear, and react to you subconsciously. Your subconscious mind works with your conscious mind to quickly form an impression to know if you can trust a person and do business with them.” – Gary McKinsey
“Make an appointment with yourself that you're going to make the phone calls and know who you're going to call. When that time comes, don't do other things. Set aside the time and make the phone calls. You'll find the first one is difficult, the second one's easier, then the third one is not so hard at all. So just make a series of phone calls one after the other.” - Gary McKinsey
“Live your dream, visualize your dream, and don't be afraid to take that very next step to move you towards your dream. Know that it is available and that you can achieve it.” - Gary McKinsey
Takeaways:
07:32 Successful speaking involves structuring an offer with clear benefits, limited bonuses, and a precise next step for the audience.
10:30 Crafting a compelling presentation requires focusing on transformative stories that show real-life benefits, not just product features.
20:21 Speakers can build their careers by starting with free speaking opportunities at local associations, service clubs, and chamber of commerce events.
25:38 Neuro-linguistic programming helps speakers connect with audiences by understanding different communication and learning styles.
31:50 Using the phone and reaching out directly can help speakers find and secure speaking opportunities more effectively than digital methods.
Resources
- Gary McKinsey (Official Site)
- Phone: 209-345-4230
- Gary McKinsey (LinkedIn)
- Gary McKinsey (Meetup)
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605: Ready, Fire, Aim: Pursue Your Number One Goal, Find Freedom Through Discipline, and Grow Your Business with Motivational Speaker Jake Ballentine
Jake Ballentine is the author of Your Number One Goal, a contributing author in Jack Canfield's Living the Success Principles and the host of the Focus on the Good podcast.
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Jake tells us what we need to know about getting out of our own way, grit & determination, how discipline equals freedom, how to let go of your pride so you can take action, conquering self-doubt & fear, adopting a ready-fire-aim mindset, pursue S.M.A.R.T. goals, find direction, and grow!
Quotes:
“In the world of being a for-hire speaker, it falls under the line of a self-employed person because you are the one who needs to go out and do all the things.” – Jake Ballentine
“It's been two years since I've started making these shifts and changes. What it came down to was knowing I wanted to grow because happiness is found in growth, not in achievement.” - Jake Ballentine
“Anyone who has a complex business should think about making it more simple. Complexity is the enemy of execution. It's very challenging to do things.” - Jake Ballentine
Takeaways:
06:42 Happiness stems from growth, not just achievement.
12:47 Always be willing to take action, adjust quickly, and remove emotional attachment to potential failures.
19:32 Success is 80% psychology and 20% strategy, with fear being the primary obstacle.
21:11 Discipline creates freedom by preventing last-minute stress and expanding future choices.
24:26 Positive thinking requires consistent mental conditioning against default negative patterns.
Resources
- Your Number One Goal (Free Book)
- Focus on the Good (Podcast)
- Speakers, Authors & Coaches (Facebook Group)
- Speakers, Authors & Coaches (Podcast)
- Jake Ballentine (Twitter)
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604: The Proven Path to Get Self Published Using Free Plus Shipping Offers: Overcome Blank Page Syndrome, Solve a Real Problem, and Succeed Both On and Off Amazon with Chandler Bolt
Chandler Bolt is the host of the Self Publishing School podcast & the author of 6 bestselling books including his most recent book titled "Published."
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He’s also the founder & CEO of Self-Publishing School, the #1 online resource for writing your first book. Through his books, podcast, training videos, and Self-Publishing School, he’s helped thousands of people on their journey to writing their first book.
Important Talking Points
- To avoid blank page syndrome, use a mindmap (Chandler prefers pen and paper for this) and dump all the ideas you have, then group into 4 to 7 chapters
- To write each chapter, dump all your ideas for that chatper and then repeat the 4-7 "grouping" process
- Choosing a topic for your book: sell pain pills, not vitamins. Find a specific group with a real pain and solve that problem...
- Use Google Docs to write your book so you can work on it from anywhere
- Consider a "free plus shipping" offer for your book
- Give video and audio away for free after people purchase your book
Quotes:
“When they finish the rough draft, they start to believe that this is something they can do. This is something that they are going to take to the finish line.” – Chandler Bolt
“It's important that you do well on Amazon. Over 70% of all books sold are sold on Amazon.” - Chandler Bolt
“Some people write better than they speak, and others speak better than they write. A lot of podcasters are used to speaking; that's a better medium for them. This is where you choose your adventure.” - Chandler Bolt
Takeaways:
08:30 Amazon is a critical platform for book sales, but authors should look beyond it for broader marketing opportunities.
15:50 Mind mapping is a simple, effective method to overcome writer's block and organize book content.
20:34 Books should solve specific pain points for readers, not just provide general information.
22:11 Writing a book is easier than most people think, and anyone can do it with the right approach.
27:03 Free plus shipping offers can turn books into powerful lead generation and customer acquisition tools.
Resources
- Published: The Proven Path From Blank Page to Published Author (Book)
- Self Publishing School (Course)
- Self Publishing School (Podcast)
- Self Publishing School (Twitter)
- Chandler Bolt (Facebook)
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603: Disruptive Advertising: Run Google and Facebook Pay-Per-Click Ads with Jacob Baadsgaard
After growing one of his first PPC clients from 25 to 250 employees, Jacob Baadsgaard realized he had a gift for using pay-per-click marketing to drive dramatic business results.
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To help more companies succeed online, Jake founded Disruptive Advertising, a PPC, and CRO management agency that has helped hundreds of companies realize unprecedented growth and profitability from the online advertising.
In the four years since its founding, Disruptive Advertising has grown from two employees working in Jake's basement to a flourishing agency with more than 90 employees and a run rate of over $12 million- putting it at #145 on the 2017 Inc 500 list! Listen in to hear about Jacob's ad strategies, best practices, real-life case studies, push and pull tactics, as well as common mistakes to avoid.
Quotes:
“It's not very common to make any money. You are typically losing money in the first three months as you figure out viability, testing audiences to see which ones resonate best with your offers, and testing different website experiences that you point them to.” – Jacob Baadsgaard
“We can target a couple of audiences, start with a couple of keywords, test some different ad messaging, test the different website experience, and pages that we point them to. Let's really get those nailed down first, before we start spreading the budget too thin; That way, we can conclusively test and understand what's going on.” - Jacob Baadsgaard
“Quizzes are an effective way to get a quick barometer on how someone's feeling about a particular topic, or a product or service or those types of things. What's interesting is that, you can actually measure this based on their behavior without asking them anything as well.” - Jacob Baadsgaard
Takeaways:
03:12 Pay Per Click advertising works on a pull and push strategy, targeting people actively searching or those who might be interested in a product.
11:12 Most businesses waste around 76% of their advertising budget due to poor targeting, incorrect settings, and lack of precise tracking.
14:29 Successful digital marketing requires methodical testing, patience, and continuous refinement of ads, landing pages, and audience targeting.
20:57 The key metrics for business success are understanding customer acquisition costs and lifetime customer value.
23:18 Automation and technology can help streamline marketing processes, reduce manual work, and provide real-time insights into campaign performance.
Resources
- Free Google Ads Audit from Disruptive Advertising (Website)
- Disruptive Advertising (Official Site)
- Jake Baadsgaard (LinkedIn)
- Jacob Baadsgaard (Twitter)
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602: Data Driven Marketing Using Artificial Intelligence: Hyper-Personalization, Predictive Content, Lead Scoring, Automation and More with Magnus Unemyr
Magnus Unemyr is a renowned author, global speaker and thought-leader in the field of marketing automation, with a particular focus on advanced integration, marketing with artificial intelligence, and how data and insights from Internet-connected devices can drive marketing automation logic.
Magnus has spent the past 20+ years in the global software industry, focusing on marketing the Internet-of-Things technology in the semiconductor chip industry.
He co-founded an international software company that built and maintained a distributor network in 50 countries. He now concentrates his efforts on helping companies advance and grow their business by sharing his knowledge as an independent consultant.
Magnus has published many popular books on Internet marketing, Marketing Automation, Entrepreneurship, Internet-of-Things and Artificial intelligence. His latest book, released 2018, is entitled ‘Data-Driven Marketing with Artificial Intelligence: Harness the Power of Predictive Marketing and Machine Learning’.
Magnus currently resides in Sweden and is a sought-after speaker for seminars and conferences in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, throughout Europe and the USA. He’s is also the founder and author of the blog www.unemyr.com/blog a leading source for marketing automation and AI.
Quotes:
“Artificial Intelligence or AI can be used in practically every corner of the marketing industry. There are hundreds of marketing technology solutions, or AI-powered marketing, automation, and software solutions, that do all sorts of things from competitive and market intelligence.” – Magnus Unemyr
“There are many different ways even small businesses can make use of AI. In most cases, marketers will just buy some commercial marketing software that already has these capabilities built-in. And the person using these software tools will not even be aware of how those AI algorithms are working at all.” - Magnus Unemyr
“I think the best way of designing the conversation flow of a chatbot is to actually have a manually staffed chat function at first. Once you can harvest conversation logs from the past to understand what kind of questions people mostly ask, we can automate those.” - Magnus Unemyr
Takeaways:
02:42 AI can automate and optimize marketing tasks across multiple channels, from email timing to lead scoring.
07:53 Small businesses can easily adopt AI technologies through existing marketing software with built-in intelligent features.
09:58 Start building chatbots by first manually tracking real customer conversations to understand common questions and interaction patterns.
14:20 AI-powered marketing tools can now predict customer readiness to buy and automatically adjust communication strategies.
26:46 AI technologies are rapidly evolving and will fundamentally transform marketing practices in the coming years.Resources
- Mastering Online Marketing (Free e-Book)
- Magnus Unemyr (Blog)
- Magnus Unemyr (LinkedIn)
- Magnus Unemyr (Twitter)
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601: Mini-Offers, Market Research, Quitting Your Job, and Building Your Funnel with Michelle Evans
Michelle L. Evans walked away from her global marketing strategy role at Microsoft in 2012 after a successful 16-year corporate career spanning many industries and now works with a fantastic community of business owners - coaches, consultants, experts, speakers, authors and solopreneurs - helping them go from simply surviving to predictably SOLD OUT. Using her 20+ years of successful marketing experience she helps her clients create income-producing, client-generating, stress-reducing marketing funnels. Michelle has been featured in Mirasee, Huffington Post, Online Marketing Made Easy and 30+ other places over the internet and worked with household names like Microsoft, LinkedIn and others as a well-paid employee and consultant.
Michelle talks to us about her strategy of creating mini-offers to find hot selling product ideas, training your list, creating upsells and funnels, and how to emotionally connect with prospects.
Quotes:
“When I'm doing market research, I learned my lesson—don't do market research on free stuff if people don't have to whip out their wallets and even give you a tiny amount of money.” – Michelle Evans
“You did all this work to get them excited, they come in, engaged, and continue this discovery process. Thus, the best thing you can do is to hook into their curiosity and even if you could have a small offer, you have to keep that conversation going.” - Michelle Evans
“Start those conversations regardless of how big your audience is. Start solving problems for people because that's what they'll pay for.” - Michelle Evans
Takeaways:
06:36 Funnels don't need to be complicated; focus on understanding the problem you solve and the results customers want.
20:15 Creating low-ticket mini offers helps entrepreneurs test market demand without massive upfront investment.
22:06 Always include an upsell or next step after someone opts in or makes a small purchase to keep the conversation going.
29:25 When transitioning from a 9-to-5 job, start building your side business gradually with simple, quick-to-create products.
31:57 Testimonials and market research can come directly from customers who buy your initial low-cost offerings.
Take This Short Quiz to Claim Your Michelle's Free Funnel Template
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600: The Magical Profit-Producing Power of Following Up, Being Organized, and Persistent: 22 Things I Learned From Grant Cardone About Wealth, Mental Health, Happiness, Knowledge, and Making Money
For our 600th episode, we're going to talk about Grant Cardone, who I consider to be one of the top 10 marketers on the planet. Important to note: Grant doesn't know me and he does not appear in this episode. However, I've read (almost) all his books and bought a few other things from him, such as his 10XGrowthCon livestream. He brands himself as a sales trainer and is the best person to learn from if you're looking to up your game, develop a better work ethic, and connect better with your customers & employees.
He's definitely the hardest working person I've ever seen. If that makes me a kiss-ass, so be it:
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- 10X rule: it takes 10 times the effort you think it will take, so set your goal, then 10-times that goal, and then 10-times the action you think you'll need to take to hit that goal (avoids "one foot on the brake")
- Get your money right
- Have a quiet workspace, rent an office, get employees
- You don't know if "too much" is too much until you've done it
- Grocery store rot: feed the beast, keep the traffic, clients, business, and money pouring in constantly
- You’re always selling (job, career, webinar, class) -- surpass your quota (quick personal videos)
- Be the most ethical person you know: "ethical" means telling as many people about your product because it’s unethical not to help them by selling it to them
- Most of us are introverted or shy (the thing you fear is the action you are putting off and should probably take). Be "social" even if you're introverted. Make thank you calls or send postcards to customers. "Someone canceled on me for lunch, let's have lunch."
- Daily meetings & quotas (measured progress): get into the habit of completion
- Most people don’t follow-up (36 voicemails, every business in Miami, eat lunch with people)
- Don't wait to get your ducks in a row before taking action: CRMs or spreadsheets? Just start dialing or contacting.
- Omnipresence (market yourself in so many places that people can’t ignore you
- Ramp up as your skill and efficiency improves (Brad Lea videos, morning vlogs, daily LinkedIn posts)
- Be difficult and ask for what you want
- Ask questions from prospects (buying a laptop story), mirror and always agree
- Scheduling & happiness: fill in so much in your schedule that the weeds can’t grow
- Be so busy that you haven’t even had time to watch your favorite tv show in weeks.
- Work weekends - don't take them off like everyone else does
- Write down your goals in the morning and at night
- If you have multiple jobs / streams of income, be looking for "complementary" skills, i.e. day job to learn coding and create plugins on the side... voiceover artists who get into podcast setup & editing
- Are you discouraged because someone hasn't called you back? How many times have you failed to call someone back? Call again.
- Even if they hate you, they’re still talking about you, so just be yourself
Quotes:
“You get what you tolerate, and if you keep on doing what you're doing, you're gonna get the same old results.” – Grant Cardone
“Successful people have a big library. Unsuccessful people have a big TV set.” - Grant Cardone
“Don't wait for things to be perfect. Don't wait for your confidence to be at 100%. Don't wait for the fear to go away. Just proceed anyway.” - Grant Cardone
Takeaways:
00:20 80% of success is simply showing up and pushing past your comfort zone.
09:57 Always keep your business pipeline full by constantly reaching out and following up with prospects.
18:22 Set goals 10 times higher than you initially think possible and match those goals with 10 times more activity.
30:49 Fill your schedule so completely that unproductive thoughts and "weeds" cannot grow.
45:06 Be yourself in business, even if some people might dislike your approach, because visibility matters more than universal approval.
Resources
- Grant's articles (LinkedIn)
- 10XGrowthCon (Live Event)
- Cardone University (Online training, non-affiliate link)
- The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure (Book)
- Sell or Be Sold: How to Get Your Way in Business and in Life (Book)
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599: Listen, Choose, and Breathe: Parse Your Story to Meet Your Audience, Create a Strong Call-to-Action, and Recap with Communications and Public Relations Expert Jeanne Alford
Jeanne Alford -- author, speaker and communications expert -- directed PR and communications programs for such brands as Dolby Laboratories, Philips Electronics, Visa and Sony. She focused on media perception, crisis communications and international issues. As an executive coach, today, she specializes in communications and media training including speaking, presenting and writing to guide business leaders to tell their most compelling stories in their own words.
Quotes:
“We all think the same thing about ourselves. What we do is ordinary, because we're in it every day. We don't always see the extraordinary.” – Jeanne Alford
“If we don't understand where our audience is coming from, all we're doing is throwing words at them and looking for something to stick.” - Jeanne Alford
“We have about two seconds to make an impression on somebody. We have micro expressions that we exude without even being aware of, because they're in our subconscious mind.” - Jeanne Alford
Takeaways:
05:00 Understanding your audience's perspective is more important than sharing raw information.
10:29 Tailoring your message to different audience groups helps your communication hit the mark more effectively.
23:17 Breathing deeply and staying calm allows you to think more clearly and respond thoughtfully in high-pressure situations.
28:56 Most people only hear half of what's being said, making active listening a critical communication skill.
33:13 Practice makes communication skills become natural, just like muscle memory when learning to drive or ride a bike.
Resources
- Jeanne Alford (LinkedIn)
- Jeanne Alford on Alignable (Business Card)
- Jeanne Alford on Clarity (Coaching Session)
- Jeanne Alford on Medium (Blog)
- Jeanne Alford (Twitter)
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